I love fall, my favorite time of the year. Not only do I look forward to the crisp cool mornings—a welcome respite from a hot, sticky summer—but I love the vibrant leaves that change our world into a kaleidoscope of color. I think fall is where I first learned that change isn’t all bad.
Another situation that reinforced that lesson came when our son enlisted in the military. Now that was a change I tried to avoid and not because I was ashamed to have a son in the military. The fact that he was willing to serve made me incredibly proud. What worried me was what that commitment (and change) might require from him.
But just like the splendid fall foliage reminds me that God paints a beautiful picture with change, so was the transformation I saw in our son as he moved from recruit to full-fledged U.S. Marine. His splendid uniform helped illustrate that change.
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Where once he’d been a typical high school kid, more interested in hanging out than what he wore, now he was part of something greater. His manner and bearing when he was in uniform personified that.
I remember the fight it had always been to get him to dress up, whether for church or any kind of special occasion. He always looked uncomfortable in what he called “fancy” clothes, fidgeting and complaining without ceasing.
But the first time I saw him in uniform at his boot camp graduation, I beheld a man who carried himself with quiet dignity and confidence. He hadn’t just accepted the change—he had embraced it. Just like I embrace the beautiful fall leaves I see around me, the trees bearing an outward sign of change with a show of beauty and grace.
