Turn, Turn, Turn

So long summer. It's finally over. This morning's air had a bit of a chill to it, refreshing, but beckoning me to stay huddled beneath the covers. This evening, was the first Open House at school. It's the night parents get to visit the teachers with their children and see what it's all about. So, goodbye summertime.

Upon arriving home late and firing up my PC, I decided to change my desktop background. Bye, bye photo of the brightly colored Begonia, resting outside on my stoop and hello ocean. Yes, the ocean. I'm not quite ready for those orange and yellow leaves to appear and fall.

After a long day at school, I wanted to go back to the beach. Looking out at the ocean from the boardwalk, clouds a bit grayish white and the waves calm and comforting, I felt renewed. I uploaded the vacation shot, resumed my full size desk top,and instantly felt as if I really was back, standing on the boardwalk. I could sense the lulling of soft waves and imagine the gentle breeze blowing. Sometimes, that's all it takes.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 reads, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven..."

Tonight was a night for meeting some new parents and gathering with others I've known for some time. It was fun and a bit sad. Why? Because summer is gone and soon my garden, along with the rest of nature, will near it's end and begin to cease growth.

Yet the beach will remain and our sun and moon never cease to shine. There are variables and there are constants. I am not sure where I am going with all this, but I do know in a period of change, we all need some consistency. Something rock solid to hold on to is like a warm blanket and teddy bear wrapping itself around you. It's a shelter in the time of storm.

Hebrews 13:8 reads, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Furthermore, Isaiah 25:4 reads, "You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat."

I long for the warmth of summer and relaxing days of strolling the boardwalk down by the sea, but even more so, the One who ceases to cease. I thank God for those constants that will never cease to be.