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Fall in Families

I like changes in seasons, and one of my particular favorites is the arrival of fall. Here in Fort Worth we are still experiencing a change in the leaves (which has been quite dramatic this year) as recent north winds are blowing the leaves off their branches. Today as I was driving I was watching the flurry of leaves in the air and on the ground and reminded of one of the reasons I like fall. It is a time for cleaning out, whisking away the old, as one begins the winter wait for spring renewal.

In families there are similar ‘seasons.’ There is a time to allow the old to fall away, much like the leaves. These may be memories of past arguments, frustrations with a child’s defiance, or attempts to fix problems that have not worked. It may be time to allow grace to enter into the relationships and drop those issues from the family tree. Grace requires us to let the intensity of the issue to fade away so we no longer hang onto the emotional weight within the relationship. As a father and husband, I confess there are times I want to bring up past sins of my wife or daughters, and make sure that whatever was broken then is fixed now and forever. Usually these incidents only serve as alienating events or opportunities for a reminder of my own past transgressions.

There are times we should choose to let the leaves of hurt, pain, frustration, anger, fear, sadness, and bitterness drop away; be swept by the winds of change and allow a season of waiting to settle in. Winter isn’t always pleasant. It can be lonely and cold. The waiting can be hard, but it is generally always followed by a springtime season of renewal and new growth. And the leaves of hurt or pain that we allowed to drop in fall have become fertilizer and nutrients for the new growth of spring.

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