It's a little cool out today

It's funny and scary how fast the seasons change. From my unofficial morning "office" at the picnic table in the plaza, I've had a front row seat to these changes: From the first few weeks of the school year where it was so hot and so humid that I'd work up a sweat just by typing while listening to the cacophonous chorus of semi in the trees, to today, 54˚F, clear blue skies, and just brisk enough for me to need a jacket, and the morning is perfectly still save for the sound of me typing.

It happened just like that (I snapped my fingers for effect. You couldn't see, but I did). In no time whatsoever, it will be winter. Perhaps too cold to sit outside, and then I'll have to find somewhere else to spend 1st period. Then, Spring will come, and with it, the beautiful Sakura blossoms. Then, the blossoms will fall, giving way to green, the paper lanterns will go up, bridging the trees for a few glorious weeks, then they'll be taken down, and the school-year will end.

The seasons' changes are a reminder of life moving on, a reminder that we are never at a perfect standstill. Life moving on means a lot of things: Saying goodbye to graduating Seniors (a group I can really identify with--my first year here was their freshmen year), saying goodbye to friends and colleagues who are moving on, saying goodbye to the patterns and routines that have become familiar to me. It also means saying hello: meeting new students and new colleagues, making new friends, establishing new routines. It's bittersweet.

Fortunately, I've been granted by my Creator the ability to do more than simply write about all of this, to be more than a passive observer. I cannot stop or slow the changing of the seasons, but I can respond by carrying into each day a sense of purpose and joy, striving to pursue God in everything I do. If, indeed, I dedicate every moment to God, whether that moment sees leaves of yellow and brown falling to the ground or petals of pink and white, each passing year will reveal progress. Imagine how bleak it would be if the seasons kept cycling and we kept getting older but we never grew as people! Things change for a reason: to keep us growing. Growth isn't always easy and certainly not always painless, but it's worth embracing, and not worth fighting.

Time is short--don't assume you can just wait for life to happen to you because if all you do is wait, life will pass you by.

As the seasons change, dive in and live, and live for God.

...hmm, it's a long way down to the water...