Day 19: In Nature

I'm grateful for the beauty of the four seasons as reflected in the leaves on trees.  I'm grateful how each season has it's own unique feel and energy.  I'm grateful for how this reflects truths about the nature of our own life:  it's a beautiful image of an entire human lifespan, but it's also a nice picture of cycles we go through within our life.  There are many things you do for just a stretch of time - go to school, raise children, work at a certain job, have a particular close group of friends - that also looks like these leaves, going through distinct seasons.  In hardship I think about winter trees, and how a time that feels dead and impossibly hard might be the springboard for new beginnings, as winter gives way to spring growth.  In autumn, I think about the mature beauty of the colorful leaves and hope my life looks like these trees as I grow older.  I'm thankful for all the lessons in the leaves!