The Beauty in Fall

I love Fall.
I love the trees and the brilliant colors that I see everyday.
I love my friend Sandy.
She does not like Fall.
As Fall comes, she knows that the dead barren trees and coldness of winter are right around the corner. I believe she grieves the trees losing their leaves and becoming dreary and barren.
I think about her almost daily, and wish that I could impart my love for this time of year to her.
This blog is for her. This week, I have seen Fall very differently, and hope to get her to see things differently.
It actually started with a viewing last week of a beautiful Christian woman who went to be with Jesus.
She was 93 years old. As I looked into the casket, her shell that was lying there, had a smile.
I began to think how beautiful that was.
Death, beautiful?
Yes. Death CAN be beautiful.
Let me explain.
When we give our life to Jesus, we choose to die to sin.
The death of sin in our lives. That is a beautiful thing.
If we have died to sin, then when the time comes for physical death,
then beauty for all eternity comes.
Only after we leave this life and enter eternity, will we really know what beauty is.
But, we must pass through that gateway of death to reach it.
So, there is beauty in death,
IF you are in Christ.
So, as I see the trees, and see the leaves changing colors, watch as the glorious colors shine, as the leaves DIE,
I think about the Christian walk.
If I choose to die to sin, I choose a beautiful life while I am here,
which will lead to a beautiful life eternal when all my leaves finishing falling to the ground, for the very last time.
Death of those leaves makes me hunger for my life that will begin when the season of Fall is over.
Sandy, think of eternal life when you see the leaves falling and know, that one day, in the season of Fall, heaven will be on the other side!
I love you!

Chasing After Hearts,

Glenda Johnson

Cha Cha Cha Changes!!!!!

 It is rapidly changing seasons. I can see it all around me

The leaves are changing colors.
The kids are back in school.
The nights are cooler.
The pumpkins, straw, and scarecrows are replacing bright flowers in everyone's yard.

And things in my life are changing too.
I am serving the community around me with a new group of awesome women.
My family dynamics are changing with the arrival of my mother-in-love who is joining our family home permanently.
I am teaching and speaking again after a healing hiatus.

I am encouraged and excited for all the new CHANGES in my life.

My favorite quote is:
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." -Author Unknown

I am ready to have the things in my life that need to change to fall out of my life like the leaves are falling off the trees.
I don't just want what I've always gotten. I want BETTER!

To be more effective for God's Kingdom.
To be a better friend.
To use God's resources in a way that glorifies Him.

I want to be the woman God has called me to be!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
-2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Chasing After Their Hearts,
Glenda Johnson

Fall -A Time to Change

I know it is contrite, but fall seems to be the time of year I find it easiest to make changes in my life.  As I watch the leaves change color and give us a true pallet of beauty, I am inspired. Then, as the leaves change their location, from the branch to the ground, I realize, movement was meant to be.

So, I embrace change with a passion, and bravery like never before…

WHO AM I TRYING TO FOOL?

There are major changes going on in my life and I am scared to death! But I am inspired by my surroundings.

Let me share the “fall” of my life.

My oldest daughter is expecting her second child. We have already been blessed with a 16 mo. Granddaughter from her.  It should be a time of rejoicing. We are trying. You see, she has developed a subchorionic bleed. She is on bed rest, with a 16mo old that means Granny’s house. The change of having more people at our house is not a problem. The waiting and wondering if this bleed will end in a loss, premature labor or placental abruption is the change in my life that has me blowing around some days like the fall leaves.

My husband will also be having 2 surgeries over the next couple of months.  The first one is next week. It is a fairly complicated surgery requiring both a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon to complete it.  Suddenly, all my fall leaves seem to blowing in a crazy wind storm and I can’t seem to recognize where I am.

So, I am faced with caring for possible 30 more weeks my pregnant daughter and my recovering husband.

Oh, did I add that I home-school 3 other children still at home AND own a business?

Something needs to change. I may be Wonder Woman but I am not God.

So, I now find myself “falling” into some life changing decisions.

1^st- I must close my business. My family comes first. Always.

2^nd- I have 4 blogs and 2 books that need to be written. I keep complaining I don’t have time because of the time requirement of my business. 

Sometimes changes come about to help us reprioritize our lives.

This fall is my time to change.

I am “falling” into line with God’s will for me. Being a wife and mother are what I am called to be. Writing to encourage those other people God brings across my path can no longer be put on the shelf.

Here’s to change. It can actually be quite pretty, just look out your window…then into your heart.

What do you need to change this fall?

Chasing Their Hearts,

Glenda Johnson