Southern Autumn, Blues and Greens

The dogs woke me at their usual 5-something this morning. My typical response is, "Go back to sleep ..." which I say two or three times until I realize they are not the only ones who have to go ... outside. (Not that I go outside!)

So I drag myself out of bed, stumble from room to room until I reach the back door, and then traipse across screened patio to open another door so the two littlest members of our family can do what nature calls them to so dang early in the day.

And while they do it, I stare outward, across the lawn, to the lake. This morning, it lay like glass ... an amazing shade of green. Birds fly over, their reflection is nearly perfect in the water below. The air was crisp. The sky a brilliant pink, a calming lavender, and a deep shade of gray--like Neapolitan ice cream. Or sherbet.

Over the course of the day, the sky grew bluer, the air grew warmer, and then became downright hot. Autumn in Florida. But then the sun set in a whole new array of colors--red, orange, and another shade of gray. I know because those same two dogs came and got me 12 hours from the first time today (with a number of times in between), requesting my services in opening the doors.

Again, I rested against the door frame of the screen door, looking out over the lake. This time the water was dark blue-gray. The surface, choppy. A man and a small child zip around on a Seadoo. Family & friends laugh under the canopied top of a pontoon. A few ducks glide in the water near our shoreline.

Interesting how the water and the sky changes, even within a few hours. Life is like that, too, wouldn't you say? You can wake up one morning and everything is fine. But before the sun sets, the "waters" are choppy. Same body of water. Same life. Smooth as glass. Choppy.

Here's what I've discovered ... in it all, God remains ... God. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). Life may change. We may change. But God never changes. He is in the greens, the pinks, the lavenders, the grays, the reds and the oranges. He is in the smooth and the choppy. He is in the crisp and the hot.

He is ... He is ...