Seeking Gentleness

Our family lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, and each change of season, though the change is not as distinct in some parts of the country, brings a beautiful, tangible sense of newness and fresh expectancy to our lives.

Fall has a delicious crispness to the air.  It makes me start to remember and relish the coziness of this time of year.  As days get shorter, we find ourselves appreciating anew the cheery sunshine that we still have during the day.

The rainy days and nights bring pleasant reminders of the coziness of the season.  I love to sit on the couch under a blanket and read to my children while nursing my little one and hearing the pleasant drum of the rain on the windows.  

And autumn ’tis the season for tea parties!  My children and I love herbal tea, and a cup of tea brings cozy warmth on crisp autumn days.  And it means evenings making yummy cookies together and licking spoons with batter on them. 

Each change of seasons brings an opportunity to celebrate and thank God for the unique blessings of nature He betows throughout the year.   It helps us realize what a beautiful design God made for our world and brings rest as we enjoy the pleasant and comforting rythym of the changing seasons.

Creating family tradtions associated with each season helps us appreciate and enjoy the goodness in nature that God gives each season and helps draw our family members closer together as we anticipate and enjoy our traditions together.

I hope to start a new tradition this coming week.  My children enjoy collecting special leaves and rocks and such when we go on walks together.  We started a nature table last year, and they collected such beautiful things for it, but with our cats and with our clutter problems, at this time in our lives we’ve found that a nature table is not ideal for us.  What we are going to do instead is make a nature collage.

Next week we will go on a special nature walk in the park, each child carrying a basket in which they can put their favorite things that they find on the walk.  When we get home they can glue their treasures on a piece of cardboard.  Then we can hang the beautiful artwork on the wall.  If all goes well, we will plan, Lord-willing, to do it each time the seasons change. 

I’ll let you know how it goes.  I’ll post pictures, too!