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Leaves Are Falling, Autumn is Calling: A season to remind us of the beauty of letting things go

Writer's picture: CHASITY ANTHONYCHASITY ANTHONY

Happy Fall Ya’ll! This is the warm welcome message shared on fall themed decorative pillow nestled in one of my favorite chairs in my living room entrance. In my strong woman phase I was a die-hard summer fanatic. Short shorts, sundresses, halter and crop tops, rompers and cute sandals were my summer fashion favs to wear to the LIT summer Backyard BBQ filled with the sounds of the latest R & B or Rap hits bumping in the background like a summer anthem. Summer has its beautiful bright lush greens and florals in full splendor, which reminds me of life in full bloom in my strong woman phase. How I felt invisible, unbreakable, and unphaseable by the hardships in life. So quick to take on all the weight that the world had to offer on these shoulders. BLOW AFTER BLOW, ROUND AFTER ROUND, WOUND AFTER WOUND. Living my life convinced I was an evergreen tree. I wrote a blog a few years ago sharing that we should be evergreen in all seasons, when in actuality God never designed us to be evergreen here on this earth. God has designed us to be deciduous fruit bearing trees.




Psalm 1:1-3
1Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers, 2 But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

For many years I suffered from Seasonal Depression, my mind, body, and spirit fought to preserve summer. My body grieved for the loss of daylight and sunshine, and then somewhere along the way I began to feel the season not just change around me, but I felt the season begin to change within me. It wasn’t sudden and abrupt, but instead, it was a subtle transition, much like how God transitions the seasons with ease, grace, elegance, and glory. Wow, oh my how SEASONS change literally and figuratively. As God has ushered me into my SOFT Woman Era I have fallen in LOVE with Fall. As I watch the swirling leaves stirred by the wind, I am reminded that they display an important lesson for all of us to follow suit in a way. Just as the trees don’t stubbornly hold on to their dead leaves, so we shouldn’t hold on to any unnecessary weight in our lives. When we long to enter a new season, the old can easily inhibit the new if we allow it. The trees realize that the leaves or fruit are only a byproduct of the branches being connected to the tree and its roots. If we are rooted in grounded in God the leaves and fruit will manifest in its season. God’s Word reminds us to:

Jesus the Living Vine

1“I am a true sprouting vine, and the farmer who tends the vine is my Father. 2He cares for the branches connected to me by lifting and propping up the fruitless branches and pruning every fruitful branch to yield a greater harvest. 3 The words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you. 4So you must remain in life-union with me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your life intimately joined to mine.

Oh how the Lord longs to empower and strengthen us for the new season ahead! He knows how to prune us of the dead leaves and fruit that is preventing us from moving forward into a beautiful new season. What are you holding on to that is preventing a freshness to the season ahead?


Last month we identified through spiritual self-awareness 3 things that we were going to commit to doing to grow in our oneness with our creator. This month as we continue our self-awareness journey will identify those things dead things that we need to allow to fall away from our lives in this season. We will identify the things that we need to allow God to prune from our lives so that we can produce new fruit, more fruit, and much fruit in our next season of productivity.

Many of us have been stagnant for a while. It’s time to develop in a new dimension of spiritual self-awareness. God is ready to do a NEW THING in this season to prepare us to produce in the years to come. God’s word reminds us to Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18,19 (NIV)


  • Share with your accountability partner:

  • Share 3 things that God has revealed He is ready to prune from your life.

  • How do you feel your life would benefit and flourish with the absence of these things?

  • What fruit do you feel your life will be able to manifest as a result of God’s pruning of these things from your life?

You can share these things or just a reflection on the process of working through this months blog challenge.


Let us pray:

Heavenly Father,
You've chosen to be the one who not only created us but tends to us. Like bushes and tree, we grow extra stuff that doesn't belong there. So, you cut us back so we can be healthy and continue to grow. Although this pruning process may hurt, God, help us to accept the pruning for what it is: love. Your loving and tender care is about our best, not about what feels good. Help us remember that you are for us, and you want what's best. And so you prune so we can bear fruit. Jesus, we trust You as the Gardener of our my ways. Prune us so we can bear much fruit for You. As You prune, let Your power be made strong in our weakness.

Amen


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Fall. What can I say about this season. I love the Fall and Winter months, because it reflects how to be calm cool and collective during this season. I'm learning to stay calm more than anything now, not letting anything or anyone get to me. This season helps me to control my actions. This is a passage for me.

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Tamara
Tamara
01 nov 2023

This was so good. Idk why I thought I read this months blog but I’m so glad I didn’t miss this!!! The pruning is necessary!!! 😑😑

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Kisha Whittier
Kisha Whittier
26 oct 2023

Fall is such a cozy calm season that is good for restoring and rejuvenating your mind, body, and soul. When you are still enough (after a busy day) to relax and think about a lot of things. Even though I’m thankful for all season I have to give it to spring. Spring is the season for planting and blooming. All the storms you’ve experienced was stored away in the fall and harvested in the spring. I love happiness and bright pretty colors. Hearing the birds just warms my heart and not to mention (might sounds crazy) BUT hearing mowers is relaxing to me as well😂

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Tyland Lee
Tyland Lee
26 oct 2023

The change of season can sometimes be associated with feelings of depression for a few reasons:


  1. Seasonal Affective Disorder: I've felt the change of seasons. SAD usually occurs during the fall and winter months. The lack of sunlight can disrupt the body's internal clock and lead to feeling of depressing.


2. Social isolation: I tend to spend more time indoors and may have a limited of social interactions. This isolation can lead to feelings of sadness.


For months, God has been pruning many areas of my life. I'm learning to trust the PROCESS OF CHANGE!!

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ccmcgowan13
ccmcgowan13
24 oct 2023

This was a great read , I’ve been so overwhelmed with life right now, I’m not at a place of being in tune with God as I should be. I’m working on my relationship getting better with God, just trying to figure out how I can effectively do it with his help. Not how others may think I should grow as a Christian but what God has planned for me. Just pray for me as I get closer to God and get more in tuned with him.

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