Is August Really Fall?

I grew up with the year being divided perfectly into three-month segments, as God intended.  December, January, and February were winter.  March, April, and May were spring. June, July, and August were summer.   September, October, and November were fall.  September was back to school month.  Things rarely stay the same; we know everything changes with time.   

Unfortunately, August is back to school in Kentucky  (some other states as well).  I’m not sure who to take this issue up with but I feel quite certain it wouldn’t matter anyway.  C’est ’la vie!  I’ll just do what I have power to do…talk about it in this blog.  Even though we don’t have children at home anymore, it still makes me sad.  I start feeling this stress come on me after mid-July, as I hear people talk about the few days left before school starts.  Other than getting spiral notebooks for .10 cents I can find no other reason to rejoice.

I am a summer girl, always have been and always will be.  My birthday is August 20th which is a summer birthday!  I refuse to relinquish that birthright.  Everyone else in my family loves fall with the cool weather, the change of leaves, sweaters, scarves, boots and all that bulky nonsense.  While I can appreciate that, it just leaves me feeling down.  Give me a pair of shorts, a short sleeve shirt, a pair of flip-flops and I’m all set.  I’m always melancholy when my flowers start to look weary and the ground begins the day wet with dew.  These are the signs that the weather is going to change soon and my precious summer goes away for 9 months.  I could go 365 days with 80 degrees of full sun and warm breezes without the slightest variation whatsoever and be the happiest person on earth.  When I look at the weather app and I have 7 suns in a row, my heart starts to soar.  Happy days are here again!

The dying fall and dead winter are especially the times I need to draw even nearer to God.  It is the time of year where the sun shines less and the days are much colder.  I have great news for all of my fellow summer loving friends… The weather will change but God never does.  God is absolutely unchanging. That is a fact I can rejoice in!  So let the wind blow, let the storms come rolling in, let the leaves wither, die and fall because I have a God who always stays a perfect 80 degrees, cool and dry, no humidity, with full sun all the days of my life. His faithfulness overwhelms me and is forever dependable.  He is steady, sure and constant.  This truth is so comforting to me in days that are changing at neck breaking speeds.  

If I’m not really careful I have a tendency to base my joy on what is going on around me.  I struggle to “rejoice in all things” if the circumstances aren’t to my liking.  Starting the day reading the Word of God and spending time in prayer is my secret recipe for beating the back to school blues.  I am studying James and it is just what I need to be motivated to stay grounded and serving God regardless of the things happening around me.

James 4 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

 Just Jesus,

Sheri Langley