Cycles

I have mixed feelings this time of year. School is beginning to fire up again. (In my other life, this was the time of year I lost sleep waiting to see what the enrollment was going to be.) But the days are getting shorter, the temperatures start to cool down, and we get into a routine again. It reminds me that another year past and the cycle begins again. It means that even more so now than it does at the end of the year.
Here are my mixed feelings. My kids are another year older. My first baby is now married. My second baby will be sixteen in just four months. That means I'm another year older. With the fall temperatures there is a reminder that winter is right behind. The leaves will fall from the trees and the cold returns. And although the Nebraska winters aren't really as bad as everyone thinks, they are still cold and it does snow.
It's the cycle. God made everything that way with the seasons, the years, and everything that comes with it. Recently I read something talking about an older person being in the winter of life. Personally, I don't like that. That makes it sound like it' s the end of everything. My understanding is that's just the beginning and there is no end. So when we're born, why isn't that the summer of our lives? Then through our teenage and young adult years we go through the fall of our lives. After that comes middle age, the winter and then old age, the spring. Then from there the rest of our eternity! I know that sounds weird and like I'm trying to split words, but isn't this what we truly believe? I don't know, just something to think about. Have a great day! JW