The cool air of fall has set in and, as you might imagine, I couldn’t be happier. This week, our heat came on for the first time and diffused that lovely aroma of burning socks throughout the house. For 8 1/2 months of the Mississippi year, I live for this right here. This long-awaited, albeit, brief cool period. We, cold lovers, have November through mid-February to cool off and then it’s basically over for another long stretch of months and months’ worth of heat. Sure, we get excited about September and October when all the commercials are pumpkin spice and flannel shirts, but it’s just because we like to play pretend fall during those months, while you, Northerners, are already in your sweaters and jackets. The only real changes we have, at that point, are that we buy some candy corn, switch from our pastel short sleeves to our earth tone short sleeves, and then wait. And most years, we even have to subtract the weeks of Thanksgiving and Christmas from our already deficient pile as some mysterious phenomenon occurs in the South during those weeks- usually resulting in us switching back to the A/C and wearing shorts to see Santa. 

Anyway, I can’t explain why I’m drawn to this time of year, but I have been all my life. The cold, cloudy days have always been my favorite. The chilly winds blowing the leaves loose from their trees and moving the dark clouds across the sky. The earlier arrival of nightfall. The layering and bundling up. The hunkering down and covering up. The lazy, cold and rainy days. All the things that most of my friends despise are my very favorite things. I know. I’m an oddball. But, it’s like I go from just trudging along through the scorching months to suddenly feeling renewed and resuscitated simply by the chill in the air. 

Maybe another reason I’m partial is because I feel like this season brings more than just temperature changes. It’s this time of year when we become more loving, giving, and outward thinking than usual. Our hearts turn a little softer and our bad attitudes seem to mellow. We’re more sensitive to the needs of others and are more eager to share our blessings. We become mindful of the source of our provisions and tend to become more thankful for them. We’re gathered inside from the cold and darkness- forced away from our busyness and into the warmth of home with family and friends where we can enjoy what’s really important. Our thoughts just seem to be turned outward and upward as we go through this most lovely season and I love that, too. 

When I was a kid, I hated going to the doctor, but the winter months always brought me the sicknesses that were circulating around school at the time. Back in the day, a visit to the doctor with fever and a sore throat was an automatic sentence to a shot in your tail. You knew when the doctor rolled his stool over to the door, opened it, and gave the order to the nurse that ended in the letters, cc, you were doomed. As much as I hated turning over on that crinkly paper and having my bony bottom harpooned, there was something that happened afterward that I did love. We’d go home and, besides the overall preferential treatment we got when we were sick and having Sprite in the house, my mother would always tell me to get into my pajamas and she’d make up the couch as my sick bed so I could watch TV. I’d lie down on the bed of sheets and quilts and pillows and then she’d come and cover me with blankets. She’d pulled them up to my chin, tuck them in tight, and ask me if I was warm enough. Even though I was sick with chills and fever and it was cold outside, I had nothing but cozy feelings of being snug, safe, tucked in and cared for by my mother. 

We’ve all been through a lengthy season of boiling controversies and fevered debates. Some people have really heavy issues hanging in the air and the realities of these changing times- well, they can leave us feeling as if we might just self-combust. There are many with health troubles and financial worries and future concerns- honestly, I feel like we’re coming through what’s been a sort of oppressive season for everyone. Maybe a cool down is just what we need right about now- in more ways than one. A time to rest and regroup. To slow down, take a breather, and refocus our gaze. 

Whatever ails you. Whatever is weighing on your heart. Whatever is causing your spirit to be discouraged. Whatever emptiness you feel. Whatever worry is keeping your mind from rest. Whatever need you have. Whatever circumstance you can’t change. Whatever weariness overcomes you. Whatever loss still haunts you. Whatever fear won’t leave you alone. Whatever thoughts overwhelm you. Let your Father wrap you up in His blanket of love. Let Him pull them up to your chin and tuck them in tight and let this new season be one of respite and healing for the soul. No matter how sick or weak you’re feeling or how cold the winds blow around you, rest in the safety and comfort of being covered and cared for by the God of the universe. 

“But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.” Psalm 5:11-12