Giving Thanks, the Second

November is a changing month - according to our weatherman, it's the month we lose the most in temperature.  It also seems as if we lose a lot in daylight, too.  The days are getting noticeably shorter and cooler and what leaves are still on the trees are falling soon.  It's a transitional month between autumn and winter, being the last month of meteorological autumn.  But like each transition to another season, it brings it's own special joy.

I have family in Florida and in Texas and in California and they think their weather is better than in Chicago.  It's not as cold, it's not as grey, it's not as snowy (and they remember to point out all the cars stuck on Lake Shore Drive a few years ago). But is their weather really 'better'? I guess it's a matter of perspective.

Each season brings difficulties, but each season brings joy.  To have sunny skies all the time (or most of the time), to expect that most every day is to become complacent.  When it's cold and nasty and the winter is rough and that first nice day of late winter/early spring comes along, there is a joy that others can't experience.  There is a time for everything, a time for every season, that makes a year whole.

Today, as we have a cool, rainy, grey, overcast day, I am thankful for the changing season.  I am thankful for the experiences they bring, both the fun ones and the challenging ones. They help me grow, they help me know our world even when it's not at its best.   To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.  I am thankful for each and every one.