A Beautiful Ending

"Fall is proof that change can be beautiful."

Nov 06, 2022

Article voiceover

0:00

-1:53

Fall is one of my favorite seasons for obvious reasons like the changing colors of the leaves and the cooler weather (oh wait, I live in California…).

As we embrace the change of the seasons, it’s easy to promptly close the door on that chapter and move into the next.

This season though, I feel a pause.

I am awestruck by the endings God has brought me through in the last year alone—we closed the door for the last time on our first home together; I ended a job at the church that taught me so much in some of the most formative years of my life, and some freelance opportunities ended for better or for worse. We were READY for the new things: new home, new job, new adventures, but it was and is important for me to slow down and see what God brought me through and how he positioned the endings to line up with new beginnings.

There is a lot to process in these endings—grief, confusion, worry, but maybe something else too.

Sometimes, it's the end of something that is the most beautiful, the end of something that can shape us the most - but we rarely take the time to pause and appreciate it.

We rush off to the next task, hurry to start something new that makes us feel worthy, anxiously await the moment we can crawl into bed at the end of a long day, and usher our minds into a dream that might be better than the reality we just lived.

But maybe, as the sun sets slowly, and the sky fades to pinks and purples, painted with swishes of soft clouds, God reminds us that He is Creator and we are creation.

an evening walk sunset that reminded me to stop and watch the sun end its day’s work here before beginning its day’s work in another part of the world

There's no need to hurry. There's no need to continually try to convince yourself that you are in control.

The to-do list will still grow.

Your next assignment will never fulfill your soul alone.

Your bed will be waiting for you.

The abundant life is on the other side of your dreams.

I don’t know what door is closing for you, but don’t let it shut before you sit and watch the sun set—to appreciate where you’ve been so you can better appreciate what door you walk through next.

God is in the ending waves of sorrow, worry, and relief just as much as He is in the beginning thrill of excitement, caution, and open-mindedness.