Slowly I am catching up to the fact that we are in a new season. Fall. When temperatures go down and calendars fill up. New routines are set.

No matter what, every season signals a transition.

Maybe you’re…back on the school schedule. Starting a new job. Building new friendships. Looking for community.

Sometimes we are slow to accept a transition. We might carry on and keep doing, but our hearts take longer to catch up. The heart needs space to embrace the moments we’ve experienced. To see the profound beauty of the life we are living, the story God is writing. If we don’t take time to pause and pay attention, there is much we miss.

We miss the gifts of the last season.

The lessons learned.

The growth that happened.

The people who were present.

The stories to share.

The milestones to celebrate.

The moments that mattered.

The goodness of God…in the land of the living (see Psalm 27:13-14, one of my favorite verses).

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My summer was an active one. It looked nothing like the previous year, which was quiet and lonely. But this one, this one was deeply moving, mind-blowing, honestly real, and full of firsts. I didn’t know I was brave enough to do all that I did. And I didn’t know I could fit so many adventures into such a short time.

Halfway through the summer, I welcomed my next birthday. I had a dinner party with the people who are important to me. Friends who have been a big part of my life this year.

And almost every Sunday, I stood in a circle of friends. Well, I sat in my wheelchair, but I wasn’t feeling disabled or different. I wasn’t living on the outside edge. I was fully included. I was thriving in community.

Everyone seeks a people and a place to belong. I’m thankful I have found both. The summer showed me over and over, I am blessed. That feeling is one of the best in the world. Week by week I absorbed whatever happened. More than once I was brought to tears of gratitude for the depth of the story that is my life, the people who are in it, and the surprises along the way.

In the weeks to come, we are going to revisit some of those moments and milestones. While you are reading stories from the past few months, you can find me enjoying life in and with my community.

There were gifts in my last season, but there are gifts all around me right now.

I want to live, eyes open, heart aware:
God plants and places us where
where He wants us, where we can grow.