why exactly.

I'm currently camped out in my parent's backyard, sitting on the deck, basking in the fall sunshine, enjoying a late lunch, the fall breeze, and the company of a best friend. It's been a perfect fall day and a perfect day at home, and it's only 2 in the afternoon. Certainly there's more fall-y goodness, birthday celebrating, and quality time to come.

Earlier this morning, Johanna and I made a trip to Caribou for some delicious fall drinks, and blasting music with the windows down on the way home was one of those moments that I'd love to seal away and remember forever. It was a quintessential fall moment, reminding me of why exactly I love this season.

Driving down Washington was a rich and intense, even breathtaking, display of color in the trees. Reds, yellows, oranges, and countless variations were wooing me with their beauty. The trees changing, for me, is a great reminder of what it means to be human.

I had a friend a few years ago challenge and drill me about this season. 'How can you love it so much?' he said, 'It's the ultimate sign of death and dying; a warning that the long winter is on its way.' True. The fullness of fall means that winter is on its way. The trees are in fact dying, and we're preparing for a long and dreary season of cold.

But I don't just want to leave it there. The trees, yes, they are dying, but they don't have to turn vibrant shades of color before they do. They could just turn brown and fall off. Instead, they turn the most intense and richly beautiful set of colors, like a fire burning or a smoldering sunset. That's why I love fall, because in the midst of death and dying, something beautiful is happening. God paints a beautiful scene for us to look at. In dying, His creation is on display in its full beauty.

I love this season, because it reminds of what it means to be human. We're all dying, in our own way. We're lost, broken, and headed for destruction, but God's beauty is on display at its finest in that. I really believe that God wants to use us in our death and dying and turn us into something beautiful. He rescues us from brokenness and dying and makes us a new, beautiful creation. And ultimately, He is glorified through that.

That's why exactly I love this season. It is the ultimate symbol of death, but at the same time, the most deep and rich beauty is revealed.

What do you love about this season? What does fall mean for you and for your story?