There are two kinds of people in this world: those whose favorite season is spring and those whose favorite season is fall. I get why people (in their wrongness) choose spring over fall, with the flowers budding, the grass greening, and all creation waking up and coming to life. It has resurrection written all over it. But fall... is glorious. Not to be outdone, fall boasts its own color palette with the tinges of orange, yellow, red, and even some purple scattered about. Spring may shout resurrection as everything 'springs' to life, but fall speaks deliverance. Deliverance from existing on Satan's back porch in the sweltering heat.

You just can't beat mornings on the deck with a hoodie, a mug of coffee, and a cat draped across your lap. The AC is turned off. The windows go up. The house breathes for the first time since May. It's as though all creation sighs with relief.

It reminds me that spiritual meaning is all around us when we're open to noticing, and these showy seasons give us a jolt to wake up and take notice. I believe with all that is in me that God isn't something hidden behind a church door, or only to be found under layers of doctrine, or hidden away for only a few to encounter. I believe this creation is utterly saturated with God and we miss noticing a lot of times BECAUSE God is so present, like the air we breathe. (We don't really spend much time noticing the air either, unless it's problematic for us.)

Fall jolts me awake and reminds me to take notice of the many, many ways God is all around me and all around you. Even on the days that aren't particularly scenic or delightful. Maybe especially on those days.

Have you ever picked up a rock from a creek? It's completely saturated with water. If you crack it open, water is all through the rock and yet - the rock is still the same rock, just with water all through it. That's how I picture God in relation to all of us and all of creation: completely saturating it all, not diminishing any of it. I think it's worth noticing, and sometimes I forget.

My wish for you this week, Reader, is that you have cause to notice how God is all around and within you. And I pray that you have an opportunity to encounter that presence in a meaningful way. That's the fiLLLed life.

Live a fiLLLed life, Melissa