I have always loved autumn. It used to mean the promise of a new school year, new books, sharp pencils, cute new clothes to wear, and being back together with friends after a long lazy summer. In later years, it meant exciting new college courses, decorating my own home for fall holidays, pulling out snuggly clothes for my children, and then getting them ready for school. Today is September 1, 2009. As if on cue for fall, the air is a perfect 72 degrees in Texas. I opened my windows this morning to hear the music of my youngest son’s high school marching band practicing on the football field just a half-block away. All the perfect ingredients for autumn… Yet, this year instead of the usual excitement, I feel loss. Deep loss. My oldest son left for college last week. Just three days later, I received the phone call telling me that my dear Granny had passed from this life into eternity. I look in the mirror, wondering what happened to the girl inside me. I see lines betraying the years that passed since I was the one heading off to college. I see what looks like a woman. A woman? Where is the girl? Truth hits squarely in the heart that I no longer have any living grandparents. My parents are now the patriarchs of the family. In fact, in just a few years, I myself could very legitimately be the grandmother. Where has the time gone? Where are the books I hoped to have published by now? Why haven’t many of those ministry goals been fulfilled by now? This is autumn! No time to waste for winter is coming! The words of Jesus which I read this morning in Luke 9:62 come quickly to my mind: “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” (The Message) Time to get busy.