Woman to Woman: What is Your True Beauty?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; the old has gone, the new is here!”

Here we are knee deep in autumn, or should I say knee deep in leaves??!! Are the leaves changing and falling where you live, sweet friend? Eagerly awaiting the fall foliage display each year, I notice depending on the weather, it may be on the early side or the late side.

Where I live, the leaves this week are finally becoming colorful. The trees in my backyard boast a lovely shade of deep reds and yellows.

Intrigued by the way different trees change the color of their leaves, not only by tree variety, but even year to year, I marvel at autumn’s beauty. We have several maple trees where I work, and their leaves offer oranges, reds, and yellows. One leaf I picked up today, revealed such a depth of orange and yellows it was stunning to behold.

Today, watching the wind toss the colorful leaves to and fro, I thought about why leaves change their color this time of year. I know their chlorophyll breaks down, causing the leaves to lose their green color.

But did you know they inherently possessed the red, yellow, and orange colors they reveal once the green is gone? Rather than becoming something they never were in the first place, they simply reveal their true beauty.

The change in season, temperature, and length of daylight signals the tree to stop making food and the process begins. "Change" is the catalyst for revealing autumn’s true beauty.

Most of us dread change, especially when comfortable where we are, whether location or status related. Most surveys reveal the majority of people fear change.

While we know some change is good, and look forward to certain changes, in general the thought of change brings a bit of anxiety to most of us.

The most feared changes are the ones out of our control: sudden job loss, illness, forced relocation, or death. However, thinking back over changes in my own life, I realized regardless of whether I initiated the change or it happened outside of my control, some beautiful things were revealed.

I listed a few things from my own musings revealing the beauty resulting from change.

Personal growth. Every change I experienced brought growth in different ways. I have become healthier physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Strength of Identity. Change showed me who I am, my identity in Christ, what I value, and my own resiliency.
Gratitude. Change taught me gratitude, there's a definite beauty in a truly grateful person.
Humility. Right on the heels of gratitude, humility projects a quiet beauty. I learned to acknowledge I didn't have all the answers and it was OK to allow others to help.
Gentling. Just like a wild horse becomes gentle through training, change softened my edges. I made things less about me and more about others.
Patience. Especially with long standing changes, like the chronic illness of my daughter, I learned contentment in "waiting".
Intimacy with Christ. When change was out of my control, I learned to walk more closely with Jesus. Trusting His sovereignty over all things, my fears calmed, and His peace transformed my situations.

Today, as you enjoy the autumn colors, consider the change of season allows the leaves to reveal their true beauty to you. And I want to encourage you, if you are facing a life change that has you fearful, yield to the change, you may be surprised by the true beauty inside you that was there all along.

"Autumn's Gift is the True Beauty Revealed in Surrender" ~DMB

What frightens most about change?

Upon reflection, what beauty has change revealed in your life?