PHOTOGRAPHY & POETRY BY KATHY BOECHER

As storms rage all around us, I can’t help but feel sad for those suffering loss of property, material things and even lives. It is a tragedy for sure. Still, when we see how people come together in times of great peril, it warms the heart. Here in Minnesota, we’ve been blessed with an amazing weather year. There have been storms here, but nothing like the ones crossing the edges of our nation. We’re currently experiencing drought conditions, but we had an early spring and just the right amount of rain almost all the way through September. We’ve been blessed with unseasonable October weather as well. This week, we were able to see some brilliant colors popping in the landscape. God’s paintbrush is at work. Today I will bake an apple crisp to share at church tomorrow. We found an orchard on one of our road trips and will fill the house with the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg and baking apples. Certain signs of the season. Leaves are falling, laying a carpet of gold for our pleasure. Life is slowly coming to an end.

The following poem was written a while back to express how we look at God’s consistency in our lives. This has been a common thread for me this year as we reach milestones, welcome new life, celebrate living and rake through the muck of growing old. Knowing that God is always with us and that He never changes, makes life bearable, no matter what the circumstances.

DAYS GONE BY

The olden days,

Tranquility and peace,

Time to ponder all that is important,

Moments to smell the flowers,

To enrich,

To delight,

To foster imagination,

Through tendrils of motion,

Inspired rainbows of color,

Colors that only God can produce as candy for our eyes,

Gentle ,

Quiet,

Peace,

Yet even in that serenity,

Lies turmoil,

Fear and anxiety,

Death,

Time changes,

We wonder where those winsome days have gone,

We long for one brief moment,

When we can simply be alone with God,

To travel this earth with Him,

To be lifted through our abyss,

To be carried by His strong arms,

We don’t have to wait,

He’s with us always,

Even unto the end of the world.