The nights are suddenly chilly. Sweaters and warmer pajamas are being fished out of drawers. Today the air is crisp and cool, and the deep blue skies of autumn reign overhead.

Another summer is gone. The heat and humidity and drought that characterized those uncomfortable months have been replaced with gentle rains and cool breezes—marvelous sleeping weather without the artificial chill of air conditioning.

I sat one night in the dark with the open window near me. It was raining outside, and it was windy. The moist and chill air blew across my face, and it was refreshing and peaceful to feel a touch of the elements outside while dry and snug inside.

It isn’t very light anymore at 7pm. The darkness creeps in earlier and earlier in its autumnal encroachment. The lights are on now over the dinner table, and conversation revolves around school and homework. The tennis rackets, golf clubs and bikes on the porch wait for the weekend, or the weekend after that in some cases, as busy schedules leave less and less time for their use.

My children are growing (as kids are known to do.) This fall, Emily is losing the chubbiness of toddlerhood and her legs hang longer from her car seat and booster at the table. She is using bigger words, reasoning and holding conversations with the eternal question, “Why, Mama?” William is growing up, his thinking maturing. I listen to him talk with his father sometimes, and I realize how much of a wonderful young man he really is becoming. Mary is growing into a young lady. She knows her way around the kitchen like a pro, makes dinner, talks about her goals to be a graphic designer, and loves her small sister in that charming way older girls have with little girls. She has changed much since the last time the trees changed into their brilliant fall dress.

I have changed much also since the last time the leaves put on their autumn show. Another year older, God willing, another year more insightful, another year progressed on the path God has set for my life. I’ve stepped back into the field I know so well, working for a radio network 1200 miles away. Thanks to technology, I never have to leave home to do it. So the leaves begin their subtle transformation this year with new opportunity and blessings and challenges ahead.

This brisk weather is refreshing today, like the crunch of a good apple. Speaking of apples, I am entertaining visions of apple crisp. If I get busy, my two teenagers and beloved husband will be greeted with that wonderful aroma when they step over the threshold later after a day of hard work. The seasons may change, but the embrace of home upon their return stays the same.