I tucked my feet beneath me on the couch and spread the warm fleece of a blanket over my legs. Sipping coffee, seeking peace, I stared out over the browning landscape as winter cold approached. Only random patches of autumn’s glory remained. Hold-outs. Stubborn like me, and not ready to let go, but knowing God’s grace all the same.

I was struck by how the trees with branches bare stretched, almost yearning toward the October sky, reaching toward the heavenly places.