As we approach the season of Fall and the leaves start to bring forth their vibrant colors and the feeling of the air begins to change, my thoughts are turned to recognizing the miracle of change.  Change surrounds us each new day and each new season.  The change of flowers springing up from the ground and the change of blossoms turning into fruit, never cease to amaze me.  Likewise, I continue to be greatly amazed by the changes that occur all around me here at Alpine.  Miraculous changes occur each new day and each new season in the lives of these beautiful young women and their families.  As I observe and feel these changes, I am also changed for the better.

Change is all around us.  It is a choice that we make to be open, hopeful, and accepting to the miracle of change.  Sometimes though, it is easy to become stuck in the frustration of things that we have tried to change over and over again.  We can start to lose hope after we have seen other make the same mistakes over and over again or be overwhelmed with self-loathing due to our own continual struggles.  Sometimes these frustrations lead us to creating an internal belief that change is not possible.  Part of the poem called “The Change of the Season” describes this well as it reads:

“The leaves change their color and fall to the ground.  No one questions their changes, they don’t make a sound.  They know that a leaf can change and it will.  But they think that people cannot fit that bill.”  ~Ryan Lee Morris

May we have hope in the miracle of change; acknowledging that people, just as leaves, have and always will continue to change even through the most difficult of seasons.  May we nourish the belief that change is possible and continue to be amazed as we observe those incredible changes occurring each day and season of our lives.