Sometimes it is in mundane, everyday moments that we receive insights about life on this earth and its relationship to eternity.
I was hanging some rugs out to dry on the old-fashioned clothesline in our yard when I heard the rustling of the gold and red leaves on the nearby trees. It was almost as though they were chattering to each other, having a rushed, last conversation before they fell to earth to die. And I thought: “But there will be new leaves again, next spring. Life will be renewed, according to our Creator’s design.”
And I remembered that according to His design, we, too, will be renewed. We will be resurrected. Jesus died not only for our sins, but so that we, as He did, may come forth again (Isaiah 25:8, 26:19).
I am old now. The number of my future autumns seems far more limited than when I enjoyed the gold and red of fall leaves as a boy. But in the chattering of those leaves I hear whisperings of hope.
There will be a spring, and new life, and that life will be eternal. Jesus said so (John 11:25, or Moroni 7:41 in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ).
Every spring, it seems, I photograph some of the same things as I walk around our home in rural Idaho, strolling down the lane to the pastures below this small farm town. My redundant photos are a celebration of new life, a way of praising God for the beautiful gifts He keeps on giving.
The old tree outside our back door here keeps teaching me lessons. I have written about it before. In the fall, it looks like it might be done for, like this might be its last gasp. And yet each spring the tree puts forth new blossoms and new leaves.
Learning to Walk by Faith 