Happy Fall!

Dear Living Water Families, The last few weeks it has been starting to actually feel like fall is upon us and I absolutely love it. Fall is such a beautiful time of year! I love that the weather is cool but not too cold and the leaves are changing into those beautiful majestic colors. For me, the season of fall represents change; both changes in our schedules, as the freedom and flexibility of summer fades into the more structures routines of the school year, and changes in our landscape as the old leaves begin to fall off the trees in order to prepare for the winter months ahead. However change is not always easy because like the falling leaves this time of year, part of changing often involves leaving some things behind. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 Paul writes, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" In the spring we are reminded of the new life we have in Christ, but in the fall we reflect upon leaving aspects of our old selves behind us. I have been thinking about this a lot as we are going through the new series, Grace for Shame  on Sunday mornings this fall. We have been discussing what a huge blessing it is that we don't have to carry around our past baggage and mistakes. What a huge relief that we can leave those unpleasant choices and their consequences behind, let them fall to the ground and wither and blow away with the wind. I encourage any of you who haven't been able to join us on Sunday mornings for this new series to come and check it out. You can even listen to the first few sermons in this series by clicking HERE. It has been a great series so far and something I think we can all benefit from learning more about and applying in our lives. In our youth ministry this fall, we are excited for the changes that a new school year brings and have enjoyed getting back into the routines of Confirmation and High School Youth group at the church. It has been a great start so far and we are looking forward to the ways God is going to teach us more about his his grace as we seek him alongside our students this season. In Him, Jessica