No one ever consults me about the best day for the seasons to change. Summer into fall. Fall into winter.

You? Oh, we may have opinions about it, but . . .

It happens when it happens.

In the same way, l’ve occasionally awoken to find myself in a whole new life chapter. There’s been a tectonic shift in family dynamics. A loved one’s passing from my world, on to the better land. A move, a worklife shift, a health change. Any sudden redefinition of “home,” even one that’s seemingly positive, is unnerving.

As The Color of Home opens, Audrey and her great-aunt Daisy, two women in very different life seasons and circumstances, are both experiencing these qualms.

A current of anxiety runs beneath the skin. Fear may seep into our spaces like black mold. Sadness books a room, offering no checkout date.

And yet.

This morning I heard “look up.” Through the now-bare aspen limbs, I tracked a knot of small dark birds moving to the same fast-paced choreography. Together drawing seemingly random curlicues across the sky. Playful, it seemed. Jubilant, even.

Young birds, about to experience their first winter.

Their message to me?

Notice the now-barren trees! The newly opened view! The greater offering of sunlight to warm and comfort us through winter.

Right on time.

More visible now are the roosting birds, hailing each silvered morning with song, the multitudes of stars glittering on the blackest of nights.

A more expansive view, just when we need it most.

Look up! The natural world testifies to God’s faithfulness in every season.

My friend, the Lord has already made provision for whatever season you face. Provision in nature, provision for your soul.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

-Isaiah 26:3