500+ for 50 – day 25: the smell of a new season

This evening as I headed up the road on my jog I was blessed to encounter a familiar welcoming aroma.  We’ve had several days of rain here in Chapel Hill, but somehow the local roadway crews must have found the perfect break in the weather earlier in the day to cut the grass along the edge of the sidewalk where I run.  And what remained was an inviting scent that took me back nearly fifteen years to the early morning high school football practices of mid-August summer camp.  I’ll never forget the smell of the dew on the grass of a freshly trimmed lawn signaling the beginning of a new season.  It’s an aroma that’s fresh and alive – there’s nothing else like it.  It’s absolutely intoxicating.

I think that we all probably have scents that we are able to tie to certain emotional responses and memories.  I have several that trigger a reaction within me.  For instance, I love the smell of a charcoal grill at a tailgate.  Something about it gets the juices flowing inside of me – it’s a signal to my brain to lace them up, because it’s game time.  And then there’s the smell of my girlfriend’s perfume.  That aroma ignites a passion within me that burns deep – the fire in my heart that flames for her and her only.  Or take for example the smell of the sand and salty ocean water on my sun drenched skin.  Gosh I love that.  It’s always reminded me of my freedom and the lighthearted nature with which we were meant to live life.

But nothing truly compares to the fragrant offering that I encountered this evening which like clockwork will first present itself to me around this time of the year every year.  It’s not the aroma itself that I’m in love with…it’s really all that it signifies that I adore.  I believe that it’s God’s way of signaling and ushering in the new season.  And I don’t just mean the new football season (even though I am a HUGE fan of the pigskin).  It’s the new season of life.  Fall is the time of year when everything takes on a new color.  It’s an amazing time of transformation and change.  And for those of us who follow the gridiron, it’s an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and begin anew, undefeated.

Fall is a time to leave what lies in the past behind as we storm the field with a new mindset, a new mission.  If we are going to truly embrace transformative growth in our lives we need to disengage from the seasons that left us wallowing in defeat.  And instead we need to move forward with our hope and vision for the greatness that we will actively seek to achieve this season.  After all, we are undefeated, so who’s to say that this will not be our year of triumph?  If our minds can conceive it, we can most certainly achieve it. 

You have the opportunity today to start your season undefeated.  God has given you the signal.  Now it’s time to suit up and get ready for battle.  The failures of your past are long forgotten.  Remain in the mindset of a victor – hold your head high and take the field with confidence.  Because this, my friend is going to be your year.  This is the season of growth and change that you’ve been anticipating – this is the fall when your colors shine among the landscape of life. 

Breathe deep – can you smell it?  That’s the smell of the success that lies ahead… now go take it.

May God Bless!