Autumn is a fleeting season.  It is also a glorious season.  The hues of the trees change from a comforting peaceful green to flashes of yellow and red and orange.  In summer and winter, they may blur into green leaves and black branches.  In spring, the beauty is colorful but muted.  You cannot ignore the trees in the Autumn.  I am here!  But if you are not careful – you will miss it.  The leaves will crash to the ground, and all that will be left is dark branches of the trees against the cold sky and the memory.  So, don’t forget to look! 
 
You may be noticing that our children seem more present on Sundays this autumn.  They have been joining us for more parts of the service, sharing Joys and Sorrows with us as well as the usual storytime in services.  Coffee Hour will still begin while they are completing their classes, and so we will keep the doors to the Religious Education wing closed until 11:45am. (Your animated, delightful voices are hard for children to ignore without wanting to join you right away!)  When their classes end at 11:45am, they will join the rest of the congregation again. Older children will emerge on their own, and younger children with a teacher or parent. 
 
As they join us, our congregation’s children will be hard to miss – flashing by us, like the colorful autumn leaves dancing in the wind.  They say the most amazing things in their classes, and sometimes you will get a taste of it in the services.  They might blurt something out in the most unexpected places. Into moments we expect to be silent, a voice might exclaim or insist on being heard.  I invite you to embrace these moments and our children because they are fleeting – if we are not careful, the moment to smile instead of frown will be lost.  Too soon they will be grown, and the lessons and memories we give them – that smile or frown will be carried with them into their adult lives. 
 
On a practical note: if you see a child carrying a precarious plate, offer to help them by carrying their plate to a table or offering them a seat at the table.  If they are running too close to an unstable elder, provide assistance and/or offer the reminder to walk carefully.  Most children want to be helpful.  If you see a need, offer a helping hand and, of course, a smile.
 
Yours in Fellowship,
Heather Cleland-Host
Director of Lifespan Religious Education