9 Faith-Filled Ways to Embrace Joy and Awe This Fall Season

As you share the beauty of the fall season with your family and friends, you can feel even more joy and awe together. Enjoy the season and seek inspiration together through simple fall practices like getting together for a meal and roasting marshmallows for dessert or playing a board game inside a cozy living room on a rainy afternoon. God created you for community, so enjoy fall with the people you love, and give each other the help and encouragement you all need. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 points out: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls, one can help the other up.” Reach out to a neighbor you haven’t spoken to in a while. Call a family member who lives far away. Host a simple dinner you’ve been thinking about hosting. As you do, you’ll enjoy experiencing love in action during this beautiful season. 

8. Practice gratitude: 

Fall is the season for the Thanksgiving holiday, so it’s a great time to develop a habit of practicing gratitude. Gratitude is a discipline of focusing on what you have rather than what you lack. The more you thank God for your blessings, the more blessings you’ll notice showing up in your life. Start a gratitude journal this fall, and each day, write down three to five blessings for which you’re thankful. The blessings can be big gifts like your health or your family, or small gifts like how you laughed about something with your children or enjoyed listening to a particular song. Practicing gratitude rewires your brain to notice the good that’s all around you, which is a direct reflection of God’s goodness. In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, the Bible encourages you to live a lifestyle of gratitude: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Notice that it says to give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances. Even on difficult days, you can still find something to be grateful for. So, this fall, give thanks regularly and you’ll experience joy and awe in the process. 

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