Drove home from Peachtree City this morning under a glorious fall sky. When I rode the through Rock Mills a line of fall brown sweet gum leaves blowing across the street were traveling like ducklings following behind their mother. I slowed down and watched the duckling leaves make their way to the other side of the road. All the way home I was filing away the memories of four days with my grandchildren — attending my grandsons’ symphonic band concert, card games of Go Fishing and Scrabble with my granddaughter, watching college football, lots of laughter and giggles watching I Love Lucy, a big red Lego dragon, and beautiful blessings said at mealtime by the children.

We saw critters, too. I think I’m a critter magnet. We had an 8-point buck peeking in my son’s home office window Friday morning, saw a very long chicken snake stretched across the driveway taking a sun bath till my son kicked the snake’s tail and it skedaddled, and some kind of screeching critter in the tree tops. Told my son the screeching critter was one of the escaped monkeys from the truck crash in Mississippi. It kind of sounded like Fatty the squirrel’s “Frank” alarm with a sinister tone. Scared me!

Father Sky sketched a beautiful blue ocean sky this morning and filled it with schools of fish shaped clouds. The clouds were floating in groups, their bellies striped in blues and grays and purples, their tops bleached white by the sunshine. I watched them swim through the sky all the way back to sweet home Alabama.

Mother Nature got up grumbling and distracted and turned the thermostat to winter instead of fall, getting the cold wind stirred up. The wind chimes are riled by the cold winds, banging out boisterous loud symphonies. The bamboo have been dancing all day, slapping the ground and knocking their trunks together while looking for their polka dotted winter turtlenecks to cover their skinny trunks.

Now I’m sitting in my reading chair comfortably dressed in my feeted pajamas watching the bamboo out my window doing their wind calisthenics, pondering on something I heard on TV late afternoon. The character on Sullivan’s Crossing said, “Not all stories have happy endings.” Such a true statement. Sometimes we pray for happy endings but our happy ending doesn’t happen. Cassia Leo writes, “Not all stories have happy endings but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth the read.” Happy stories give us hope and inspiration, teach us that we can overcome life’s trials, show us that good can prevail over evil. I think happy stories encourage us to learn to be optimistic.

Life is full of disappointments and sad stories. We face disasters, deaths of loved ones, sickness, injustice. These challenges teach us how to deal with our own fears and pain and teach us how be empathetic with others. We pray to God during the sad times to turn our pain to joy. Revelation 21:4 states, “God will wipe every tear from their eyes.” We can find peace through our prayers as we pray for guidance, turning our burdens over to the Lord.

“People love happy endings. But not every story has a happy ending. And such stories are mostly forgotten with the thought that sadness is a part of life. Happy stories give hope and sad stories show us the mirror,” Ravinder Singh. Sad stories are like a mirror showing us grief and despair are emotions we all share. Living on this earth has challenges. But moments of happiness break through and we can feel the warmth of God’s love as we navigate through life. Bible scripture encourages us to find joy and hope through our faith and the power of the Holy Spirit when we face hard times.

Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation.” Having faith doesn’t mean you’ll live a life free from the world’s challenges but it does mean you’ll never face those challenges alone. God will be present offering hope and comfort, standing steadfast by our side. Albert Einstein said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” God will help us keep moving through our difficulties till we can stand balanced, straight and tall.

“Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent of how you react to it.” — Charles R. Swindoll