As the blustery November winds blow across our fields, they sweep the last of the vibrant-colored leaves away. What remains are gnarly brown branches and tree stumps void of color. The harvested fields, too, appear bereft. Squirrels don’t linger; they scurry to bury treasures and build their nests. The deer now blend into the scenery. I find myself wishing for the first fall of snow to hurry here and sparkle on my drab fields—when I should be appreciating the late-autumn sense of anticipation. But still, I long for snow to brighten the world and stir up memories of my little boys dashing outdoors to catch the first snowflakes on their tongues.

Have you ever wished for something, received it, and then wished you hadn’t?

As beautiful as that first snowfall is, I know it ushers in colder, harsher winds and an atmosphere of loneliness. To this farmer’s wife, winter also means frozen water troughs, dragging hay bales through the snow to feed animals, barn doors that cannot close because they are frozen in place, and gates and fences knocked over while the ground is too frozen for posts to be replaced.

Farm living in wintertime sounds discouraging. Yet knowing what winter brings makes the last days of autumn critically important. The farm needs a clean-up and repairs before snows mound high around us. The habit of preparing for the future has enabled me to embrace the present, just as my little boys did.

And yet, like all farmers, I need to keep an eye on what is coming. Change and preparedness should go hand-in-hand—or glove-in-glove.

How prepared are you? Are you worrying and wandering through life? No need! Christ has prepared a way into the future for us, as he reminds us in John 14:1-3 (ESV): “Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?…I will come again, and I will take you to myself, that you may be where I am.”

No matter the season, we don’t need to wish for a faster, brighter future. It’s already ours. Jesus has promised, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 (ESV).

So, let us seize all the moments in our lives, even the drab ones. Don’t wish them away! They are neither accidental nor inconsequential. God has a plan for you and me. When we embrace His presence in our lives, we’ll find the joy in newness, as my boys did with each new snowfall.