By Crying Wind

Gah was born in the spring, and being a rabbit, he had dozens of brothers and sisters. He spent the warm days hopping around, eating tender green clover that grew next to the lake and racing home to his safe home under the blackberry bushes.

Life was perfect, and Gah never expected it to change.

By the time Summer arrived, Gah saw his brothers and sisters leave the grassy meadow and find new homes deeper in the forest. He missed them but decided to stay where he was. There were other rabbits in the meadow, but they were smaller than he was and they had longer ears and smaller feet and worst of all, they weren't his family.

Gah decided he'd make new friends and spent his time on the shore of the lake where there were ducks and geese. He liked watching the red-tailed hawks swooping down and grabbing fish in their strong talons.

When Fall came, Gah noticed changes. He had grown much larger than the other rabbits in the meadow. His ears were shorter than theirs and had black tips. His feet were nearly twice the size of other rabbits' feet and had extra long fur on them. His friends-the ducks and geese and red-tailed hawks-had all flown South for the winter. He was still being ignored by the other rabbits, and he felt all alone in the world.

Even worse, he felt he was growing old, as his pretty brown fur was turning white.

The tender green clover was gone now; the grass was dry and brown and covered with dead leaves. He had to scratch the ground to find roots to eat. Every day and night was colder than the one before and frozen white flakes fell from the sky.

By the time the snow was a foot deep, Gah's fur was completely white. When he hopped through the snow, he was nearly invisible. His huge, furry feet kept him from sinking into the snow, and he could easily hop wherever he wanted to go.

The other rabbits that had smaller feet would sink into the snow and have to struggle to go anyplace. Their fur was still brown and made them easy prey against the white snow.

"Follow me," Gah told them. "I will use my big feet to make paths in the snow, it will be easier for you to find food and to escape the fox and coyote."

Soon Gah was hopping through the snow, followed by the smaller brown rabbits. Because Gah's ears were shorter, they didn't get frost bitten like some of the rabbits with longer ears.

Winter wasn't as bleak and lonely as Gah thought it was going to be. His fur was thick and lush and as beautiful and soft as the snow.

When at last the snow melted and the days got warmer, Gah saw his white fur was turning brown again. His friends, the ducks and geese and red-tailed hawks returned to the meadow.

Gah felt young again. His life was not over; it was just different. He still had some of his old friends, and he'd made new friends. He had a whole wonderful spring and summer ahead of him. He would find a mate and have a family, and fall would come and winter-and his fur would turn white again. But he didn't have to be afraid when it happened again. He was clever and fast, and rabbits that were clever and fast lived years and years and would see many seasons and have hundreds of children.

And once again, Gah thought life was perfect.

Sometimes we fear change because we think "change" means we are going to lose something or change will make things worse. The seasons change our world four times a year. We might dread one season and welcome another season. Every creature on earth marks the seasons.

Jeremiah 8:7 tells us, "Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons and the dove and swallow and crane recognize the normal times for their migration."

That is very comforting to know that all creatures on Earth know seasons come and go and will return again-and God is in control just as he was in the beginning. We have nothing to dread or fear.

Crying Wind is the author of Crying Wind, My Searching Heart, When the Stars Danced, Thunder in Our Hearts, Lightning in Our Veins and Stars in the Desert.