🍁 Falling Back to Faith, a Nov 2nd devotional

It's such a beautiful way to see the time change — “falling back” as an act of trust. Here’s a November Maple Lane Devotional that captures that idea — the slowing down, the gratitude, and the warmth of faith that lives close to home:

---

🍁 Falling Back to Faith

Scripture:

“In quietness and trust is your strength.”
— Isaiah 30:15 (NIV)

The clocks turned back last night. Most people see it as just an extra hour of sleep, but to me, it always feels like a pause button — a sacred breath before the rush of the holidays.

As I sat with my morning tea and looked out over Maple Lane, the world felt gentler somehow. The street was still. The trees, though nearly bare, were glowing in that late-autumn gold that only November brings. And in the hush, I sensed it again: life isn’t found in the hustle — it’s hidden in the hearth.

It’s easy to believe that the world’s rhythm is the right one — all hurry, noise, and endless striving. But God invites us to a different cadence. “Be still,” He says, “and know that I am God.” He teaches us to trust not in the clock, but in His timing.

Maybe that’s what this season is for — not racing toward the next thing, but returning to the steady warmth of home, heart, and Him. The hearth business of faith: simmering soup, whispered prayers, small kindnesses that never make headlines but keep love burning bright.

So this November, as the world falls back, I want to fall into His arms — to trust His slower pace, to notice His goodness flickering in ordinary moments, to remember that gratitude isn’t rushed.

Prayer:
Lord, teach me to rest in Your rhythm.
Help me slow down long enough to see
the beauty of what’s already here —
the quiet, the warmth, the grace You place
in every humble corner of home.
Amen.

Everyday Takeaway:
The clock may fall back, but faith always moves forward — one quiet, trusting heartbeat at a time.

---

Maple Lane Closing Scene:
Tori Rae pulled a quilt over her lap and listened to the soft hum of her kettle on the stove. Out the window, Maplewood’s streetlights flickered on, one by one — steady, familiar, homey. She smiled, scribbling her closing line for next week’s Everyday God column in the Maplewood Herald:

“The world says hurry up. God says, come sit by the fire awhile.”

And she did.