Gratitudes - Autumn

I love autumn. It is one of my four favorite seasons of the year ;).

10 reasons why I am thankful for this stretch of time on the calendar...

1. The crunch of fall leaves.

2. I love walking in fall. It gets dark earlier. I love walking in the dark (but not late at night!). It's cooler, no humidity, very few bugs. The cool air is refreshing and the smells are amazing!!

3. I love the colors. Bright oranges, yellows, reds and greens. Everything turns a fiery shade before going dormant. A blaze of glory, if you will.

4. I love all things cozy. Hoodies, slippers, my favorite pair of mittens. Snuggling in with a cup of hot coffee, tea or chocolate (really, I'm not that picky!!).

5. Re-organizing the closet. You can't go into fall and winter with your shorts and tank tops on the most accessible shelf (at least not in Manitoba!!). I LOVE a freshly organized closet. The change of the season gives me extra incentive to tidy up, downsize (or restock :P).

6. Fall has always been a season of revelation for me. For some reason I have learned much about myself and others as life shifts into routine. All of the things my mind and heart grappled with over the busy months of summer (when prayer, journaling, reading and contemplating are less frequent) clarify as I sit and listen and learn.

7. I love the smells. Harvest (thankfully I am not allergic to dust!), gardening, cooking/ canning/ preserving the yumminess of summer in some small way.

8. Far. fewer. bugs. Really, I cannot emphasize this enough!

9. Pumpkin pies. YUMMMM!

10. Getting ready for celebrations. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Birthdays. Planning parties, making gifts. Sifting through my collection of ideas (for practicality and price-reasonableness!!!) and finding just the right thing. I subscribe to Better Homes & Gardens 100 Days of Holidays newsletters, and every day I am sidetracked by creative inspiration and things I'd never do, but would love to :).

I am thankful for the changing seasons. Thankful for the beauty each brings. Thankful for the different aspects of myself that each draws out. God is certainly creative!

A Time for Everything

 ¹ There is a time for everything, 

       and a season for every activity under heaven:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die, 

       a time to plant and a time to uproot,

 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal, 

       a time to tear down and a time to build,

 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, 

       a time to mourn and a time to dance,

 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, 

       a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up, 

       a time to keep and a time to throw away,

 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, 

       a time to be silent and a time to speak,

 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate, 

       a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil?

¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on men.

¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time.

He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;

yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for men

than to be happy and do good while they live.

¹³ That everyone may eat and drink,

and find satisfaction in all his toil

—this is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I know that everything God does

will endure forever;

nothing can be added to it

and nothing taken from it.

God does it so that men

will

revere

him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14