School Begins

So it's the first day of school. My candles are burning, my heart is ready. To me, it's the official kick off of Fall AND another great year begins for my child. By this time next year...we'll be eyeball to eyeball. I'm sure of that.

Waiting For Autumn Rains

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord.

My heart and flesh cry out for the living God.

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have their hearts set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.--Excerpts from Psalm 84

Valley of Baca....the place of deepest grief ever known to man, a valley of tears, adversity.

This person found God turning tears into a well of water.

We are to set our heart on the journey.

Do not turn from the Valley of Baca for your promise awaits on the other side.

The Strange Beauty of Autumn

Beauty is not caused. It is. --Emily Dickinson

Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future. --Oliver Wendell Holmes

Somehow, uniquely, God desires to use those difficult moments of our lives to bring forth something extraordinarily beautiful. Even the natural creation attests to this truth. In fall, we marvel at the gorgeous, lush colors of burnt amber, burnished orange, brilliant red, and bright yellow leaves, even as that beauty belies the slow and gradual death of those leaves. Winter buries those leaves under the cold, dark blanket of snow and frost. And yet, death brings forth life. Spring bursts forth year after year with jonquils, iris, lilies, and all the beautiful pastels of new life. --Jill Carattini, Slice of Infinity


Fall is coming. My favorite time of year. I haven't felt it in the air just yet, but these words above from Jill Carattini reminded me that there will be another October soon. I'm glad. I come alive in October. It's the best month God ever created.

If the Lord is willing, I will be burning candles, cooking soups, and riding horses. I will be nesting and putting burnt orange silk arrangements on my front doorstep in this fair time. I will listen to the music of James Taylor and Eva Cassidy and sense the strange beauty of life again. The sign on my door will say, "Welcome," and I will paint my walls hues of amber and laugh with the ones I love.