Welcome fall!

I am so glad to see October! Fall is a favorite time of year for me-the leaves changing, the cooler weather and of course, pumpkins! I have a strange affinity for those orange orbs. Not sure where that comes from, but they make me smile. I am always on the lookout for that perfect one to display and I like to keep it around until well after the holidays pass.

Grandma's hip seems to be healing up nicely and mom has adjusted to Arkansas life pretty well. She likes to be needed and she is happy being there to help out with grandma. We were talking the other day about how much life has changed for us. It seems like things were pretty consistent there for a long while and then almost overnight our lives have been turned upside down, never to be the same again. I'm sure it's all part of God's plan for keeping us close to Him. If we get too comfortable, we tend to think we don't need Him as much. But life simply cannot stay the same, if we are to go with God. We can either embrace the changes and figure out how to be happy or reject them and be miserable.

I am working on my daily walk with Him. I want to be ready to respond when He speaks to me. I don't want to be so busy with the things of this life, that I cannot hear what God wants me to do. Along with the change of seasons comes the commitments of life with children. School projects, sports practice, meal preparation, bed time routine, hand-washing...it amazes me how a day flies by. The coming of fall reminds me that a new year is right around the corner. I certainly hope that 2010 has more happiness than 2009. Dad had a song on his mind the last few months of his life. I remember him asking me if I had heard it and he later talked to his friend George about it. I don't know all the words, but the most important line is "Many things about tomorrow, I don't seem to understand. But one thing about tomorrow is that I know who holds my hand."

Today I'm happy with the changes I see on the horizon and I'm at peace with the changes of the past. I think I'll put on a sweatshirt and smile at pumpkins.