"I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it." ~Lee Maynard

The sun did indeed shine yesterday, and it was beautiful!  While driving through town, I took special notice of the changing leaves in the brilliant sunshine.  Fall has always been my favorite time of year.  Albert Camus wrote that "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."  

Fall is always a welcome season of cool temperatures after a long, hot, Texas summer.  It is filled with football, sweaters, hunting, pumpkin spice lattes, hay rides, Halloween, and Thanksgiving.  Acorns are falling while the animals are busy preparing for the winter ahead.  There's nothing quite like taking an early morning walk on a clear, crisp fall day, enjoying the changing colors, and the crunch of the fallen leaves underfoot.  Fall is also the perfect time to take account of the year - what we've done, what we didn't do, and what we can improve on next year.

We've all heard how the seasons of the year can be a metaphor of the seasons of life.  Joe L. Wheeler wrote, "Time remorselessly rumbles down the corridors and streets of our lives.  But it is not until autumn that most of us become aware that our tickets are stamped with a terminal destination... that whatever can be done with our thoughts, words, and actions must be done soon.  As we hypnotically watch the steadily diminishing reserve of sand in Life's hourglass, the instincts of a miser surface.  Life is now savored, sipped as a fine nineteenth-century French wine... It is during the autumn of our lives that this inner vintage begins to sculpt and paint the face as it seeps through the skin from within."  I'm not sure at exactly what age you enter the autumn of life.  I guess it depends largely on how long you will live on this earth, but I feel my seasons are soon to change from summer into early fall.  The "leaves" on top of my head are definitely beginning to change color!

Today as I contemplate the little things I so often take for granted,  I'm thankful for the changing seasons - especially fall - and what I can learn from them.  Just like my inability to prevent them from changing each year, I also lack control over the hourglass of time that pushes me toward the fall and winter of life.  I need to be sure that when fall comes, I am not wistfully looking back to the summer and even spring.  But like the animals, I instead should be preparing for winter - clearing away the dead leaves, and helping others who will be starting the new gardens of spring and summer, ultimately focusing on the end of my winter, when I will begin that endless spring of eternity.

"The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain." ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Yesterday was messy.  It rained ALL DAY.  I enjoy rain when I can stay at home.  In fact, it is quite soothing to be curled up on the couch, watching the rain out of the window, and listening to the hypnotic pattering on the roof.  But yesterday I couldn't stay home.  So, I armed myself with my umbrella, and off I went.

Beyond the obvious problem of getting wet, rain leads to dirty cars, water splattered on the inside of the car door, puddles that have to be walked through, mud tracked in the house, and dangerous driving conditions.  Rain makes cold weather seem colder, and it causes some people to feel sad. Rain can ruin a planned picnic, a baseball game, or an outdoor wedding.  Occasionally, it rains while the sun is shining, but for the most part, when there's rain, there is also no sunshine.  But in spite of its inconveniences, we all know that rain is necessary.  More than that, rain is a blessing from God.

Life is kind of the same way.  It can be messy.  Things happen to us that cause inconvenience, worry, and even danger - the rain of our lives, if you will.  People disappoint us, and sometimes they even hurt us.  We get sick, sometimes chronically so.  We lose loved ones.  Sometimes we lose our jobs, or suffer a hit to our bank accounts due to some unforeseen emergency.  Houses flood, or burn down, our cars break down, the refrigerator stops running, or the dog dies.  And the list goes on and on.  

But just like physical rain, those storms of life can actually be beneficial, even in spite of the mess.  They can make us more focused on what is truly important in life, and cause us to be more appreciative of the good - just like the way we will appreciate the sun when we finally see it again.  Rain in our lives can draw us closer to God, and give us the unique perspective of suffering that allows us to be able to help out others who will experience similar storms (2 Cor. 1:3,4).

The weather man says that today the sun will shine.  If he's right, I will appreciate its warmth and light more because of yesterday's rain.  But if rain comes again today, I will also be thankful for the good and the growth it will bring.  And I pray that I will also feel the same regarding the "sunshine" and "storms" of life.

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." ~Mother Teresa

Yesterday didn't start off the best for me.  I wasn't feeling well, and I hadn't slept much the previous two nights.  An early morning appointment filled my calendar, and I really didn't feel like going.  Reluctantly, I went anyway - with a frown on my face.  I stopped by Target to pick up a few things I needed on the way, and trudged to the checkout line feeling quite grouchy.  As I placed my items on the conveyor belt, the lady who checked me out looked me in the eyes, chirped a cheery "Good morning!". . .  and smiled at me.  I mean, she really smiled!  And guess what?  I smiled back!  And I immediately felt better!

I've been told that I sometimes tend to have a natural "frown" to my countenance.  My family teases me about the fact that I apparently frown when I am asleep.  I try to be conscious of this - at least when I'm awake - and make an effort to have more of a smile.  I've read that it takes seventeen muscles to smile and forty-three to frown, so apparently my face gets quite a workout when I sleep! 

We know that we smile when we're happy, but research has shown that the reverse is also true - smiling can help us feel happier.  In the late 1890's, Dr.  Fritz Strack and his colleagues at the University of Mannheim in Germany did an experiment where they divided volunteers into two groups.  Some were asked to hold a pencil between their teeth, and the rest were asked to hold it between their lips. Grab a pencil and try it!  You’ll find that one forces a smile and the other forces a frown. Participants were then asked to read a series of comics and rate the degree of humor.  The findings revealed that a forced smile can indeed boost humor, as patients who held the pencil between their teeth found the comics funnier than those who held it between their lips.

So as I focus on the little things this month to be more thankful for, today I am thankful for smiles.  The writer of Proverbs tells us that, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones" (Prov. 17:22).  The genuine smile offered by the lady who checked me out at Target helped to improve my day.  I need to be more like her, as I make a conscious effort to share more smiles.  H. Jackson Brown, Jr. wrote, "Today, give a stranger one of your smiles. It might be the only sunshine he sees all day."  And by sharing a smile, that sunshine will be reflected back to help to warm my day as well.

One of my all-time favorite "smile-ers"--
This still makes me smile every time I see it!

"Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves, and the only way they could do this is by not voting." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Today's thankfulness post will be brief.  It is election day, and many people take the right to vote for granted.  We are blessed to live in a country where we have a voice as citizens to choose our leaders.  So go vote!  Today I am thankful for that right, for freedom, and for the blessing of being a citizen of this great nation.

"God gave us memories that we might have roses in December." ~J.M. Barrie, Courage, 1922

This morning as I thought about my focus this month of being more thankful for the little things, I looked out my back kitchen window and saw it.  It came to me in a little pot 11 years ago - an expression of sympathy from a thoughtful group of friends upon the passing of my father - a small camellia bush.  It was chosen by my friends specifically because of the fact that it blooms in the fall - the same time of year that my daddy died.

Jeff planted it in the back yard next to our swimming pool.  It was little then - no more than a foot high.  Over the past 11 years, it has grown into quite a large bush.  And every year at this time it puts out the most beautiful pink blossoms.  The imagery is never lost on me.

The week of my daddy's accident was the worst week of my life.  His sudden, unexpected death left me reeling.  I've written here before about the memories that are forever burned into my mind of that week - and they are not pleasant.  However, that week, with all of its sadness, is not what I think about when I see that camellia bush.  No, that bush reminds me that even though 11 years have passed, my daddy's legacy lives on.  He is not forgotten by those who knew and loved him, and more importantly, the influence he had in our lives continues to produce a sweet aroma.  The blossoms each fall remind me that out of something so tragic can come something quite beautiful - Daddy left us with the greatest blooms of all - the hope that we will see him again one day when this life is over. 

My camellia bush also reminds me of the love of sweet friends.  In that simple act of sending that bush to us 11 years ago, they provided a continual reminder for me of not only the blessing of a wonderful father, but also the blessing of friendship.

Reminders are important.  We get so busy with life, we often forget to focus on the important things - including the "small" things.  "Reminder" is simply defined as "a thing that causes someone to remember something."  The root "mind" is preceded by the suffix "re," meaning "again."  So literally the word means to bring to mind again.  

So, this morning as I look out my kitchen window, I'm thankful for reminders that bring sweet memories.  And I hope those reminders will help me today in two ways:  first of all, to be like my friends of 11 years ago - thoughtful of others in seeking to ease their burdens; and secondly, to continue to honor my father by honoring my Father.  

"I can't think without my glasses." ~Vivienne Westwood

I was six years old when I got my first pair.  It was first grade, and I couldn't see the chalk board from my seat in Mrs. Coats' classroom, and that's how we knew.  My mother took me to Dr. Stoltzer, where I was diagnosed with "progressive myopia."  Because of the "progressive" part of that, my vision worsened quickly - for several years I had to get a stronger prescription every six months.  It finally leveled out, and for the past 20 years, my prescription has changed very little.

I wear contacts most of the time, but would be lost without my glasses.  My glasses are the last thing I take off at night after I get into bed, and the first thing I grab each morning as I rise.  My distance vision is extremely poor, and there is no way I could function without something - contacts and glasses - to help.  In the past year, my near vision has begun to decline as well, forcing me into reading glasses.  While I might complain from time to time about all of the inconvenience of relying on vision correction, I am thankful for the aid it provides.

The first eyeglasses were made in Italy in 1286.  So I wonder, what did people who lived before then do?  I thought about all of this yesterday, when my left earpiece on my glasses broke, and I also realized I'm down to my last pair of contacts.  The thought of being myopic without the ability to correct it is troubling to me!

But have you ever looked up "myopia" in a dictionary?  While the first definition relates to the eye, it is also defined as "lack of foresight or discernment; narrow-mindedness; intolerance."  With my eye condition of myopia, only those things very close to me are discernible; everything at a distance is a blur.  And I'm thankful this can be corrected easily.  But I need to examine my heart, and make sure that I don't have myopia there.  Is that as troubling to me as the thought of physical myopia?  It should be more so!

In our young ladies' Bible class, we've been talking about this very thing - hypocrisy.  That's what it really is to have heart myopia.  Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

I am thankful for my contact lenses, and my glasses (and my Mr. Fix-it Husband who can repair them when they break), so that I don't have to go through my days physically myopic.  But I'm much more thankful for my Heavenly Father, who loves me enough to give me His Word to help guide my heart in a way that I don't have to be spiritually myopic.

So from now on as I reach for my glasses each morning, thankful for the clear vision they provide, I hope that simple act will remind me to live a genuine life that day, filled with God's wisdom, free from pretense and intolerance - free from heart myopia.

First pair of glasses - first grade

"We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment." ~George Eliot

Since this idea of being more aware and thankful of the small things in life all started with my problematic "B" key, I think it is only fitting that I begin the month with two little blessings that begin with that letter - Buster and Brinkley!  

Buster is our 15 year old miniature Dachshund.  He does little more these days than sleep, but it hasn't always been that way.  He "grew up" with our kids, and we got him primarily so that they could experience the joy and responsibility of having an "inside dog," but he quickly became MY dog.  While everyone else went to school and work everyday, I was home with Buster, and he was my constant companion, following me everywhere I went.  He still tries to do that even now, but doesn't always wake up whenever I leave the room he is currently occupying.  He is old, turning grey, he can't see well, and he doesn't hear much anymore.  Most would consider him to be "worthless," but he has given us a lot of unconditional love and joy through the years, and we love him right back.

Brinkley is Becca's little one-and-a-half year old terrier mix.  He is young, bouncy, and full of life!  He loves everyone he meets, and gets VERY excited when anyone comes home.  Even if you've only walked to the mailbox, when you come back inside the house, Brinkley acts like he hasn't seen you in AGES.  He's a sweet-natured little fella, and he's stolen my heart.  I tease Becca that when she moves in a few months, she will have to leave Brinkley here!

Why do we love these little creatures so much?  George Eliot wrote, "We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment."  So true.  They love us, no matter what, even on days when we are not very loveable.  And on those rare occasions when we accidentally step on their feet, or trip over them, they might be hurt, but they are full of forgiveness, never holding a grudge.  They are always happy to see us, and are always sad to see us leave.  Our dogs help us appreciate the simple things in life - a treat, a walk around the neighborhood, and a game of fetch or tug all cause unlimited joy.  And in those simple events in their lives, they truly live in the moment and enjoy it to the fullest!  They love to play, and jump for joy when they are happy - I should do that more often.  They are loyal and dependable, and they truly enjoy the journey.  

An unknown author wrote, "My goal in life is to be as good of a person as my dog already thinks I am."  If you ask me, that's a pretty worthy goal.