With All My Heart

It's jacket season! You know what that means, right? I currently have jackets (or sweatshirts or long-sleeved t's) in my car, on my dining room table, on the couch, in the hallway from the garage, and probably a few scattered about various schools in my school district. And? Thus it will be throughout the season. In May we will be assured that we can scoop up all of the jackets, gloves, headbands, etc. and put them away.

I, of course, am one of the worst offenders. I have all manner of cold-weather exercise gear because I HATE to be cold for any length of time. I will wear layer upon layer of clothes to go running in to avoid being cold when I first leave the house. I come home with jackets and shirts tied around my waist, headbands (that cover ears) and gloves crammed in waistbands and pockets. I try to get them put away, and I think right now they currently all are, but occasionally all that gear just adds to the cold-weather litter around the house.

Jacket clutter aside, I don't know that EVER in my life I have had such a wonderful fall weather-wise! I have never lived in a place that experiences fall. Louisiana is just muggy year-round and you go from steamy muggy to cool-ish damp muggy at some point, then Christmas is always 80* and muggy. Central Texas just has a "cooling off of summer" period, and West Texas usually does summer, Indian summer, then a blue norther comes through and it goes from 85* one day to 44* and raining the next and *BAM*!! Winter. But all of October has been this amazing weather around here. I hope you are enjoying the same!

With the creeping in of cooler weather and earlier darkness, our lives are actually about to slow down a bit. We are tucking away a soccer season for Riley, winding down volleyball for Ashley, and unbeknownst (isn't that an awesome word...? :-) to us when it started, Ashley also played in some tennis tournaments this fall and did fairly well. We had several weeks of tennis tournament and soccer practice Tues. nights, church Wed. nights, then volleyball game and soccer practice on Thur. nights. Ashley has her last volleyball game on Thursday -- then basketball try-outs start Monday! :-) We get a couple of weeks off of games while they get the team squared away. It will be nice!

So, has anyone noticed the economy? Gas prices are awesome, aren't they? :-) Oy. As you might imagine, this wasn't a great time for our family to go to one income. And, as we head to the end of the month, money is a wee bit scarce around here. Money that blows, money that jingles, doesn't matter -- there isn't much of it. We haven't missed a meal and no one is going cold in the cold mornings. I confess to worrying, though. Besides sleep, I think worry could be my fall-back Olympic sport. Every glance of my wallet/ bank balance sends me into mental calculations of days left vs. dollars left of the month. And I worry.

This morning God brought me here:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5,6

I have this verse on my wall -- a wedding gift from 16 years ago. It spoke to me fresh this morning to "lean not on my own understanding": my understanding doesn't see how it will work, my understanding can't imagine it working out. God challenged me to trust Him with all my heart and let Him work it out. I'm claiming it for today!