Yep, the moment the first brisk, cool breeze swept through my hair and at the sign of the very first goose-bumps running up my leg, I was in the Fantastic Fall Mood!! Do you know what I am talking about?? Its like all of a sudden you are talking about Christmas and thinking about pulling out your cinnamon and sugar cookie candles. You are deciding how you will decorate differently this year for Christmas and preparing your "Honey-Do" list to be SURE it all gets accomplished according to plan!! Well...just in case that is not you...I must confess...It is I!
Yes, just like every year, I completely by-pass every holiday and go directly to thinking about Christmas! I love Christmas time for every reason...the shopping, food, family, giving and receiving gifts (we all love to receive a good gift, you know its true!)and of course...BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!
Honestly, I am having a HEART CHECK this season and decided to dial back a little on the Christmas hoorah. Why is it that, as much as I love Thanksgiving, it is like a drive through rush to get to the Christmas season??
You see, I feel like really, time just goes by too fast and as much as we TRY AND TRY to make time stop, there is nothing we can do about this. No matter how much of a control freak we are, we can't control time! Ugh, I know, totally stinks!! I mean, before you know it, the kids are grown up and one Christmas turns into 10 Christmases. I am choosing to stop this fall and celebrate each holiday and really want to embrace every moment that it brings. I am so thankful for so many things that God has granted me, all of which I am so undeserving of it all, and so often, I find myself complaining or wishing for more, neglecting to see what is right before my very own eyes as a huge blessing! For example, my central a/c & heating has been broken for like six months now and through the summer, IT FELT LIKE NOTHING MORE THAN A CURSE..not at all a BLESSING! lol But when I got my electricity bill, and it was cut in half, my husband and I were quite happy about that. (NOTE: I still want central air and heat and will fix it eventually...just trying to make a point):))
I can't say that I am spoiled or a "selfish" kinda girl...but most of us are not this way either. We are all just normal people living day to day, trying to pay the bills and make this life a "good" life, while in the process, we often fail to really invest and give ourselves the occasional HEART CHECK to determine if we have lost sight of all the great blessings that we have been given.
It is funny, but I really don't do much fall decorating, never really did much, but this fall, I am making every effort to add punches of orange and yellow and to include projects for the kids to embrace the season. Its funny, but since I have decided to do this, I am on a fall craft rush!! I keep researching fun (cheap) ideas to spruce up for fall and JUST CANT STOP! HAHA! I haven't thought about Christmas all that much and totally by-pass the Christmas section at the craft store and head over to the fall stuff!
I am making lists this Thanksgiving season of everything I am thankful for in different areas of my life! Sounds alot easier said than done! Try to find 50 things, YEP 50, that you are thankful for! There are certainly 50 things that all of us can be thankful for, its just a matter of pushing aside the struggles that EVERY life encounters and dig in and scoop out each blessing one at a time and place it in the forefront of our heart and mind!
Off to my list-making,
Nelly
