Fun Fall Facts

Fall colors are best when late summer is dry & autumn has bright

sunny days & cool nights below 40 °F.

In poetry, autumn is usually associated with

melancholy emotions.

The largest pumpkin on record was weighed in

last year at 1810 lb.s.

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird

of the United States.

Although, Thanksgiving is widely considered an American holiday, it is also celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada.

And this one just makes me laugh...

Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.

Dreaming

Eight years ago, Zach and I had the privilege to go to Ireland, all expenses paid. The trip was incredible, taking us through the romantic boughs and the ancient ruins of a land with ten times more history than ours. We were able to taste the castle life, the country life, and the districts in between.


But my favorite area, by far, was the southwest section of the country--more specifically, the Ring of Kerry. Little thatched cottages with twirling smoke and scattered sheep dot the coastal ring. Pictures just can't capture the serene scope.

Someday I'd like to go back, as it's the only country Aaron has a lot of interest in visiting. Since the kids are little, a long flight would prove more challenging than we'd like, and putting the Atlantic Ocean between us and then is not something I want to do either. So... we've been talking about saving up (with my sister-in-law's mad skills, we could do it with relative affordability) and taking our family before our first child leaves the nest.

So, right now, I have to be content to dream and revisit those memories from '03--take a trip with my thoughts. :)

Where do you dream of going?

Releasing Anger

Matthew 5:21-24 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift…” (Jesus’ words)

As it's nearly impossible to be at peace and be angry at the same time, it stands to reason that releasing anger is a necessary step to finding peace.

Our pastor, Ted Cunningham, spoke this Sunday on Jesus' words regarding anger. Despite the valid reasons for becoming angry (another's sin, hating what God hates, etc.), most of our anger stems from a prideful bed of selfishness.

I'm inconvenienced, therefore I'm angry.

You didn't meet my expectations, therefore I'm angry.

I'm not understood, therefore I'm mad at the person who just doesn't get it.

I can't control you or it or... well, anything, and so, I'm angry over that too.

When I find myself angry at other people, the root I pull up usually resembles fear of some sort. I'm afraid of what they could do to me, afraid of what they think, afraid that I... (you fill in the blanks).

Lately God has really been convicting my heart of anger, unreleased, bitter, festering anger that shows me how prideful I am, how entitled I feel, and how I need to extend more grace and mercy... even to myself.

With that anger often comes slander. I often justify my slashing comments by saying, "Well, I'm just blowing off steam... and it's usually only to my husband, and that's not really gossip because he's my other half." Right?

Then why does my heart feel so shamed and dirty after I speak the words? What good do they benefit me? or my husband? or my attitude? I've made a commitment to attempt (I know I'll fail) to first speak a prayer for the person who frustrates me than to speak a harsh word against them. I know that prayer softens us and reveals our own inhibitions or cold malice towards another human.

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." James 1:19-20

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Proverbs 14:29

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:8, 12-13

It's already broken

If you are a type-A, list-accomplishment-driven, controlling wife and mother like myself, life's difficulties can have you screaming in frustration. But as I was reading a current blog on finding peace, the author encouraged us to see the glass as already broken. When life shatters the delicate vase and leaves you with pieces, don't turn your chin up and wail. Life is already a beautifully broken mess and everything given to us, no matter how short the duration, is grace to us.

VEG

I've got nothing today... nothing. I'm grasping at the wind, trying to alter my skewed lens and find gratitude in my heart.

Tonight was probably the worst I've had with my daughter--out and out fight over eating her dinner. Her persistent disobedience astounded me; I knew I had to put her to bed. I think someone needs to tell me to go to bed too. The last week and a half has sliced years off my life. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll make it to 40... without having to check myself in.

I suppose I should laugh; after all, it can't last like this forever. Right? ....Right???

So, tonight I'm going to encourage you to do what I'm going to do.

It's super spiritual.

It's healing.

It's productive.

Okay... no, it's not at all.

But, it's sometimes okay for your break not to be that. You know?

Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to sit down and watch an episode of Numbers.

Yep.

That's it.

That's my inspirational "moment of peace" for you.

:) Relax...

It is What it Is

"Peace comes through acceptance." Linda Dillow

```````

Let me tell you an old Portuguese story that has been used by various writers*

An old man lived in a tiny village and owned a beautiful white horse. Everyone,

including the king were jealous of that horse, and offered him large sums to buy him.

And even though the old man was poor, he never accepted the money, for the horse

was dear to him, like a friend.

Then one day, the old man got up and found the horse was gone. The townspeople

ridiculed him saying, "If you'd sold that horse, you'd have lived off the money

quite comfortably. But now, he has been stolen and you will never get him back."

The old man replied, "Don't say he is stolen, but that he is merely missing. We

do not know all the details and should not make an assumption."

All the same, the people shook their heads and called him a fool.

Then two weeks later, the horse returned, bringing with him twelve wild horses

from the woods. The people clapped the old man on the back and said, "You have

been blessed indeed. You can train the horses and sell them for a pretty penny."

But the old man said, "We do not yet know if this is a blessing

or a curse, but that the horse came back with twelve others."

The next week, the older man's only son was training one of the wild stallions and fell off, breaking both legs. The townspeople, having not learned their lesson, said, "Indeed, you were

right. Those horses were a curse. Now your only son is laid up and unable to work."

"We do not know if his ailment is a curse or a blessing, but that he fell and broke his legs."

The people called him a fool.

The next week, the government raided the town, drafting everyone for a war. The

enemy was fierce and the townspeople feared that their sons would never return.

Because the old man's son was laid up with broken legs, he was not demanded to go.

The people proclaimed, "Indeed your son's accident was a blessing in disguise."

But the old man replied, "Why do you always draw conclusions? No one knows.

Say only this: Your sons went to war, and mine did not. No one is wise enough

to know if it is a blessing or a curse. Only God knows."

*Adapted from Linda Dillow's Calm my Anxious Heart and Max Lucado's In the Eye of the Storm

Intentional parenting

10
Point Manifesto for Joyful Parenting

(any text in turquoise links to posts for more explanation & encouragement)::

1. Today, I will make our home a house of prayer.

I will pray at set times. And I will invite our children to come move into an interior space that lives with God.

2. Today, I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

3. Today, I will not have any emergencies. There are no emergencies! Only amateurs hurry.

4. Today, when stress mounts, I pray to dismount it with gratitude.

My stress management plan will be intervention with verbal thanks. I can only feel one feeling at a time, and I choose to give thanks at all times. Fight feeling with feeling!

5. Today, I will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words I breathe are death words.

6. Today, I will pray to be consistently consistent. I will create safe rhythms that our children can find security in. I will create daily ceremonies because everyday we are CELEBRATING the gift of now!

7. Today, the moment when I am most repelled by a child’s behavior, that is my sign to draw the very closest to that child.

8. Today, I will hug each of my children as many times as I serve them meals — because children’s hearts feed on touch. I’ll look for as many opportunities to touch my children today as possible — the taller they are, the more so.

9. Today, my priorities will be all Things Unseen.

10. Today, I will laugh! And I will let the little children laugh! I will create a culture of JOY!

::

http://www.aholyexperience.com/

::Taken from