Joyfull Living

September is one of my favorite months of the year. It is my birthday month and usually marks the beginning of fall.  With the intense heat down here in the south, fall may not bring cool weather, but it assures us that fall and cooler weather are coming!   This year, summer has held on and on. The temperature lows are still in the 70's with hot and humid weeks on end of 90+ high temps. But, I know fall, cooler weather and pumpkin everything is coming soon. But the month of September did bring much joy in other areas.  My sweet hubby and I both have September birthdays, just one day a part. We celebrated with a birthday dinner and were surprised by our oldest son who lives away, but came for the weekend to celebrate with us.  Plus this year, I hit the big 5 0.  And it wasn't too bad!! I thought turning 50 would be a good time to experiment with a new hobby and decided to look into and try chalk painting. My project was taking a few wood t...

Today is September 11, which is a very emotional day for our country. This is a day where as a country, we pause and remember the horrific day our country was attacked. We remember the devastation, the loss of life, mourning and grief of so many families.  The pictures of the attacks still play in our minds when we remember this day, along with our feelings of helplessness and unbelief.  On this anniversary of 9/11, the theme rings out "We will never forget".  This day is forever etched in the heart of America.  We are bound together by our memories and the strength shown through the selfless acts of unity.  In our family, September 11 is also a day we will never forget. It was a Sunday and as a family we went to church, enjoyed the afternoon together and then went in different directions for the evening. Our middle son Josh went to a get together at a friends house. My husband went to church services at our home church while I went to participate i...

Have you ever thought how many things we do out of habit?  We begin our day with probably the same routine each day and never think about the steps.  The beginnings of the day are done in a certain order and done day after day become consistent.  All through the day and our routines of life, we do things so automatically that we quickly become consistent - without even trying! As one who loves to run, time is made in my schedule for running several times a week.  Currently, I run a route at the same time in the morning. Several cars daily pass me as they are probably going the same place at the same time each day. I know nothing about the drivers, but can label them as 'the girl in the white honda' or the 'grey ford truck guy' and almost pinpoint the time they pass me. After several weeks, these drivers give me a hearty and friendly wave. I am now a familiar sight for them. Even though we don't know each other, our consistency connects us.  The trai...