funny pics

Even though it’s still 90 degrees out there!!! haha!

I wish you could hear the joy in my fingertips as I type this! 😉
Who else is as excited as me that it’s now Pumpkin Spice Everything season?  Whoo Hoo!!!!

We (My mom, Aunt Bibby, and I) just returned from visiting my sister in Oklahoma (who moved to Edmond, OK from Castle Rock, CO two months ago) and {some people would insert here “as luck would have it” but I would say “God blessed me with a little gift”} I happened to be in a city with a Starbucks (YAY!) when the PSL (that’s Pumpkin Spice Latte for those of you “not in the know” – haha!) came available to the regular folk.  And OH – it was SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!  It made me want to throw on my denim jacket and wrap a scarf around my neck (even at the threat of sweating to death).  This is just my happy season!

I shared the above pic of my sis and me on FB and Instagram, and my friend Wendy posted this pic below in the comments: SO TRUE!

hahaha!

In fact, I found a red leaf the other day (it’s my favorite when I find that first red leaf on the ground) and I showed it to James with great joy.  I was all Fall-Happy until he said something like this, “I hate to tell you, but that leaf fell from a tree that’s dying.” … bummer.

However, it is already time to start the Fall Harvest bucket list, and Hallmark channel has put out one with some great ideas this year:

Don’t you just love Fall?   {I can hear some of you saying a resounding “NO!” haha!}  That’s ok… we can still love each other. Yes? Just as long as you are aware that this is how it will be:

If you’re like me and are Fall-Happy, here are some Fall-Freebies that might make you smile.

Click here for 32 Fabulous and Free Fall Printables from Craftaholics Anonymous

This is a recipe to make your own Pumpkin Spice. 🙂

FREE Coloring Page with the sweetest message: Click here for the download.  “I Love You More than Pumpkin Spice Everything” from Tried and True Blog.  Isn’t this the sweetest?

Click here for a FREE Pumpkin Spice Planner Page Decoration to download from Andrea Nicole Blogs.

And click here for FREE Pumpkin Latte planner stickers to download from plannerpickett.com (Confession: I’ve never made my own planner stickers yet, though I have tons of DIY sticker pins saved on Pinterest  – but for those of you who do – here you go.) 😉

One more thing on Fall  – and it makes me smile the most, even MORE than the cooler weather and the Pumpkin Spice everything:

I think what I love about Fall (especially early Fall) is the anticipation that the heat of the Summer is almost over – both in the literal, figurative, and especially the spiritual sense.

The work of the planting has been done… the waiting and watching and watering and tending is coming to an end, and the laborer is about to see with eyes and hold in hand something worked and planned toward since last winter.

Harvest.  

It’s the promised cycle each year in every area of living:  The planning and preparation of the winter/dreary/frozen season.  The planting, long hours, hard work of the spring/thawing season.  The watering, watching over, and waiting it out of the hot dry/rainy season.  Then comes the reaping of the Harvest season – where timing must be spot on, God must be trusted, hard work must be done, but great blessings will be gathered in the end.

Sealah… think about that.  THIS is why we show gratitude during this season.  It’s this cycle and it’s end for which we are so thankful.

Fall and Harvest – that’s one reason why I love this time of year so much.  It’s God’s  tangible reminder that there is a reward for the work.  

The other reason I heart Fall is because this season is a reminder that there is beauty in dying.  The leaves that we treasure as gorgeous and that many travelers take trips to take in… those leaves are so incredibly beautiful because they are submitting to the dying process.  And isn’t that how God’s greatest beauty makes us the most colorful and beautiful? Hmmmm… Another thing to ponder as we watch our trees turn from green to beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds…

Just a few things to think about as you sip your PSL and smile as you enjoy early Autumn.  I sure do thank God for you, dear readers, and I pray that as you continue to press on in this cycle of working, trusting, and waiting that the Lord will encourage you that YOUR time of reaping will come… Do not give up on Him, because He HAS NOT given up on you!  And that’s ALWAYS a reason to smile. 🙂

 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.  Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

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