Corn Is Cut, Weather Is Crisp

OCTOBER???  Where in the world did summer go?  Old cliche? Maybe so but it's true.  One day I'm in shorts with flip flops and the next the sweats and sneakers are on with my hoodie.  Just too much too quickly.  Rain, rain, rain...gray skies and leaves falling all around me.  Sinuses acting up from the leaves and mold, and bones aching from the change in temps.  All part of Fall season changes.
Sam is still home with no job.  Unemployment is to run out on the 7th with nothing in sight.  This
is one of the biggest trials of faith we've ever been through.  Most days we walk around in a type
of mental fog.   I'm not sure if it's the Lord putting a protection on us, or if we are just so worn out
mentally and emotionally that we are numb.  I continue to remind myself of the passage in Psalms
that says, "Be still, and know that I am God."  It's popped up quite often and it's what I recite when
my mind goes racing with all the horrors we could be facing.  We are thankful for our health, and
for our families, so the rest seems trivial.  Many have money but are battling life threatening diseases, that money can't fix.  Priorities are important, and yes that includes keeping our home.  But when it all comes down to the bottom line, it's all here when we leave this world.  Everything that we fret over, and work for is reduced to a piece of paper that someone else enjoys.  The only thing that makes our lives count is how many people's lives we have changed.  How many did we hold in times of trouble and pain?  How many did we help when their lives seemed empty and hopeless.  These
are the treasures we leave behind us.  The pieces of ourselves that we shared with others stick after we are dust.  We are only passing through this place, our home is with the Lord.  I believe we are to make the most of the time we have here, fleeting though it is.  Wasn't it yesterday that I was just graduating from High School?  We have our 50 year reunion next year!  It's all a blur that passes
by so quickly that we can barely grasp even memories of it.  So we enter October with the anti-
anticipation of a trip to see the kids, and hopes for a job, and for the joy of teaching art to my friends
when I return.  The rest is a mystery that I'm waiting to live.  It's in God's hands.