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Begin To Be Thankful While the Calendar Reads October

In my home, for a never-ending compendium of reasons, October is a busy month. It is typically so busy that it can deplete my patience, energy, bank account and time and leave my head spinning by the time I turn the wall calendar to November. I do not seem to be able to conquer this fall phenomenon which can be referred to as "Octo-Mania".

But I really do love fall, I do enjoy all that this first full month of autumn brings. I don't want to be so consumed with busy-ness that I fail to enjoy the blessings that come with Octo-Mania. So I have to make a daily choice to consciously be thankful. Making that decision at the dawn of each new day has enabled me to be a more content follower of Jesus this autumn. It's sort of like choosing to give thanks in October, rather than waiting for the arrival of November.

When I was a young mom, way back in my twenties, older and more wizened women would tell me to enjoy the stage of life I was in (diaper bags, midnight feedings, toddler talk, and so on). And I really did my best to take their advice, because I figured all those women weren't telling me the same thing for no reason, right? And now that my children are older (instead of diaper bags, I help pack bags for college & in lieu of toddler talk that I had to "decipher" I now help talk through internship opportunities) I am still heeding that advice.

Enjoy the season you are in right now, because this too shall pass. And when it is past, you will most certainly miss it. A part of you will ring a bit hollow, and your heart will answer that ring with a sad pang. The only way to lessen the ache of that pang is to enjoy the now, right now, today.

Now that I am one of those older women (albeit not a wizened woman despite being in my forties) I am sharing the same old, tried-and-true counsel. The seasons will change, there is no stopping the progression of time. Make the most of today, and choose to be thankful right smack dab in the midst of October.

Lord bless you today!

Day 324 :)

Jan L. Burt
author of The Homeschooling Mothers Bible Study

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