Erin's September

I will only be able to share through September and the rest later, because Tom is feeling risky and wants to try out his bike riding skills with a sprained ankle. :) He certainly perseveres.

I'm feeling a bit emotional this morning because I just finished watching Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you do. The timing of me watching it made all the difference, as well. Today is Labor Day, so no schedule, no work, no appointments...a rare treat.

I am a process person. I am a "dash" person. You've heard of the "dash": our lives are not about the start date and end date, but the "dash" in between. I also thoroughly enjoy "stories", even of nonsense. I've also enjoyed literature, would be called out in class to explain a Shakespeare Act from Lit Class, and you wouldn't dare see me peak to the end of the book to see the ending before getting there page by page. Why do I go on and one?

We travelled to Grady, Alabama this past weekend for some sacred hours with Jessica, Josh and Ricky, JJ, Mrs. Florence and Scotty. It was a very nice time. I cherished travel time with Jessica to and from Prattville, blessed by her willingness to share her heart about her dear friend David's last days. To hear an 18 year old young women express to me that she knew God had him here on this earth for only 19 years to touch many people's lives, and the FAITH and HOPE in God's intervention displayed by his family and friends in the hospital brought strangers closer to knowing God...well, I can't put that into words. We know God allows things to happen, for His Plan His Glory, and why? We won't know for sure until He tells us why.

Back to Rachel's question: what do I love about Fall? Fall reminds me of the cycle of life. I cherish taking deep breathes and smelling the coolness and the leaves. There is so much undiscovered beauty in life because we're so focused on the next appointment, project or even as simple as the next day. Fall reminds me of romance, falling in love with Tom, planning my final weeks before our wedding 4 years ago on October 8th. The joining of our families. It reminds me of sipping moonshine in the stands of Bourbon County High School football stadium to stay warm inside or warm apple cider at the Lehmann's horse farm in Kentucky. It reminds me to roll the windows down on the way from here to there. I Love Autumn. I intentionally drive through piles of leaves, so that I can look in the rear view mirror at the leaves flutter around behind me.

How does this all tie into Benjamin Buttons? Well, I was startled out of bed this morning at the wee hour of 6:20am by crashing, banging noises coming from our pipes under my bedroom floor. I jumped out of bed and ran into the living room to find my husband in the kitchen doorway. He was just filling up the koi pond :) ...we have something going on with our water pipes, banging and clanging that needs to be checked out. So, needless to say, I couldn't get back to sleep. So I decided to do something I haven't done in YEARS. I went into the livingroom, and found a good movie to watch; while still halfway asleep.

I won't ruin it for those of you that haven't seen this movie, but I will say a few things about it as we enter Fall and Winter seasons. There seems to be patterns in life that allow for a normal life, comforts, traditions and planning to come easy. But sometimes something happens that changes all patterns, we can all think of a few we've experienced that changed the course of our lives. If we aren't careful, we might try too hard to create structure and miss all the process and beauty that might come through the brokenness, repair, and healing. There is Love all around us, and i look forward to experiencing the coming seasons with each of you in 2009. I pray we are not rushed through one single gift of relationship ~Erin