365 Daily Gifts of Joy Featured in Southern Writers Magazine

Leaves are changing colors and letting go, floating gently to the ground. The Autumn is a most beautiful time of the year, and yet it is always a bit melancholy for me. I looked up the defintion of melancholy and it was "a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause." This is how many feel in the fall of the year.  I think it is because it is an ending to summer and a beginning of the season leading to winter. 

We have to look at this change as a beautiful thing. Even though leaves are falling from the trees and winter is just around the corner, we can still find great happiness in this season. We can think on all the good things, the fun things ahead for us. I don't know about you, but I am ready for cooler weather because here in the South it has been HOT and very dry!

We can be refreshed with cooler temperatures, crisp mornings with a chill in the air. We can breathe deeper and find more energy to do a bit of yard work (if you enjoy that sort of thing). Putting on a sweater in the morning makes me happy.

Let's take this opportunity to think on the good - to enjoy the pumpkins - to drink coffee or hot chocolate all snuggled under a blanket, to take time to watch the leaves float silently to the ground. Let's let go of all the stress, the tightness in our shoulders and necks, breathe deeply in the fresh, crisp air of Autumn and just enjoy and relish the season around us.

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."

- Emily Bronte

I was privileged to be asked to be a part of the Southern Author Event held at the Collierville Library in September. There were ten authors there, and we had a great day.

For all of you who stopped by to say hello or to meet me for the first time, I appreciated your response. It was a fun day.

My newest book, which has changed titles I might add, will be out in November (next month)!  The title is Growing in Hope. 

This book is an interactive devotional book. Each devotional will contain a scripture, thoughts about the scripture, meaningful quotes in reference to the scripture, prayers, and thought provoking questions at the end of each devotional for the reader to respond and participate personally.

This book has been such a blessing to me to write, and my prayer is for God to be glorified through the book and that all who read will be blessed. 

You can order through Amazon in November or contact me and I will mail you a book as soon as it comes in. Also these will be carried at local stores in the area, as my other books are. 

I do plan to have a book signing party and celebrate the new book at Simply Done Events in Collierville (dates to be announced in my November blog). These are such fun events and you, my readers, are always supportive and encouraging to me coming to these. And hopefully, as you have done in the past three years, will check off your Christmas list books that day.

This picture is looking across the bridge walking back toward my house from the treehouse cross-creek area.  The leaves covering the bridge were just too beautiful to pass up.

October is going to be a busy month in my family. I have a grandson and a granddaughter both getting married this month, wow!  We have been having bridal showers left and right. I am hosting a bridesmaid luncheon at my home later in the month. We have family coming in for the events, and I have been getting my house ready for guests, getting an upstairs room made into a guest bedroom.

Talking about letting go earlier, this is what I am doing with the upstairs room. It was used as my husband, David's, den, but now I am re-purposing it into a guest bedroom.  It needed to be updated and changed. It was time to let go and change.

Letting go and change are difficult, but we have to do this with a light heart. I was in the yard not long ago raking leaves. We have huge oak trees in the yard and my David hated raking leaves, but I wanted and loved these trees!  So, as I was raking I started smiling and had to laugh out loud as I said to David "yes, you are in Heaven looking down on me here raking leaves and laughing because you don't have to rake anymore." And I know he is too. 

We may have to let go of people here on earth, but we still have their memories of the wonderful, dear times we had with them to make us smile and laugh. 

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go."

- Herman Hesse