Slow Down and Enjoy!

Well, here we are in October.  October 1, to be exact.  Yesterday was still September.  Oh what a lifetime ago that seems already - Labor Day, the start of school, our church's annual peach festival.  September is always such an exciting month, so many happenings that really seem to just blend in with the rest of summer.  But now it is October.  And given the brisk mornings, cool evenings and the stack of warm-weather clothing in a pile at the bottom of the stairs at my house, waiting to go up to the attic, I think it's safe to say that summer is officially over. 

Every year, it seems as if we have one final stint of humid, summer weather before the cooler weather slowly seeps in.  And every year, I continue to wear my flip-flops and short sleeves, secretly wanting to hold on to those carefree summer days, as if they will magically return if I just ignore the fact that school has started and the garden has turned to a dried out remnant of what it was only several weeks earlier.


It is usually just around this time every year - early October - that I wistfully dream of being once again on the beach, having cookouts and picking garden-fresh vegetables.  And then suddenly I panic.  I'm not sure if this is the realization when I look at my calendar that it is actually October, only two months before Christmastime...only one month before Thanksgiving...only weeks before Halloween...and add to that one of our children's birthdays in only 24 days as well! (But who's counting?)  Oh my gosh, what I am sitting around reminiscing about summer for when there is so much more to get done in the fall!  How ever could I have let myself waste so much time already, dreaming of lemonades on the patio when, in fact, I should be planning holiday menus and going apple picking and going on hayrides with the children and saving up my Giant Bonuscard points to redeem for my free turkey!  What was I thinking??!!

And then I stop.  I take a deep breath to let go of this anxiety and busyness that is eating away at me and distorting my whole outlook on life.  I am being Martha.  No, not Martha Stewart ( But I do wonder if she uses Bonuscard points to redeem for a free turkey? That's for another post...).  Martha of Bethany from the Bible, the preoccupied woman who is so caught up in the preparations and tasks to prepare for Jesus' visit to her and her sister Mary's home, that she misses the true meaning of His visit.  She is so busy preparing for His visit that she actually misses His visit! 

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)

Don't be a Martha.  There are so many wonderful experiences for every season and I am blessed to live in an area of the country whose changing weather makes the difference in seasons even more tangible.  If you are too busy thinking about what needs to be done and what didn't get done, you will miss these sweet seasonal changes as they occur right around you.  The world will pass you by and next thing you know, you will be entering a new season without any memories of the season past to reminisce about. 

So slow down and enjoy!  As I sit here typing, watching the leaves on the trees outside blow; as I spot my patio furniture outside bungeed up for the season; as I reach for that extra sweater to put on because I'm a bit chilly; and as I pay my electric bill and rejoice that the air-conditioning charges were almost non-existent this past month, I will embrace this new change.  So scrapbook your summer memories, eat those last few ice pops in the freezer and pack away the summer clothing until next year.  Just sit back and enjoy the fall and all that it has to offer.  You will be glad that you did.