Goodbye, Summer! Hello, Fall!

I know I am a few days late in saying goodbye to summer, but here in south Georgia it has felt absolutely nothing like fall!

Oh, but yesterday we ushered in a slightly cool breeze with a bright blue sky and even a few leaves falling to the ground. Or maybe that was pine needles. Oh well, either way it was something falling out of a tree and thankfully it wasn't one of the boys.

Today it is cloudy but cool. We have two doors open and the boys are running in and out (something I don't normally let them do. You do remember your mother saying, "I told you to stay in or stay out!"? Yes, I say that too.) I am cooking lunch and I so badly wanted to tell you that only one fly came in, but as soon as we started to eat his family decided to join him.

Before Keith came home to join us for lunch, the girls and I decided to say goodbye to summer. Madison said goodbye to the bugs. Yeah, right. Morgan said goodbye to the heat. We have our fingers crossed. Mallory said goodbye to swimming. We didn't get to go as much as usual.Meghan said goodbye to the sunflowers. Sweet. And I say goodbye to another few months of watching the kiddos grow. Seeing their little bodies become tanned by the sun. Watching them laugh and splash in any kind of water we can find. Even if it is in the backyard of Papa's on the old yellow slip-n-slide. Goodbye to the watermelon, peaches, and berries of all sorts. Goodbye to the long summer nights when bedtime wasn't until long after 9.

When we say goodbye, it is only for a season. But, one thing is for sure and that is we will never get the one we are saying goodbye to back. So, for all you women out there who are blessed to have someone very special around you, treasure the moments. Don't let them pass you by. Lift up a word of praise to the one from whom all blessings flow.

Now we say, hello fall! We welcome the shorter days and the cooler air. We anticipate the beauty of the leaves changing and falling. We look forward to hot soups and spicy chili. Jackets and long socks. Football games and hunting. (I threw that in there for Keith!) Special times with family and friends. A time to give thanks to the one who blesses us beyond our imagination.

May our days ahead bring God glory. May we as women embrace His great calling and honor Him in all we do.

Nichole