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fall

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Happy Fall

Target

Target

 

Heather's office fall decoration

Heather’s office fall decoration

Our daughter Heather loves to shop at Target and recently she bought some fall decorations for her office at work. The above pic is just one of them. Below is another cute one she picked out that says, “Happy Fall.” I love her name on the sign behind it!

office decoration

office decoration

Below is another deco of cute fall leaves. Almost makes me want to work at her place!

Cute fall leaves decos

Heather’s cute fall leaves decos

Fall is one of my fave times of year. Pumpkin spice lattes and everything nice:

  • Tall, genuine leather boots
  • Deliciously scented candles
  • S’mores over a bonfire
  • The leaves changing beautiful colors &  the crunch they make
  • Pretty scarves and stylish fall fashions
  • Soft, warm blankets to cuddle under with a good book
  • Bulky sweaters with big buttons, pockets, and a hood
  • Thanksgiving food with favorite family recipes
  • Cute fall decorations for home and work
  • Fall blog posts

One of the things I love about Target is their dollar bins. Recently I was shopping there, and found this Gratitude Tree below there.

I posted a pic of it on Facebook, and Heather bought it for me. I think it’s a great visual reminder to count your blessings daily and to cultivate a grateful heart. 

Gratitude tree

Gratitude tree

 

tree

tree

 

tree leaves

tree leaves

Target also had these little appetizer plates with the inscription, “Thankful & grateful.” I also loved the ceramic orange pumpkin as a table decoration. Do you ever feel like you could buy everything in the store at Target because it’s just the cutest thing ever, even though you don’t even need it? Yeah, me too!

appetizer plates

appetizer plates

They also had these chic fall wallets. LOVE the teal and purple!

fall wallets

fall wallets

Although I have friends who are chompin’ at the bit to put on their fall boots, sweaters, scarves, and other accessories, I feel an urge this year to put on the brakes. Our kids and grandkids are growing up way too fast, and I want to savor each moment, enjoying the season I’m in now.

Our kids and grandkids

Our kids and grandkids

Recently I found a cute little purse calendar and on one of the pages is the inscription, “Your days are as fun as you make them.” AMEN! 

flower calendar

flower calendar

 

calendar-fun

calendar-fun

What is your favorite thing about fall? Leave your comments below.

“It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.”–Daniel 2:21

autumn leaves quote

Blog, Faith

Drinking in fall

Leaf bliss

“Autumn…the year’s last loveliest smile.”– William Cullen Bryant, Indian Summer

This afternoon after my walk at the track, I was going to come home and record a podcast. I may still do that, but I just couldn’t at that moment. I had to go outside. Right now, I am drinking in fall, savoring every moment of looking at the beautiful, glorious, colored leaves, God’s amazing art.

I want to stop winter, stop time, and shout to the world, “Look at how gorgeous this is! Look at what God our Creator has done!” 

Contrast of green, yellow, gold, and red leaves with the blue sky and green grass

Contrast of green, yellow, gold, and red leaves with the blue sky and green grass

There is something about this season I’m wanting to hold onto more than ever. I can’t put my finger on it, but I want to stay in this moment, hug it like a baby and never let go.

I don’t know if it’s a spirit of dread and fear, if something terrible is about to happen, and I just have a sixth sense about it, or if God is just somehow making me somehow acutely aware of how great He is and I just now noticed it in my everyday, scurried, distracted life. 

coffee on back steps

coffee on back steps

I went outside and sat on our back steps, drinking my creamy coffee in my Casey’s brown cup (refills for just 75 cents), and it was like I was completely dehydrated and someone gave me a bucket of cold, artesian spring water. I couldn’t get enough of the glory of God, looking at it all. Pictures can’t convey how gorgeous God’s masterpieces are. 

backyard filled with leaves

backyard filled with leaves

I looked at the pile of brown leaves on the emerald-green grass, and wanted to just go jump in them like I did as a child when our dad made us rake the huge yard. We’d rake awhile, putting the leaves into huge piles that resembled mountains, and then jump in them, screaming with glee. Sometimes daddy would come outside and order us to “stop fooling around,” and get to work again. He grew up as a farmer’s son, and laziness is a cardinal sin to farmers. 

Instead, I walked on the leaves today, delighting in the crunch-crunch sound underneath my short, black boots. (Boots are another fun thing about fall!). 

The contrast of the orange, yellow, red, and green leaves against the blue sky is so vivid. I’m not an artist like our daughter Leah is, but sights like this would awaken the artist in anyone. I had to grab Leah’s Nikon camera and snap some shots. 

blue sky-orange leaves

blue sky-orange leaves

 

Contrast of green and yellow leaves against blue sky

Contrast of green and yellow leaves against blue sky

Each leaf, like each person, is beautiful and unique.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.”–Psalm 139:14-16, MSG

Red-yellow leaf

Red-yellow leaf

 

fall leaves

fall leaves

God’s beautiful collage: fall colored leaves.

God's collage: fall colored leaves

God’s collage: fall colored leaves

I snapped a pic of myself, even though it’s not a very flattering shot. But I was happy! I had just come back from my walk/jog at the track and was in Ray’s olive-green, light-weight jacket. 

Me in fall

Me in fall

Here’s a better “fall” pic of me in my new, soft brown sweater and scarf. Another wonderful thing about autumn!

Beth Jones

Beth Jones

the sun today

the sun today

I’m drinking in fall, savoring each delicious moment. What is your favorite thing about fall? I love the quote below. So true. Today, take time to just sit and revel in the exquisite changes of this season God has so graciously given you and me. Don’t let it pass you by without noticing its beauty, and thanking Him for it.

leaves turning quote

Blog, Faith, Marriage, prayer, Speaking, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

Exchange your old slippers for glass slippers

This week I was hammering a picture into the wall that is above the stairs that lead to the downstairs recreation room (Ray’s “man cave”), and when I finished, I tripped on my slippers that I wear to keep my feet warm in winter.

I fell forward, rolling down several stairs, hitting my left cheekbone, left shoulder, left wrist, and left knee.

This is the first time something like this has ever happened and the fall scared me. I am thankful that God protected me and I didn’t get a concussion, a broken bone, or wasn’t more seriously injured.

(I threw the backless slippers away and am getting a new kind that have a back. I also anointed the staircase’s walls and prayed the blood of Jesus over the stairs, asking God to dispatch angels up and down the stairs, and for His protection and blessing over our home, our children’s and grandchildren’s homes and property. You and I have to be wise to the enemy’s devices.)

Here’s a pic of the impact to and rug burn on my left cheekbone (it is healing and I’m praying it doesn’t leave a scar).

impact rug burn on cheekbone

impact and rug burn on cheekbone

Here’s a pic of my scraped knee.

scraped knee

scraped knee

My left shoulder wasn’t very red but it is hurting the most.

shoulder

shoulder

I still have a small bruise on my wrist and knee, a rug burn on my cheekbone, and my left shoulder and left wrist still hurt. My shoulder needs the most prayer. 

I texted my husband Ray at work and he came by our house to check on me for injuries. (What a guy!) He didn’t believe I had a concussion, and advised me to keep ice on and off on my cheekbone, wrist, and shoulder. I posted on Facebook for friends to pray for me. 

One of my friends from Sunday small group, Dan Zacharias, posted on my Facebook wall a word which I believe was right on.

First he said, ” Praying. Any connection to those glass slippers you posted earlier? I’m not trying to be funny, just wondering.” (I had posted earlier that I was thinking of having another Cinderella women’s conference in spring 2015.)

Then when I asked what he meant and thought he was onto something, he replied, “Beth, I don’t know what it means, if anything. Perhaps prophetically you (or believers in general) are to exchange your old slippers that trip you up, for glass slippers and step up into the Kingdom. Just a thought.

Dan Zacharias' comment on Facebook

Dan Zacharias’ comment on Facebook

Please understand, that I have been attending Dave and Ruth Christian’s small group (home church) for over a year now, and Dan has shared words of encouragement with me and others that were extremely accurate…so he isn’t just some random person on the street who gave me a prophetic word. The Bible says, “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NKJV)  Dan has a reliable prophetic history. I trust that he hears God’s voice. I believe this was a word from God, for me and all believers.

How is the enemy Satan tripping you up to hinder or stop you from your purpose in Christ? He attacks God’s people in many ways, including:

  • Discouragement
  • Distractions
  • Anger
  • Fears
  • Envy/jealousy/comparing yourself with others
  • Entertainment (T.V., movies, internet)
  • Relationship conflicts
  • Financial struggles
  • Health issues
  • Job/career challenges
  • Problems in ministry
  • Accidents/disasters
  • Feelings of unworthiness/low self-esteem
  • Sin
  • Guilt/false guilt
  • Laziness/apathy/cynicism
  • Eating disorders (anorexia, bulemia, gluttony)
  • In-law difficulties/Family strife
  • ______________________ (You fill in the blank.)

 Which of these are tripping you up?

Another thing Dan said which really encouraged me was that the reason Satan attacks me is because I am a warrior for God. “Warriors like you get wounded, get back up and defeat the enemy. You are a testimony and encouragement to many people.”

Dan Zacharias- warrior word

Dan Zacharias- warrior word

 

 This is true. Satan hates the people of God. He is doing all he can to kill, steal and destroy – to keep us from fulfilling God’s calling for our lives. But through Christ we are unstoppable!

We fall. We get back up. We defeat Satan by the blood of Jesus, the word of our testimony, and through laying down our lives. (Revelation 12:11)

It is time for you to exchange your slippers that trip you up for the beautiful, Divinely-Designed glass slippers – your unique purpose and mission from God.

Cinderella knew that to go to the ball, she couldn’t wear her old rags and old slippers. She needed a new dress and new shoes. The fairy godmother provided a beautiful new gown and extraordinary glass slippers. She stood out among the rest of the women attending the ball and danced with the prince.

She had to run away at midnight before everything changed, but she left behind a glass slipper. He was determined to find the owner of the glass slipper and his servants discovered that was Cinderella. Cinderella was the one he wanted to marry.

She became the radiant bride of the Prince. Just as the Prince chose Cinderella to be his bride, Jesus our Prince has chosen you and me to be His glorious Bride.

Beth Jones, International Speaker The Cinderella Story: The Power of Shoes

Beth Jones, International Speaker

Get up! It’s time to walk in your glass slippers – your unique shoes (purpose). Remove whatever obstacles or hindrances are keeping you from doing what God said for you to do. Ask God what those obstacles are that are standing in the way between you and God and your purpose/life assignment.

Exchange your old slippers for your glass slippers; step out in faith and do what God has called you to do and to be!

*******

Thank you to all who prayed for me after the fall. I appreciate your prayers so much!

Please keep praying for my left shoulder and left wrist, and that my face will completely heal with no scarring.

Thanks so much to my family and friends who cover me in prayer-and to God, my protector and healer!