According to the calendar, it’s been fall for two weeks, but anyone in the great state of Tennessee could tell you that it has felt like anything but fall. Those annoyingly humid and hot temperatures were lingering and it felt like they would never go away.

Yep, fall didn’t feel much like fall.

Until today.

In my opinion, this was the real first day of fall. That coolish temperature and those crisp autumn breezes gave me all the feels. Hot-tober is now finally October. I can drink my pumpkin spice beverages in seasonally appropriate weather again.

I hope fall stays awhile this time.

I hope the leaves don’t just fall off but turn into a riot of colors before they let go and fall to the earth.

I hope that I’ll take time to experience this autumn with all five senses, breathing in the fall air, feeling the brisk winds against my face, smelling the sweet decay of dying leaves.

I hope there will be lots of warm beverages, bonfires, s’mores, and possibly a hayride or two.

I’m ready.

I’m still in the midst of my nerdy quest to rewatch all the classic episodes of Doctor. And by nerdy, I mean cool, because nerdy = cool, right?

I finally made it to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, who gamely took over when the first Doctor, William Hartnell, became too ill to continue in the role.

Thus, the idea of regeneration was born out of necessity to keep the show going in the face of the original actor’s failing health.

I love all the old, black and white episodes with all their cheesy special effects and (sometimes) overacting. There’s a magical quality to those old shows, I think.

Currently, the two companions are Michael Cruze as Ben and the lovely Anneke Wills as Polly, trying to keep that old doctor in line and sometimes just trying to keep up.

I’m thankful to Amazon Prime and Britbox for making these old episodes available again for nerds– I mean cool people *wink, wink*– like me.

“‘I must keep praying’ ‘I feel like just giving up!’ How often has this thought passed through our minds (both yours and mine) in recent months? If I am honest, then I must admit it’s been quite often. I find myself so often in hopeless situations where I know full well that only God can deliver me but God doesn’t seem to have the same urgency as I do. Impatience and unbelief are at least a root o…(tharr be more)f all my problems, and pride isn’t far behind, along with frustration (the fruit of my sin). Deep down I know that the Lord is working in my life and that I would be better off if I waited patiently for His time and His way of deliverance, but there seems to be a constant conflict between wanting to honour my God by doing His will and at the same time worrying myself sick over things which may never happen” (Apples of Gold).

That’s the story of my life.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worried myself sick over things that never happened, yet I know I’ll do it again tomorrow. Or possibly the next day.

It’s human nature to worry. It’s almost like anxiety is the default setting for our brains when stressful circumstances occur.

But it’s God’s nature to deliver. That’s what He does best for His children. He delights in glorifying His own name and that often means rescuing His own out of impossible odds or bleak circumstances.

The choice is either to fret over what is beyond your control (and worry is simply imagining your future while omitting God from it) or to rest in the God who has the whole world — and your future– in His most capable hands.

I know what I choose.

“For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me” (Matthew 18:3, The Message).

“When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself” (Tecumseh).

Every day that you wake up, you can find a reason to give thanks.

If you can’t find one, the fault lies with you.

Most often, you won’t find what you’re not looking for. If you’re not seeking the good, you won’t find it. If you have no reason to give thanks, it’s because you’re probably focusing on the wrong things.

Whenever I give into despair and entitlement, it’s because I quit looking for joy and gratitude in the every day. I forgot to count my blessings and give thanks for each one.

Again, if you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.

If you look with the eyes of grace, you will find more than enough reason.

I heard something once that I’ve carried with me since. Basically, it states that Jesus’ first recorded words were “I must be about my Father’s business” and His last words on the cross were “It is finished.”

In between those two statements Jesus had the most single-minded vision and purpose of anyone who has lived or ever will live on this planet.

His purpose was to say and do exactly what the Father wanted to say and do. His purpose from a cradle in Bethlehem was a cross in Jerusalem.

I’m thankful that Jesus was 100% about His Father’s business because that business included the likes of me and you.

That business included seeking and saving the lost.

That business was inviting all who are weary and burdened to find rest for their souls.

That business was God sending His one and only Son that if anyone believes in Him, they will not perish or be lost forever but have eternal and abundant life to the fullest.

I learned something interesting at Kairos tonight. Or more truthfully, I was reminded of something I probably already knew but needed to hear again.

The Bible never once says to follow your heart.

What it says is to guard your heart and follow Jesus.

I know in my own experience that while emotions and feelings are important and worthwhile, they can also be misleading and sometimes downright deceitful.

I’ve had plenty of times when I was tired and let my emotions run rampant. I felt like my situation at the time was hopeless. But after a good night’s sleep, my emotions changed.

I’ve learned that emotions and feelings are fickle, but God isn’t. The Bible says that He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I don’t need to follow my heart. I need to guard it and follow Jesus. That’s the beginning of true wisdom.

You could add this (not autobiographical, thankfully):

I was dying to get the latest and smartest of the smart phones.
I was dying to find out how I compared with others on social media.
I was always dying to find out what I was missing until I was completely overtaken by the dreaded FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
I was dying inside because I have all these cyber connections but no real relationships or intimacy with real people.

“And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there” (1 Corinthians 7:17a, The Message).

Ann Voskamp is with Matt Bemish and Marlou Badiola-Enguero.29 September 2015 at 19:27 · 

“yeah, so the world may tilt off kilter tonight, Lord, with news of unspeakable things, and of things deep inside of us that we’d never speak of:
Kids fail & marriages flail & the work of our hands can feel futile, falling far behind. 
But! ‘…we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, *not a day goes by without His unfolding grace.*’
2Cor4MSG
It can feel like life’s got us in a prison — but on the inside, where God is making new life, we’re free. 
It can feel like we’ve lost — but not a day goes by without His unfolding grace that. makes. us. win. this. race. 
It can feel like the the night has won — but nothing can ultimately steal us from the One Who is Light. 

The bottom line, and the finish line, is simply this: 
The God who has carried you till now 
can be trusted to carry you till you’re through… 
right through to the very end — which, then, on the other side, 
will be a perfect, forever beginning”

#RealHonestPrayer #StrengtheningEachOtherWithPrayer

Hopefully, these borrowed words will speak to at least one person. Maybe someone out there will read them and find the courage and strength to keep going for one more day.

That to me will have been worth it.

I ran across something I wrote 8 years ago on this day that still resonates with me today. I don’t remember the context or what I was feeling that day or even what kind of day I’d had. But here it is, exactly as I wrote it then:

When my song though endless ages isn’t, “I did it my way,” but “Jesus led me all the way,” then God is strong. There are two things I know (and that I heard in a song) that God loves me and He is strong. So tonight I am clinging to that Strong Love with everything that’s in me. God is strong.

When my song though endless ages isn’t, “I did it my way,” but “Jesus led me all the way,” then God is strong. There are two things I know (and that I heard in a song) that God loves me and He is strong. So tonight I am clinging to that Strong Love with everything that’s in me. God is strong.

That’s the prayer of my heart every night. It’s true on good and bad days, fair or foul weather, peace or storm.

I’m still learning that I need God just as much on the days when everything seems doable and I’m content as on the days that seem impossible where I’ve given up and given in to stress. I need God every single day of my life. And God will be faithful for every single day of my life for the rest of my life.