Where did September go?

We blinked and now it is October!

Fall is in the air and we are getting excited about that fact here at The IN SEASON Lifestyle.

September was such an eventful month for us! Check out the last section of this September Newsletter called THE PAST, for a quick recap of all the adventures that we stumbled into during September. I have tried to leave a trail of links for those who might have missed anything this past month. The links will make it easy for you to catch a quick September review.

THE PRESENT

As of this present moment, I’m in the midst of a few days of retreat.

No writing.

No blogging.

No computer.

Nothing but me and my family and God; off the grid and deep in the mountains.

Heaven on earth!

EVERYONE NEEDS TIME TO REFUEL AND RECHARGE

We will be in one of our favorite corners of the world; a little mountain town called Black Mountain. Our family takes this little family retreat each year to celebrate The Feast of Tabernacles. We don’t always go to the same place; but this is one of our favorite spots.

I look forward to the awesome worship, fellowship, rest and relaxation we will share.

In the meantime; the blog may not be quite as active in the few short days I’m away on this retreat; but I’ve tried to post a few things ahead and I have left someone I trust keeping my house who will monitor anything new that could come up; technically. Hopefully nothing will go wrong and I’ll come back with lots of wonderful news and a million little stories to share with you!

I have to confess that my eyes feel very tired from so much continuous blogging; though I love every minute and enjoy sharing with all of you so very much. The tired eyes will get all rested up and the refreshment and change of environment is bound to inspire some great new thoughts to write about. I really can’t wait to see what stories this trip has to give me.

I’m feeling so very grateful to get this set-aside time each year and to have an opportunity for all of our family to gather together under one roof in the Name of God. It is so cozy, and comforting and reassuring; a treat that will give us memories to last us through the whole year.

No matter what is going on in the world as a whole; this little bit of set-aside time every year rejuvenates my soul. The experiences that we will get to share with all of our children and grandchildren will be priceless.

Can you feel my excitement?

THE FUTURE

I’ll come home to the beginning of October (my favorite month of the annual calendar.)

October is going to be an amazing month for The IN SEASON Lifestyle blog in 2017; and below is a short little preview that lists a few of my plans for upcoming October blogs.

CONTEST – FUN NEW CONTESTS ARE COMING THIS FALL

Fall inspires me!

I want to offer some exciting contests this month to show off all of my reader’s artistic abilities.

These contest will be centered around the art of the written word; in the form of a short story; and the art of the camera in the form of photography.

Be sure to watch for the information for each of these contests in the October PEN ART and CONTESTS sections of the blog.

There will be modest monetary prizes offered to the winners and of course; the opportunity for your work of art (whether written or a photo) to be published in the blog. The themes for both contests will be compatible with the very lovely season of fall.

The short stories submitted will be required to be centered around an outdoor fall event.

The photograph for the photography contest should to be a photo of your favorite fall tree.

I wish you luck in winning these prizes, and most of all; it will just be fun to open up those creative juices and express your artistic abilities as you participate. So PLEASE join in the fun!

Just go ahead and get started right now with the spinning of those tales and the snapping of those photos! You only have one month to get it done. Not even a whole month for the short stories.

If you write and/or enjoy photography this is a good first-step to getting published and/or noticed for your skill. Publications will happen in November.

You never know who might be watching as The IN SEASON Lifestyle steps into the beauty of the amazing months of Fall.

THE HOUSE DOCTOR

October is a very artsy month here.

Another favorite form of art comes to us in the unique ways we express ourselves in the decor we choose for our homes.

This fall I decided that I did not enjoy enough of the beach-cottage look I managed to pull off through the end of summer (probably because we didn’t get to go to the beach at all this summer.) So; I’m combining the fall looks inside my home with a new fall-ish type of beach –cottage look.

Let’s just call it a Fall Celebration By The Sea. It is not really the sea though; just my main living area of my home. That’s okay; we will have a little of the effect and it is easy to imagine in the Fall. Every time I sit on my sofa to catch up on my reading; I’ll be thinking about a fall day at the beach. I love those thoughts; so I’m going to enjoy this fresh new concept in decorating my house for the season.

I’ve slowly started this transition process, actually I found myself beginning this change of decor at the end of August and I have been slowly continuing the changes through the month of September. I’ve been adding just another little thing here and another little thing there as time has been passing by and the season has begun to change. I haven’t quite wrapped up all of the finishing touches of my vision yet.

These thoughts are on the drawing board though; and I will be sharing them with you soon. Keep reading in THE HOUSE DOCTOR section this October if you want to take a peak at some of my new ideas for a fall beach-cottage look inside your home. I’ll give you a hint – it is all about color.

After I finish this transition; I’ll probably publish another contrasting article where I will also show you my typical classic fall decorating schemes that are not at all about the beach-cottage look. The classic look is strictly celebrating the fall colors of the foliage that surrounds us.

I love to use both types of fall decorating; and I try to change-up and alternate them from year-to-year and season-to-season. This surprising little change (with the beach in the fall) just keeps things a bit more interesting!

You know I’m all about the changing seasons; even in the decorating of my home.

MONDAY NIGHT MENUS

Oops! That article that I promised for football tailgating recipe ideas didn’t get posted as planned in September.

I haven’t forgotten though; so be looking for it in October under the MONDAY NIGHT MENUS section of the blog.

Don’t worry; football will still be happening. There was no need to rush!

Actually, though I’m still into all of the college games this year; the way politics have been playing into the professional football season is disturbing to me. Perhaps my mind subconsciously avoided these articles because I just miss the good old days when a football game was REALLY just all about two teams having fun playing football. That was it; nothing else. Just good, clean, fun football. You know; teamwork and all that goes with it! Nevertheless; I’ll be getting more into the college football season in October; and yes, there will be new recipes.

School is back in full swing now. I neglected to post those lunch-packing and after school snacking ideas back in September too. Look for them in October.

I’ve also got some other types of seasonal recipes up my sleeve. These new recipes involve pumpkins, squash, apples, caramel, nuts, cranberries, sweet potatoes, root vegetables and pears. Look for the MONDAY NIGHT MENU column to pick up a bit this month of October.

How on earth could we keep from it?

The cook in me just comes alive in the fall of the year. October is the time to begin to bring out the more festive foods of the season.

AN APPLE A DAY

We will be adding a few more articles concerning a more healthy lifestyle into the AN APPLE A DAY column for October.

I have several new thoughts to share with you about living a healthy lifestyle.

Expect these healthy lifestyle articles to pick up more and more as we go into the fall and winter seasons. I’ve found it is important to remember to stay focused on healthy living as we need to come indoors more because of the weather restrictions; and as we tend to become more sedentary in our winter lifestyles. We also lose the easy access to fresh produce from the summer season crops that we had become accustomed to in our outdoor markets. We will talk a lot about how to eat healthy with the foods of the fall season.

Just for fun; I also hope to enjoy the healthy activity of some fall apple-picking with the grands this month; and you know I’m going to share it here with you! Fall is a great time to get outside and stretch your limbs. Apple-picking works well for that type of exercise.

We will be focusing on healthy lifestyle tips in other areas too, so be sure to keep reading this column in October.

SEASONS

The big event in our SEASONS column for October will be thoughts and experiences of The Feast of Tabernacles, which is the last of God’s three Fall Holy Days. I hope you have already caught my first article; if not you can click into it here: THEREFORE; LET US KEEP THE FEAST! – A CHRISTIAN CELEBRATION OF SUKKOT – SEASONS

We are right upon that season as I write this Newsletter. I can’t think of a better way to start the month than to be sharing my thoughts and ideas of this special holy time with you.

We will also have some more fall topics for the SEASON’S column which will feature some local harvest festivals and events and a few fall crafts to do with those grand children.

As I mentioned earlier; the school season is now in full swing. I have been gathering thoughts from several of the Mom’s I admire who have lived through the process of homeschooling their children. This informational article will probably be published in October.

There has never been a better time to begin homeschooling your child. This article will discuss the pros and cons of that process for those of you who are considering making the change. If you begin the thought process right now; you will be ready by the next year that those school bells begin to ring out across the land.

OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO

This October will be hopping with fun places to visit!

There are great things to do and see for kids of all ages; even those oversized adult kids!

Fall just brings out the wonderlust in all of us, and I want to share several good fall destinations in OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO during this month of October.

We are going to look at the joys of some lovely fall train rides. I think you will love the scenery.

We are also going to explore the fun that your family can enjoy in several small, scenic mountain towns.

We will have some suggestions for a few great hiking trails that are definitely a beautiful way to catch the changing colors of the season while you are getting some very healthy exercise.

Be sure to catch these upcoming articles.

COME AS A CHILD

Our ongoing chronological bible study called COME AS A CHILD will continue each Thursday during October.

Don’t miss a week of this adventure because those Israelites can be hard to catch up with!

Clear your mind of any pre-conceptions and come join in with us bringing the heart of a child.

God will meet us there.

This is going to be a very beautiful and exciting month friends!

I look forward to sharing with you.

Expect a few surprises here and there along the way.

THE PAST

A REVIEW OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER

SEASONS

As I mentioned earlier; the month of September was awesome. I really enjoyed sharing the articles of this blog in September with all of you.

If you want to catch up on all that we shared in September before all of this October excitement begins; here is a brief explanation of what we shared and some links you can follow for your reviews and reading pleasure:

Except for a few unexpected hurricanes; September was a very holy month! We were all very occupied with finishing the month of Elul and meditating on the Fall Holy days coming up.

There were plenty of articles shared about the two Holy Days that occurred in September; The Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah and The Day of Atonement/Yom Kippur. These articles all gave a Christian point of view of these Holy Days. We also did a series of articles containing meditations of these times. Here are the links if you are interested in reviewing them: I AM MY BELOVED AND MY BELOVED IS MINE – MEDITATIONS OF ELUL- MEDITATION 4, “I WILL GO UP TO THE LORD; PERHAPS I CAN MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SINS” – COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 179 A CHRISTIAN OBSERVANCE OF YOM KIPPUR – THE DAY OF ATONEMENT – SEASONS THE RAM’S HORN – ROSH HASHANAH MEDITATIONS – MEDITATION 2 – SEASONS TESHUVAH – A SERIES OF ELUL MEDITATIONS- MEDITATION 2 – SEASONS LIVING IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF THE WORLD – A SERIES OF MEDITATIONS FOR ELUL- MEDITATION NO. 3 – SEASONS A TIME TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE – A SERIES OF ELUL MEDITATIONS – MEDITATION 1

Most of September was focused on the events centered around these Fall Holy Days. We even threw in an early article on the building of a sukkah: BUILDING A SUKKAH FOR THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES – SEASONS

I hope you enjoyed each and every one of these articles that should have helped to prepare our hearts for the Holy Days of Fall.

COME AS A CHILD

Even some of our ongoing, chronological bible study called COME AS A CHILD timed out to give information about the Fall Holy Days! I love it when God does this! He is certainly in control of all of our days and all of our time. We had four good lessons in September and they are here if you wish to review them again: “I WILL GO UP TO THE LORD; PERHAPS I CAN MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SINS” – COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 179 TWO BROKEN TABLETS; TWO BROKEN HEARTS – LESSON 178 – COME AS A CHILD THE GREAT INTERCESSION – LESSON 177 – COME AS A CHILD A SABBATH KEEPING NATION – COME AS A CHILD – LESSON 176

I hope you will make the COME AS A CHILD weekly bible study a part of your Thursday’s in the future.

PEN ART

Even the PEN ART section of the blog, where we tend to get creative in some way, was full of short stories that have to do with the Fall Holy Days. Here are the first of several of THE SUKKAH STORIES; in case you missed them: THE SUKKAH OF MOSES – PART THREE OF THE SUKKAH STORIES SERIES – PEN ART THE SUKKAH THAT JACOB BUILT – STORY TWO – ANOTHER STORY FROM THE SUKKAH STORIES SERIES ABRAHAM’S SUKKAH – FROM THE SUKKAH STORIES SERIES- STORY ONE

We also shared a little Fall poetry, which just happened to contain the word “awe” in the passages (suggestions of The Days of Awe.) I hope you enjoyed the little sprinkle of poetry; I love to publish poetry for each changing season. Here is the link to the poetry we shared: A POEM THAT DOESN’T RHYME FOR THE FIRST DAY OF FALL – PEN ART

CONTEST

Back in September we hinted at the short story contest that we would officially give in October. I shared more of this in the information earlier; but here is the link we published back in September to get you ready: ANNOUNCING The IN SEASON Lifestyle’s FALL SHORT STORY CONTEST.

Have you submitted an entry yet? Better get started; time is moving on!