Fun Fall Day!

I LOVE FALL!!

I don't know what it is exactly about this time of year, but it's always been a special time for me. When I was a kid (and a teenager!) I used to go for walks in the woods near our home in Missouri and be gone for HOURS, especially in the fall! I would take rolls and rolls of film of the trees, the piles of leaves, the brilliant colors - I was always inspired the most then and wrote pages and pages in my journal, poems, stories, anything! So I guess getting to share my favorite time of year with a family of my own make this time of year even more fun for me somehow.

So since it was so beautiful out, we decided it was a good day to get our carpets cleaned and I planned a day full of errands and "bentures" (this is Rea's word for adventures) for me and the children while Daryle stayed to supervise at home.

We went to the mall and the kids rode on their favorite "rides" and then we ate at the food court before heading on to our next stop. Two hours later Rea was done with preschool and Ma-lak was done w/ k.garten and I was heading back to a different mall for more errands with all 4 little ones in tow. I opened the back door to our SUV and I stood there for the longest time, thinking I had lost my mind! WHERE WAS THE STROLLER?!?!?!

I retraced our steps from the whole morning (there were alot of them!) and sure enough, at our fist mall stop, I remember loading all the children back into the car, and DRIVING OFF without putting the stroller in the back! At least I had all the children, but wow.

This is unfortumately NOT the first, second, or even third or fourth time this has happened!! YIKES! (Missing wallets in grocery cars - 2, wallets left at the bank - 1, missing debit cards left in machines - 2, missing foot stools purchased at Wal-mart and left in the bottom of the cart at Wal-mart - 1. You get the picture.)

I went back to the store and looked all over, checked the lost and found, talked to mall security and still no stroller! (also missing, a bag of purchases from Sears hanging on the handle of the stroller....)

A very hard lesson learned, and again, the scripture "Be still and know that I am GOd" has been brought to mind. Why am I in such a hurry all the time?! Yeah, yeah, lots of kids, lots of appointments, lots of work and ministry commitments, but to go at such a pace like this all the time is NOT good for anyone, and it's not how God meant for our lives to be. MY life to be!

"In your patience, possess ye your souls." (Luke 21: 19)

"...he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly." (Proverbs 14: 29)

Lord, help me to SLOW DOWN, to truly enjoy all that you have created and given to me, and to make TIME instead of make haste!