When I read this post by Sarah Clarkson this morning, I considered simply referring you over to it and washing my hands of further words. Her observations about setting a purposeful home pace and instituting morning quiet have been two of my most treasured recent experiences as well, and even Andrew Peterson’s “Counting Stars” has been playing on a regular loop in our car for the past week and a half — long enough for the girls to pick their favorites and help me recall the lyrics. Go here to enjoy “An Autumn Pace, with Sarah (Lifegiving Home Series).”
Our little family bundled up to drive into the mountains and see the aspen foliage last weekend. We fared better the preceding Saturday, when we all trooped gamely down a looping trail of not-quite-Autumn-ripe trees; this time, little sniffling noses and watery eyes turned us around about ten minutes into the hike. We did stop to enjoy a snack at a picnic table overlooking a gorgeously arrayed valley, though, and that’s more than we can say about the newborn years! — so it was worth the trek.
At home, September’s been a month of wrestling and intercession and some hours as grey and drear as the dark before the dawn. But the most peaceful, stilled bit of time I had in it was a moment I spent with no other aim than being mindfully in the presence of the Father. I’ve tried to do the same everyday since. Weeks ago I read Psalm 23 dutifully as part of my reading plan, but today every line is more precious to me than all the gold in the world, aspen or otherwise. There’s no better or more grounded way to go on than the one found in those faithful words — keeping close to the Shepherd on the winding paths, learning to lie down in green pastures, being comforted by His rod and staff in the dark, knowing we will dwell in His house forever.
Wishing you a rich October of warmth and glimpses of glory, friends!
Some wonderful reads to savor with a cup of tea:
- Matt Mellema, Art in a Dark World (a friendly warning: this post successfully convinced me to stop reading, watch “The Secret of Kells,” and return)
- Renee Mathis, Circe Institute: Dulce Domum: The Longing for Home in Literature (and Our Hearts)
- Matthew Barrett, The Gospel Coalition: Martin Luther on Marriage as a School of Character
- Andrew Peterson, The Rabbit Room: The Consolation of Doubt: An Address to the Buechner Institute (another warning: a Buechner book is next in my reading queue thanks to the beauty in this post)
Earlier this season here
- A Prelude to Autumn – new scenes from our home
- This Old Battlefield (If You Are Weary from Facing the Same Fight Again — and Again) – a bit of ragged honesty from this pilgrim-on-the-road
- The Ferryman, Part 1 – a short story about a river, a man, and a high country
- The Art of Slow(er) Writing – my own writing plans for the near future
Eaten on our brief hike (since this post still falls under “retrospective teas”:
- Small Gala apples, Cheddar cheese crackers, roasted chestnuts
