FIRST OF OCTOBER FAVES

I LOVE Autumn, and October so far has been a delight!  Unseasonably warm weather and SUNSHINE, with cool mornings and cooler evenings.  I'm in heaven.  And right now as you're reading this, we are either just heading to breakfast or on our way home from a few days in the High Peaks region of the Adirondack Mountains. The faves from this trip will be shared next week or in a separate post.  I don't have my laptop with me. It's a true "get away from everything" trip. I'm writing this on Tuesday to post it Friday morning.  I'm so thankful for my husband who came up with this idea of a little getaway. He's a keeper!

Here are five of my fave blessings from the last few days.  I'm linking up with other bloggers at Susanne's site....how about joining in with us? 

• RELAXING DAY:  Saturday was one heck of a rainy day here. In fact, the NYS governor declared a state of emergency for the NYC area (2.5 hours south of us) as they had some major flooding. I was ok with the rainy day.  I was supposed to take my fitness group out on a local easy hike but of course we had to cancel it.  I stayed in my workout clothes, did a HiiT video to get some cardio in, and then relaxed with a really compelling thriller of a book and a steaming mug of coffee.  It was a day for total relaxation with minimal household chores....I'm thankful Dave and I both had time to just relax and be content in our home. 

• COMMUNION SUNDAY: I'm thankful for our church and the way we do communion. It's such a special time of prayer, reflection, quiet, and Scripture.  This past week whomever was participating in communion (all Believers are welcome to partake) went up to one of the 4 tables spread out in the front of the congregation and took the elements.  When everyone was seated again, our site pastor led us in prayer and Scripture reading and then we all took the elements.  After communion, we had another worship song and then our senior pastor preached his sermon. After church, I also had a chance to talk with our pastor's wife, my friend D and her daughter A. A is now the mom to 3  adorable little ones and it was so much fun to get caught up. I was also able to chat with a couple of other friends we know before we left. 

 

• SLEEP!!   The past few nights I have had such restful sleep.  I'm  thankful I rarely wake up in the middle of the night any longer and if I do wake up, it's closer to 5 AM and I'm able to fall back asleep until 6:30 or 7 AM.  I never want to take good sleep for granted.  It's a huge blessing.

image courtesy of NBCnews

• FOUND!!  This little girl which I'm sure most of you had been watching on the morning Today Show or possibly your local station, has been FOUND!  This is pretty much a miracle in my opinion. SO many children, teens, young adults...and yes even older adults, go missing each and every day in our nation. Most are due to human trafficking or custodial issues.  The reason it hit so close to home for me and literally made me sob was because Moreau Lake State Park is where we camped many times when our own girls were little and where we go basically weekly all summer long and in to the autumn months. My oldest girl, when she was just 6, biked alone on that very road where this girl was riding.  We were camping at one of the campsites on that loop and yes we allowed her to ride the loop by herself because it has always felt so safe. This park is only about 35 minutes to the direct north of us. I've hiked alone there, swam there, had family parties there, left our kayaks there to kayak with a friend or hubby, or self in years past.  It just never seemed like something this evil could be there.  Well, we know these kidnappers hunt and wait, hunt and wait......They seek out places where children or teens congregate.   It could have ended so badly. I'm so thankful to our heavenly Father for answered prayer and that  she was found alive and well!!  

Apple pie
crust by Pillsbury

• APPLE PIE:  I had so many apples from a local orchard that I decided to make not just the apple crisp and apple spice cookies from September, but an apple pie to share with our youngest daughter who came over for lunch on Tuesday.  Dave made his famous rice and beans and we decided that since we were having a huge lunch with pie for dessert, we would just have something light like a salad or sandwich before our small group Bible study tonight.  The pie came out great and was super tasty although I still miss my grandma M's apple pie.  This is probably the only pie I'll make this autumn as we both are cutting back on sugar and desserts (unless I make a Swedish apple pie on Columbus day which is kind of a tradition for me if it rains....and it's supposed to). I'm thankful for farm fresh produce!  

Those are just some blessings from the beginning of the week.  I hope whatever you did this week, that you could find five things that you think of as "faves". God is so good to us, isn't He?