It's that time of year..

Fall is definitely in the air.  I absolutely love this time of the year for a variety of reasons.  I love the temperature as it seems to get cooler outside.  Don't get me wrong, I love the warm weather but am ready for some cooler temps.  I love driving down the road and seeing the beautiful colors of leaves hanging from the trees although this year it seems that the leaves are falling before they seem to change colors.  I am not a big fan of Halloween, but enjoy the tons of candy that I seem to accumulate throughout the month of October.  I enjoy being able to walk outside and not having to take another shower just because I was outside longer than 20 minutes.  My most favorite thing about the fall has to be Tennessee Football.  Growing up, my family and I spent every Saturday in Knoxville going to the UT Football games.  This time of year is bitter sweet for me now though.  Ever since my grandfather passed away it seems to just not be the same.  For some reason this year, I am missing him and thinking about him constantly.  I have found myself several times just breaking down in tears because of how much I miss him.  I miss so many things about this great man.

1. I miss his wonderful smile

2. I miss his amazing outlook on life.  

3. I miss his Godly wisdom that he always had

4. I miss his love for Tennessee football and pushing him up the huge hill to our seats at the games : )

5.  I miss him seeing me graduate & coming to my last college basketball game

6. I miss his hilarious sense of humor.

7. I miss his friendliness.

8.  I miss him being there for me.

9. I miss being able to pick up the phone and dial his number just to talk to him.

10.  I miss traveling with him.

I feel like I could go on and on about the things that I miss about my grandfather.  He truly was an amazing Godly man and I wouldn't have traded him for the world.  I loved this man more than words. I wish that I would have taken more time to spend with him while he was still here with us.  Tennessee football has been so hard for me this year because every time I go to the stadium I immediately think of him.  Every one of my childhood memories at UT games had him in them.  He would have done anything for me or any other of his grandkids.  He def. spoiled us and I never questioned how much he loved and cared for each one of us.  He never met a stranger.  He was the friendliest person that I have ever known and everyone who met him loved him.  I don't know why this year has been so difficult for me, but what keeps me going is knowing that I will see him again one day.  I can imagine him waiting for me at the gates of heaven.  I truly look forward to the day when I see him again, but until then I have wonderful memories to remember him by!!!  I love you Papaw!!!!!

Work in Progress

Growing up I have always heard other people say that you need to learn to be content with the things that you have; however, you don't need to be content with your relationship with God.  I am trying so hard right now to learn to be content with the things that I have.  Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful because God has truly blessed me far beyond what I deserve.  If anyone knows me well, they know that (as much as I hate to admit this) I love spending money.  I must say though the older I get, the more I realize that I am so much like my dad.  Last week, I just received my first "big girl paycheck" and to a degree I was a little disappointed.  Let me start off and say that NEVER did I realize that I would have hundreds of dollars taken out for federal taxes and if that's not enough I have to pay for the health care of people who don't work.  Okay I know that makes me sound very selfish, but still it was a little frustrating.  I felt like I got more money taken out of my check for a variety of things than I actually had put into the bank.  

I was struggling this past week with that and then Sunday night it hit me all of a sudden.  Caleb and I are just started a financial class at Westwood and all we talked about this past Sunday night was the fact that our money isn't ours but God's.  Honestly, I had never really thought about that before and it was just like it struck me.  I had been upset all week about all that money being taken out when in reality it's not mine anyways.  God is the one who gave me the opportunity to have this job and get the money in the first place.  Now, I'm not saying that I still don't have feelings like I had last week, but I must keep reminding myself that it's God's money.  Let me just say, that living in our world today and seeing all these things on TVs makes it really hard to not constantly want, want, want (or atleast it makes it difficult for me).  I wish I wasn't like this, but I have to constantly remind myself that I am a work in progress and pray that God teaches me how to completely be content with everything I have.  One verse that I love that helps me daily is...

Hebrews 13:5

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,"Never will I leave you; nor forsake you."