Our kids playing in the leaves

Beautiful Fall Days

It’s fall! That means beautiful days, trees bursting with color, pumpkin lattes, apple picking at the orchard, apple cider donuts, and all the wonderful things fall brings.

Last week, we were crazy busy. I had more to accomplish on my to-do list each day than I could possibly accomplish. But as I looked out the window, I saw it was an incredibly gorgeous fall day. The sun hadn’t been out in days, but now it was shining and the trees were full of color.

I looked at my phone and saw that we weren’t going to have another sunny day for over a week. I started wondering if we should cancel our plans for the day and go outdoors and enjoy the great fall day God created.

Wisdom from My Morning Time

I was undecided until I had my morning time. I read in Ecclesiastes a few verses that encouraged my heart.

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. Ecclesiastes 3:13

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun. Ecclesisastes 9:9

For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God:… Ecclesiastes 9:1

3 Lessons from Solomon

1. The gift of God is working hard and enjoying the fruits of our labor. What’s the point in working hard every day if you never take a day off? What’s the point of earning money if we can’t spend it doing something together as a family?

2. My spouse and children are gifts from God to be enjoyed in this life. I have to choose to spend time with them while I still can. We are not promised tomorrow, and our children won’t be with us forever. In the blink of an eye, they will be out of our home and on their own. We have to make conscious decisions to spend time putting into them, noticing them, and having fun with them while we can.

3. Our lives are in God’s hand. Our jobs, our pay, our careers, everything we work so hard for is in God’s hand. Taking a day off isn’t going to change that.

Choosing to Spend Time Doing What Really Matters

So, what did we do? We packed the kids in the van and drove an hour and a half away to beautiful Lancaster, PA. We went to our favorite orchard and bought pink lady apples, we discovered a new park surrounded by the most gorgeous fall trees, and we found some leaves to play in. But mostly, we simply enjoyed spending time together as a family.

Sometimes we need to step away from work, take a break from the never-ending to-do list, and just choose to spend time together. We will never regret the time we spend together as a family!