“People would think of my ministry as being my missionary work, my writing, my speaking. But you know, I don’t spend most of my life standing at a podium. I spend most of my life sitting at a desk, standing at a sink, standing at an ironing board, going to the grocery store, sitting in airports, doing a whole lot of things which are not anything for which I expect to get medals. They are moments to be offered to Jesus. Do the next thing.”
~ Elisabeth Elliot
Gifts of grace in October:
A weekend visit from Brian, Taylor, and the hobbits; homemade pizzas, scooters and chalk in the driveway, boys in our trees, and reading Miss Twiggley and Miss Suzy before bed (books they’d missed)
Taking a trolley down Main Street, visiting the depot, Bennett at the bookstore (how he grabbed a basket), and Creekmore Park
Warming our dinner over the fire + s’mores
FaceTime with Trent & Alli just hours after their engagement; how they were beaming
Slow few days recovering from wisdom teeth surgery, sunlight filling the living room, good books, homemade soup & pudding, and a care package in the mail from my parents
The books that friends gave me after my miscarriage, which are still feeding my soul
Saturday drive through our hometown and nearby countryside, goldenrod in bloom, lunch at the reservoir, bass boats coming in
Stargazing together on cool nights with Jared’s new app that names the constellations, like Ursa Major the Great Bear and Lyra the harp
The Lord’s Day
Stringing up my hammock on a warm Sunday afternoon to read
Owl calls in the early morning
Hanging laundry
Ice cream and Bananagrams with Jared’s parents
Prepping for Farmer’s Market, bottling jars of honey, baking loaves and loaves of bread, packaging, tying, labeling, loading the truck
Farmer’s Market and Fall Festival Saturday, selling our honey, meeting new faces, the hot dog man across from us, and ladies from Lee Creek stopping by our booth
Dinner at an old favorite, Calico County
Jared preaching the funeral of a good, Christian man
Goldenrod on the hillside beyond the cemetery, autumn touching the trees
Trying a new recipe, Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Windows open and Harold out on the tractor, clearing the woods of brush
Cooking in Mema’s red-checked apron on her birthday
Lovely morning run
Coming into church on Sunday to fresh eggs from Vivian and a throw blanket Martha crocheted for me
Long afternoon game of chess
Picnic dinner, bonfire, & a sunset
Meeting Ken and Abigail and their little ones, a pastor and his family who were traveling through
A breezy afternoon for bee work and ripping up our old landscaped beds; planting daffodil, paperwhite, and iris bulbs around the shop and next to our front door
The first rainy, chilly day to clean out the closet and pull out fall sweaters, college football going all afternoon
A full and joyful Sunday morning and potluck, new faces in the congregation, including a surprise visit from Matt and his sweet mom
The honeybee sunhat Bonnie gave me
Making my first meatloaf
Mist rising from the ponds and pastures, the hulking shapes of cows in the morning light
Karen’s award-winning chili recipe
October coming up over the trees at the end of our yard, bringing leaves tumbling toward our back windows and chattering down the driveway
After a long summer in the South, autumn at last
bethanyjlincks.com 
Love this. All the things of life, simple with much pleasure and hard work. Thanks for sharing.
Linda
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Thank you, Linda!
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love this list……..a breath of fresh air and a reason to smile
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