An Unusual Thanksgiving Day

Growing up, thanksgivings began at five o clock in the morning and didn't end until midnight. Days before hand I would be in the kitchen with my mom preparing food for the day of the feast. My siblings and I would take charge of cleaning the house and finding "autumn-ish" decorations and adorning the room. I treasure these Thanksgivings, because it was from these days how I learned for to prepare and serve 50 people a delicious Thanksgiving meal. However, this year, my 20th Thanksgiving, I learned a slightly different lesson. I started my day as usual, five am but instead I spent an hour in the word, and drinking coffee with Travis. I ate breakfast,and went to my Acts class. After lunch dishes, I began to to finish up homework because I was going to Split,Croatia for a weekend outreach. I packed my bags and finished up the last bits of homework that I had, I realized that it was Thanksgiving day and I had not even seen oven. It felt odd to me, not to bake and I began to feel a bit homesick. I began to reminiscence about the days of my girlhood and the way the house smelt and how all of seemingly decided to wear sweaters, regardless if we were going out that day. I shook my head and set my mind to the tasks of the afternoon. I helped Travis pack the car, and along with all of the luggage, we crammed milk,corn flakes, muesli,milk,coffee and chips into the vehicle. At four thirty Travis,four other girls and myself squeezed ourselves into the car and drove away. And it wasn't until 6:30 that night that I partook of my   "Thanksgiving Meal". It was a cherry corny bar and a few chips. I could almost feel the tears well up in my eyes as I thought of the food my family would be eating at this point, I missed the fellowship that my family shares and the seemingly never ending night of laughter. These were memories that had made up my life, but now that I am an adult, I will be making new memories and new traditions. My thanksgivings may not be in a home with all of my family, but they may be spent with people that I love and  visiting a beautiful city. The rest of my Thanksgiving was spent on the road talking to Travis about our  trip back to his Arizonian home and traveling that we will be doing. I am truly a blessed person, in my 20 years of life, I have lived in four different countries and have visited 18, and I am able to attend a bible teaching bible college . I am surrounded by people who love me dearly and who pray for me on a daily basis. God is blessing me daily with so much I can hardly take it  in.

So I encouraged my sweet friend,that no matter what you did for this Thanksgiving, next Thanksgiving or a Thanksgiving ten years from now, God gave His Son for you so that you have the option of living eternally with Him. And that is something that no amount of Thanksgiving could express my thankfulness.

-Autumn 

"Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift"!"
-2 Corinthians 9:15

As long as I can be with you...it's a lovely day.

Travis made me this darling dress, studly vest, and precious hairpiece out the fabric from his apartment when he lived in Split,Croatia. Isn't he cool??

The photos were taken by our good friend, Beth Hyer. Beth has an amazing point of view, is a master with lighting, and she knows exactly what she wants. She is my friend on facebook, so you should check out her other work.

He's got skill

The detail of the back is all Travis! He is very avant gardewhen it comes to dresses, and don't you just love my hairpiece?

Genuine laughter - fifty percent of our interations

The other fifty percent of our interactions

I think we are very cute :)

The weather is fright'ning
The thunder and lightning
Seem to be having their way
But as far as i'm concerned, it's a lovely day
The turn in the weather
Will keep us together
So i can honestly say
That as far as i'm concerned, it's a lovely day
And everything's o.k.

Isn't this a lovely day
To be caught in the rain?
You were going on your way
Now you've got to remain

Just as you were going, leaving me all at sea
The clouds broke, they broke and oh!
What a break for me

I can see the sun up high
Tho' we're caught in the storm
I can see where you and i
Could be cozy and warm

Let the rain pitter patter
But it really doesn't matter
If the skies are gray
Long as i can be with you it's a lovely day

20.

November 18th 2004. This was a my very first day as a teenager, I woke up and stared at the ceiling for a minute, trying to force my eyes and mind to wake up. Then the thought jolted through my body " You are a teenager today." I could hardly believe it, I had waited a seemingly long time for this day and I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it now that it had actually arrived. But I clearly remembered promising myself that I would be the best teenager ever. I promised that I would never cause my parent grief, or disappoint God, and I would be an example to my siblings. Well... let's just say I was not the best teenager ever. I know for a fact that I upset my parents at some point on numerous occasions,I fought and bickered with my siblings, and I know my heart was not as sold out for God as it should have been. So, I know I wasn't the best teenager ever, but I know that my 20s will be better than my teen years. I have been falling in love with Jesus more and more, and I can see that the desires of my heart become more and more of the desires of Jesus. Now, on November 18th 2011, I find myself in shock that I am 20 years old. And I realized that I cannot go back but I can only move forward in the plans that have been laid before me, long before I was even a twinkle in my parent's eyes. To being 20. ~Autumn ~Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. -Proverbs 3:5

Coffee.

If any of you have been following my life, you will know that up until last summer I never,ever drank coffee as apart of my daily routine. When I did drink coffee, I drank it with unspeakable nastiness ( also known as cream and sugar ) or I would get a drink at Starbucks and I would drink it while typing away an essay or enjoying the company of a friend. This is rather odd considering everyone in my family drinks coffee at least once a day, perhaps two times depending on everyone's mood. This summer, my dear friend Travis offered me some beautiful black gold from his french press. I tried to put sugar and milk in it, and I am pretty sure I offended him ,nearly damaging his opinion of me forever. So I decided to try it black... and well, I was pleasantly surprised` to find that I really,really liked it. And now, it is September 30th 2011, and I have drank a cup of unadulterated coffee nearly everyday. Now, it is not just the actual coffee that brings insane amounts of sunshine to my day, but more of who is drinking a cup right along with me. We may be reading our bibles or replying to emails, or we actually may be talking , the conversation will add something special to the already incredible cup of goodness. So, no matter how you take your coffee, I encourage you to enjoy a cup of Christian Crack.

{ Reminded }

Today was one of the most lovely Saturday afternoons of my entire summer. I was out by the pool nearly all afternoon enjoying the sunshine and the nearly cool breeze and the swirling leaves. I closed my eyes and I had flashbacks of the entire summer, I couldn't help but smile when I thought of everything that has transpired and what a blessed girl I am. Think about it, I grew up in Europe and now at 19 years old I am living in a Castle in the Hungarian countryside. By the time of my 21st Christmas I will have achieved my associates degree in Theology. I am surrounded by sweet friends, young and old who love me and encourage me to fall more in love with Him.

The summer is nearly over and the semester will begin in nine days! This last month of August I dreamed of the fall semester and now that it is just about to begin, I know that I will miss the busyness of the week and the lazy, homework-free weekends. But to everything there is a season and I know that I am ready for the next chapter.

So my friends, I encourage you today to enjoy the last few days of summer. And I also encourage you to reflect and examine yourselves and be reminded of everything that the Lord has done in your life this summer. And prepare your hearts and minds for the new season of autumn---I mean fall :)

-Autie

"I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. I know that whatever God does,It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past."
~ Ecclesiastes 3:12-15

{A Week Without Social Networking}

So, as many of you know that I am the average 21st girl when it comes to socializing online. I use facebook,I tweet,and I blog. I use these resources more than I should, but I present the excuse that I live overseas and far away from my family. But I am not here to tell you why I use social networking, but instead I want to tell you why I went without it for a whole week.

Last Sunday ( the 14th of August),Travis challenged that I could not last one week without Facebook,twitter, or updating my blog. I accepted this challenge and responded that the week would be a snap and I would triumphantly cross the line into the next Sunday. The week without social networking was easy, honestly I only missed it when there was nothing else to do. And then it hit me, Facebook is a time filler. I use it just to fill up time...but when I "fill" up time with Facebook, it's actually wasting time I could be filling with something else.

With no social networking this week, it felt like I did more with my time. I actually cleaned my space, Travis cut my hair ( He had NEVER cut a girl's hair before, but he did an excellent job ),and I cut his hair ( again, I have never cut hair before in my life) I laid out by the pool,watched some kids,made chocolate-chip buttermilk pancakes for friends. Sure, these may be small and insignificant things. But these are the things that enrich life and make it a little sweeter, a little more precious and interesting than if we wouldn't have done them.

So,my dear friend, I encourage you when you are finished reading my blog that you get up and do something. It doesn't have to be an outside activity...but bake a cake, finish that book that's collected dust by laying on your night stand and see the adventures that the non-cyber world holds for you.

-Autumn

"Dost thou love life? Than do not squander time, it's the stuff that life is made of!" -Benjamin Franklin

{ Why I Blog --- From a slightly discouraged blogger}

Recently, I have been sitting at this little stump that most of you know as "writer's block" for several weeks now...writing feels like a chore and I have almost zero feedback. So, I am a little frustrated with myself at the fact that I am inconsistent with my writing. So, I have decided to go back to the basics and share with you some of my heart about writing and why I blog,hoping to inspire myself once again.

From a very young age, I have always loved writing stories and journaling. But it was my freshman year of high school that my love for writing was discovered. Mrs. T taught a creative writing class for a group of 20 Kurdish high school students. I didn't only learn about writing, but writing an excellent and unique story. My foundation of writing was laid here, and for that I am eternally grateful-- Thank you Mrs. T!

After that year of school, I was almost "on my own" if you will. Most of my papers were graded by a teacher I had never met and I never received much feedback, so I began to pour my heart out in my journals. Of course, I would have never,ever let anyone read those. So obviously I was not getting any feedback from that form of writing.
So, I then began to write letters to my best friend Pauli...serious,serious letters...we're talking ten pages type of letters. Pauli would write back with 10 to 12 pages of letters. Finally some of the feedback that I had been craving!

So,it was the summer before my Junior year of high school I got up the nerve to start blogging. Actually, my very first blog was with my best friend, Pauli. We wrote about our summer together in 2008. You can read it here- http://autumnandpauli.blogspot.com/

There are a lot of pretty hysterical posts, a good and intriguing read.

After that summer, I didn't blog until 2010, and ever since then I have been semi-consistently blogging. I find it very important to blog about my time in Hungary at bible college. It is my heart to share about my experiences,my life, and the things that God is teaching me.

When I write, I write for myself but I keep my readers in mind. My readers are primarily my family and friends, so I write exactly how I would talk to you. However, I get a little discouraged when there are no comments or feedback, of which I have not had since June. But I have realized in the past several days, that I write to the world, not only my world. Who knows who stumbles across my blog on a daily basis. This in itself gives me hope that my blogs are not flying out onto the oblivion of the internet.

So, dear reader, whoever you are, please continue to read, and although you may never comment. It is enough for me to know that I have readers who anonymously enjoy my thoughts.

With a newly inspired heart,

Autie