Falling for September

I rarely look forward to the arrival of September. 

I wish I liked pulling out sweaters and boots or walking in chilly air or on crunchy leaves, but I don't. 

I do, however, love pumpkin spice coffee. 

So that's reason enough not to write the entire season of autumn off as a loss, don't you think?

And there's Steelers football, too, {which I love} but that's still not enough to make me love fall.

I love summer instead. 

In my girlhood, I dreaded September’s appearance that ended my favorite season and forced me to embark on another school year. 

My hometown of Pittsburgh was rather gray and dreary in the fall and winter and I was glad when I moved to Florida where summer unabashedly overstays its welcome right through the holidays.

But these days, the month of September also marks another year at my job. Nineteen years, to be exact.

That milestone seemed an unlikely longshot when after college I job-hopped to three companies in five years, always keeping an eye out for something new when I grew tired of where I was.

I never decorated my workspace with framed photos and coffee mugs. I liked to think I was traveling light and would have less to pack when the right offer arrived to move on to pastures far lusher and greener than where I was.  

But I've eventually come to realize that no matter where I am, there can be divine purposes in what I'm doing.   

During my art retreat in Italy last summer, instructor Jeanne Oliver gave us handpainted cards with a verse from scripture. 

It's the passage where Esther's uncle Mordecai presses her to have courage and stand up to the king, asking her to consider her place in history.

"And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14 {NIV}

All year long I've looked at those words sitting on the little easel on my bookshelf, beside a few grains of sand from the Italian beach and the tiny topiary tree that marked my spot in art class. 

And I think those words are really for us all, wherever we are and whatever we find ourselves doing.

With the clarity that only comes over time, I now see there was much to value during the years I thought I was just in a holding pattern, holding out for something better. 

It was the time and space I needed to learn new skills in technology, design and layout that shaped my ideas and gave me the confidence to create my own blog. And it was where I met the savvy millennials who became my cheerleaders {although it felt more like arm-twisting} as I jumped into social media.

Pursuing opportunities is good and new horizons may be exciting, but there’s also something valuable about settling down to the ordinary and routine that's hard at work shaping our lives. 

There’s always something remarkable to be noticed in the ordinariness of our days, isn’t there?

And there's one more thing about September. 

It's my birthday month. 

Usually it falls {pun intended} on the first day of fall and this year is no exception. 

{I think it unfairly mocks me just to be sure I acknowledge its presence since I'm a little chilly  -- even downright frosty -- toward it.} 

But since turning a year older isn't quite as exciting as it used to be, I might as well warm up to it, shouldn't I?

So welcome, September. 

After all, the first Steeler game of football season is almost here.

It seems I do have several reasons to celebrate, so maybe I'll turn the entire month into a party or gala or bash or some such commemoration. 

{If you have any ideas, let me know.}

So as I reset the clock on the countdown to next summer, I'll be heading out to grab the season's first pumpkin spice latte. 

To go with my slice of birthday cake.

Tell me what you love about September {and maybe I can learn to love it too}!

I'm joining my friends at Holley Gerth's place at Coffee for your Heart. Join me there to read posts from my blogger friends!