Rather accidentally this weekend, I stumbled upon “Anne with an E” on Netflix, based on the L.M. Montgomery novel, “Anne of Green Gables.”  After Laura Ingalls Wilder and Nancy Drew, Anne Shirley holds a special place in the literary journey of my girlhood.  She was imaginative, not so comfortable with her appearance, smart, and a bit talkative. But mostly, I remember her to be courageous.  Her quote about October, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,” really captures how we should view the season of fall:

1.  The trees shed their leaves, but in the process the leaves have a show of magnificent color.
2. Is Pumpkin Spice flavored items everywhere? Yum.
3. Thanksgiving is a holiday where we gather together to celebrate gratitude and thankfulness.  Are you making your gratitude list?
4. Cooler weather appears and we can throw on a sweater to enjoy the crisp air.  And if we are lucky, we can snuggle up by the fire pit to lounge an evening away.
5. Time to look up at the sky to see all of the migratory birds on the move south.
6. As the leaves fall, we sometimes need some inspiration to shed some of what we need to shed in our lives.
7. Autumn is also known as harvest season, so October always pushes me to Apple pick and bake an Apple Pie.
8. Many will put together a sacred spot in their home to honor and remember the people who have made a lasting imprint on our lives.  These Altar’s of Remembrance may have pictures and mementos.

This October, we are seeing a great deal of courage from the women around us and in the world through the #metoo campaign.  When we worked on a theme for this year in June, the Marble Women’s Ministry honed in on the theme Holy Boldness:  Gaining Courage through Christ.  We did not know how much our annual theme would align with our current world and we hope it resonates with you.

Our Hallowtide event on November 2nd at Marble Collegiate Church’s theme is Living Boldly: Stepping Out in Faith.  If you are in the area, please feel free to attend and click here to sign-up:  Hallowtide Event

Today is forty-five days until Advent…and we wanted share that our Advent Blog this year will be focused on courage from the daily courage we muster up to the life-changing courage that the women of the Bible like Mary, the Mother of Jesus had.

So, we at the Women’s Ministry hope that you will find some time to renew and refresh this October, enjoy the abundant colors all around you, and continue to support all of the courageous women who inspire us and encouraged us on our journeys.  We will share soon…