I love this time of year. The leaves are turning, the air is cooling down, and it is a beautiful time of the year. The holidays are just around the corner, and there is kind of a lull before that busy season begins. This is perhaps my most favorite part of the year.

Usually, this time of year presents an opportunity to slow down a bit, before things get crazy again with the holidays. This year hasn’t really been that way. We have been kind of busy with some family stuff that has kept us pretty crazy. One of our kids had a health scare, and we thought for a while we were facing Crohn’s Disease. After more testing, we have eliminated that as a concern, but haven’t yet identified the problem. It very well may result in some dietary changes.

That is something I have been faced with as well. My diet will be changing drastically in the coming weeks. My doctor recommends that I move to a completely gluten free and dairy free diet. That eliminates almost everything that I enjoy eating, but should result in improved health, for both my daughter and myself.

Those challenges have kept us pretty busy, but I still have managed to set aside the time in order to stay as consistent as possible when it comes to writing. This is an outlet for me. Writing, whether on this site, one of my other sites, or even in my journal, permits me to voice my thoughts, and change or refine them as necessary. I love writing, in whatever form it may take. I have even found myself experimenting with poetry again, which is something I haven’t really done since high school and college. Who knows, some of that may eventually find its way here…

For the past few months, I have looked at the top seven posts on JeffRandleman.com, and have found them to be largely the same posts, if in different orders each month. Because of that, I started to look at the next seven posts and their traffic. That set of seven sees much more turnover, and a lot of different things make it on to, and then off of, that list. Since I have looked at numbers eight through fourteen for the past few months, this time, I will return to the top seven. And, as suspected, they are the same posts, continuing to cycle through those spots. It seems as if they have serious staying power.

1. 6 Characteristics Of A Good Communicator
2. How To Take Notes While Reading The Bible
3. The Difference Between Purpose, Vision, and Mission
4. My Current Philosophy Of Ministry
5. Why You Need To Develop A Philosophy Of Ministry
6. 7 Steps To Defining A Purpose And Vision For Youth Ministry
7. Classic Bible: My Favorite Passages From Nehemiah

Most of these are from either the Foundations Of Youth Ministry series, or the series I wrote a couple of years ago on communication. Those are consistently the most read articles I have written. I have some great ideas for the coming months though, that I hope can compete with these.

My personal favorite post from the month of October was The Truth About Words. But I am also pretty excited about a new leadership series that I am working on, called The Heart Of A Champion. You’ll see more from this series in the coming weeks.

I am praying that you have a great month! I look forward to seeing what God brings in the weeks to come!

Question: If you are a blogger, leave a comment with your top post for the month. If you don’t blog, leave a comment with a favorite post or blog that you read this month. You can leave a comment by clicking here.