Another cool December day, but beautiful in its understated colors. The sky looks like a big bowl of melted vanilla ice cream with a little chocolate syrup and a little blueberry syrup all swirled together on the sky canvas. I’m looking forward to seeing what Mother Nature will paint on this canvas at sun set.

Sun sets are a part of the day I look forward to the most. I love sitting in the swing and watching Mother Nature dip her watercolor brushes in her paints and begin her rendering of the sun setting. “If I could lick the sunset, I bet it would taste like Neapolitan ice cream,” Jarod Kintz. I love that quote and I often feel the same way when I gaze on the magnificent layers of color at sunset. Lots of nights the sunset makes me think of the colors of hard candies in apothecary jars sitting on dusty old country store counters.

Mother Nature was quiet in her sunset painting today, layering the horizon in light blue and turquoise shades. The sun shyly hid her pageant gown from my eyes and slipped quietly down the horizon into her bed, pulling her cloud covers close, telling the day goodnight and the night good day. Father Sky hung the moon and pinned his diamonds on the purple velvet of the night sky.

Been watching the birds today as they enjoyed the feeders. One little wren, round and fat, big as a tennis ball, is perched on the bannisters surveying the landscape and chirping loudly. He’s portly but handsome in his browness. I can see his long legs and toes and his short tail is stuck up vertically. He’s so curious about everything. Wrens are symbols of hope and freedom. I love watching the wrens investigating the yard and porch. Left the car windows down this summer and a wren flew in and sat on the steering wheel like he was ready to drive off.

Read some quotes by Rose Kennedy this morning. She had such faith, even after losing four of her children, her faith never wavered and continued to uplift and comfort her. I’ve lost one child, can’t imagine enduring another. She said, “I have come to the conclusion that the most important element in life is faith.” I believe faith is what governs our life. How we react to life’s trials and tribulations set the stage for the remainder of our life. It’s not God’s will that causes us heartache in our lives but when heartache happens, he’s there to comfort us and through prayer we weather these storms of sadness. God also celebrates with us when life gives us joyful moments and we need to thank him for these joyful moments.

Prayer is such an important part of a Godly life. We communicate with God through prayer. We bring our worries to God through prayer, we ask for help or for forgiveness of our sins through our prayers. When my daughter died my prayers were always questions of why. Why did she die? Why did the car run off the road? Why did the fence post hit her in the chest? But eventually I realized there were no answers to these questions. It was just an accident and through my prayers God helped me come to terms with my grief and with many, many more prayers gave me the strength to help my husband through his grief. The thoughts of being reunited with her in heaven sustained us.

When bad things happen, God is right beside us. He never gives us more than we can carry and when the load is too heavy to carry he is helping us with the weight. Our worries make us tired and sad. The Bible tells us to give thanks for what we have and to turn our worries over to God. God hears our prayers and he always understands. He will carry our worries and sadness and give us peace. God doesn’t interfere in our lives but we make choices that determine the path we walk. Praying is an act of worship. Prayers are powerful. Prayer gives us comfort and guidance. Prayers help us develop a relationship with God. When you pray, God listens, and he answers.

“Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.” – Max Lucado