Today was a porch pondering kind of day. I was warm in the sunshine, perched on the polka dot swing cushion, looking out on light blue skies and bright sunshine. Father Sky had rubbed his white pastel all over the sky leaving a see through white layer that got thicker as time passed. The yard was filled with songbirds happily flitting round. A small flock of doves perched on the bird bath and drank their fill. I’m enjoying watching the birds visit the feeder hanging in the scuppernong trellis. It’s near the swing so I get a close look at the birds. A little titmouse visited all afternoon. He’d get one sunflower seed and flitter away to beat it on a vine to crack it open. All that work for a smidgeon of sunflower seed. He made countless trips.

As I sat waiting for the sunset, the sun was beaming down, a ball of sterling silver, barely visible through the cloud layers. I knew the sunset would be subdued but glorious in its rendering. I watched a slow orange fire burn across the horizon at dusk, getting paler as it rose to touch the low clouds brushed aqua by Mother Nature’s watercolors. I couldn’t see the sunset from the porch so I walked Penelope down the street and watched the orange fire blaze as the sun walked down the pageant runway. She was still hidden behind the cloud curtains but her sterling silver gown gleamed as she stepped off the horizon at the day’s gloaming. As the twilight quickly faded to dark, Father Sky woke the full moon and twinkling stars and hung them high on the night sky canvas to guide the nighttime travelers. Today ends and tonight begins.

I was watching a little flock of sparrows in my yard this afternoon, so busy with the bird seed on the ground, not sitting on the feeders, staying close to one another. Sparrows don’t usually visit my yard and I was happy to see them among the doves and brown headed cowbirds. Sparrows are special in the Bible’s scripture and they are always seen and cared for by God.

We can learn a lesson from the sparrows. No one, not even the tiniest sparrow, can be beyond the reach of God’s love. God is always standing beside us not matter our indiscretions or our sins, he’s loving us and praying for us. Nothing is to trivial to bring to his ears through prayer, no burden to heavy for him to carry, and no sin that can’t be forgiven when we accept God’s love in our hearts and ask for forgiveness. God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present everywhere in our lives.

I wept today when I found out my friend’s daughter had died. This is the second child she and her husband have lost and I honestly don’t know how they will be able to walk through this nightmare of a child’s death for the second time. I’m asking everyone to pray for Lynn and Dave and their daughter’s children that they might find some peace on this sorrowful journey. Life is hard and we never know when tragedy will strike. Please pray that God will embrace their family and help comfort them as they stumble down this path of grief. I am so sad for their family and their loss. I’ve walked this path and they have, too, and we know very well how dark it is.

One of my quotes I read often, scribbled down in a little notebook reads — “Never knew it was possible for a heart to literally “break” until my child died. When my child died part of me died, too, and that part of me will never be revived again. It’s impossible to explain this deep heartbreak to another. It’s a searing pain that invades the heart and carves out a piece that will never be returned. Only those who have experienced the death of a child can understand.” — Sleeping angel.com

“A mother burying her child is the only thing that could make one truly long for death — if only for the sliver of hope that she might glimpse her child again.” — Emma Chase