Another beautiful day the Lord has created, warm sunshine with that beautiful blue fall sky I enjoying gazing on. I love the word beautiful, use it too much, but sometimes it just fits perfectly. I ate my bagel sitting in the swing this morning working on my grocery list for Thanksgiving, watching the songbirds and running the squirrels of the feeders.

Haven’t been in Walmart in almost two years, been using the grocery pick up service. I appreciate the grocery pick up because one stroll through the store on its concrete floor sets a fire ablaze in my knee. Well, I went to Walmart today to get a ham and when I went to checkout there was a young mother and a cute blond headed toddler checking out in front of me. I’m nosy so I noticed she had shopped for essentials for her family, nothing extra or extravagant. She was picking out things to take off her grocery bill because she didn’t have enough money. What moved me was she was cheerfully taking the items off, not mad at the world for putting her in this situation, not embarrassed for not having enough money. The lady checking her out was kind, too, thank goodness. As I stood there I could remember experiencing that same moment when my children were young. I gave the young woman a $20 bill and told her Santa Claus came early. She was so appreciative. I could see God in her genuine smile, just made my day. I hope my gesture gave her courage to believe the world really is a nice place to raise her little boy.

Found this quote last night and I love it. “God is always seeking you. Every sunset. Every clear blue sky. Each ocean wave. The starry hosts of night. He blankets each new day with the invitation, ‘I am here,’” Louie Giglio. Couldn’t help but think God placed me in that checkout line to help that young mother. God wants us to be conscious of his love and to share our faith with others through our words and actions. Look around and you’ll see God is all around us.

I think God created this beautiful world to remind us of his love for us. He created mankind and placed us on the earth filled with nature’s wonders. Even the rain drops are glorious in their silver gleams. God’s presence is always around us. I think of God and his magnificence when I see the sun set or the sun rise, when I feel the pulse of the ocean waves, when I watch a butterfly dance across my yard, and when I feel the warmth of the sun on my face. So much to be thankful for.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said, “Nature is God’s living, visible garment.” I love that sentence and like to think of it on crisp fall days with dark blue sky when I can see God wrapped up in a thick wool blanket in the glorious colors of Mother Nature’s sunset watercolors.

God created the world as reflection of his own glory. Isaiah 45:12 says, “It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.” As we exist in this world, we’re drawn to our creator, pulled close to him through the beauty of the world around us. He reminds us of his love through the songbirds, the twinkling stars, the sunsets, and delicate little wild flowers. “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life,” Rachel Carson.

I’ve buried a child and I’ve buried a beloved husband but I can still sit in the porch swing and look at God’s creations and find peace and comfort in the beauty of the world around me. I know I’ll see my loved ones again, reunited in heaven. Psalms 9 reads, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handwork.”

We need to learn to be thankful for the gifts we have and quit grumbling about the ones we lack. Life is short and fleeting and we’re not even promised the gift of breath for another day. There is always a blessing to thank God for. Sometimes we’re aware of the blessings, sometimes we’re not. Sometimes prayers not answered are our greatest blessings.

God will never forsake us and will always hear our cries and answer our prayers. No worry is too insignificant for God’s shoulders. “Even to your old age I am your God. Even when your hair turns gray. I will carry you. I have always supported you, and I will continue. I will carry you to safety,” Isaiah 46:4.

Let God carry you when you’re wounded. Let God lift you up with the beauty of his creation when you’re sad. Let God hold your hand when you’re afraid. Let God put a smile back on your face with his grace. Be grateful to God for the blessing of another day on this glorious planet.

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.” — Anne Frank