Today was so pretty. I’ve been lazy, sitting in the swing, bird watching and pondering most of the day. The sky was sunny and blue, crammed full of all kinds of different shaped clouds — skinny and thin, wispy like cotton candy, some lumpy and clumped together like marshmallows. I think Father Sky had sketched so many clouds he was teaching the sun the clouds’ scientific names. Some of the clouds were cigar smoke gray holding rain in their dark bellies, others kissed snow white by the sun. In the Bible, clouds are symbols of the Holy Spirit, full of life giving water. God appears in clouds in scripture and leads his people on their journeys with clouds. Reading about clouds I came across a sentence that said clouds were the dust of God’s feet. I love that thought. I know I’ll be looking for foot print clouds now.

My yard is full of cardinals today. I’ve fed the birds for years but never stopped to just sit and observe them till I moved to Roanoke and studied them while perched in the porch swing. Always thought female cardinals were drab birds but they are wondrous specimens, elegant little beauties, feathered in the muted soft colors of hot chocolate and coffee with creamer, warm red accents on their wings, reddish orange lipstick on their beaks, Sunday-go-to-meeting crest on their heads. Songbirds are one of my many blessings.

Came across this saved quote, can’t remember where I read it. “The more often we see the things around us — even the beautiful and wonderful things — the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds — even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less,” Joseph B. Wirthlin.

We all take so many thing for granted, we don’t see their beauty in our lives till they’re gone. Since I’ve retired I’ve noticed lots of things that I never took the time to notice before — dew sparkling on the grass like diamonds, sunsets, tiny wildflowers, squirrels, the colors of an overcast sky. The world is full of God’s glorioius beauty. It’s hard to appreciate all our blessings but we should thank God everyday for even the littlest of blessings. When we take things for granted we don’t thank God for all the good things in our life. We neglect our responsibilities to use our gifts to help others.

There are hungry people and families in our world suffering with heartaches of helplessness. We need to make a conscious effort to share our blessings. Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” I love the verses in Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 where it reads “take delight in each light filled hour.” If only all of us could and we should. Ecclesiastes 11:7-10 reads, “Oh, how sweet the light of day, And how wonderful to live in the sunshine! Even if you live a long time, don’t take a single day for granted. Take delight in each light-filled hour, remembering that there will also be many dark days and that most of what comes your way is smoke.”

We all worry about insignificance things, fires that usually don’t even come to blaze. Let that smoke of worries drift away and put the worries in God’s hands. Life is challenging and has hardships but when the good times come what wonderful joy we have in these moments. Be thankful to the Lord for the days of joy and be grateful that God is walking with us through the dark times.

Life’s beautiful and life’s fleeting. Let’s be a blessing to each other in every way we can.

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” — Pablo Picasso