Father Sky has sketched a beautiful pale blue sky canvas today, covered in thin line clouds, brushed across the horizon pale white and translucent. One of my neighbors down the street had a huge magnolia crash on the back of his house, took a power line transformer and power lines out with it. He’s the only house without power on our street. Penelope‘s been disturbed by the power company trucks and their blinking lights. Those back up beepers make her bark. Our old water oak made it through the storm bending his limbs to the ground but held strong. My youngest son watched the old oak dance in the storm. He’d never seen the limbs sweep the ground.

Drove home yesterday from Peachtree City under a beautiful blue sky canvas not marred by a single cloud. God always paints a wondrous sky following a storm. I filed away all my memories from the children on the way home, putting them in empty spots in my heart. I’m happy to be back in birdwatching mode but already missing my little Georgia family. I slept like a rock last night drunk on grandmother’s happiness. I spent five days with my grandchildren and enjoyed every second of my visit. While their parents were gone I managed to keep all three alive, fed, well, and happy.

We weathered an emergency tornado warning, a vomiting cat, and early morning school traffic on my first time taking them to school. Was worried about packing three lunch boxes but my daughter-in-law is so organized she had their lunch stuff in gallon bags with their names so all I did was get their sandwiches from the refrigerator. We watched the Alabama/Auburn basketball game, all six Ice Age movies, played games, wrote our names in the new driveway’s wet cement. And we laughed. We always have lots of laughter. My grandchildren and their parents bring so much joy and happiness to me.

Today I’m back porch pondering, sitting in the swing, counting the cardinals in my yard. Was up to 13 males when Kat walked through the yard and startled them away. Counted 18 male cardinals one day last week, most of them with their mates. So beautiful to watch them on the feeders. When I was young I only saw cardinals occasionally and now at dusk each day my childhood yard is full of them. It’s illegal to shoot cardinals in Alabama because they are protected by state and federal law.

The barred owls, we call them hoot owls, have started their courting in the back yard, loudly calling their mates with loud hoots and cackles and gurgling calls. It would be scary to hear these gurgles and cackles in a dark forest. When they hoot they sound just like they are saying, “Who cooks for you, who cooks for you, who cooks for you all.” Just listen if they’re around your yard. I love hearing them.

Giovanni Papini said, “Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life.” Breathing is life. God gives us breath for another day each day we wake. Breath is not promised. It’s a gift from a loving God. Genesis 2:7 reads, “God formed humans from dust and breathed life into them.” Bible scripture says breath is a gift from God that connects us to life’s source. Job 33:4 states, “The breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

God wants us to use our breath to praise him. Psalms 150:6 advises, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” Breath is the life-giving spirit of all the living things God created. Each breath of life is precious and each day is a gift. We need to live each day thanking God by being a witness for God’s love and grace, bringing other to Jesus through our words and actions.

As long as we have breath, we have life. And life is precious because we only experience it once. When you wake, thank God for breath and another day on this glorious planet. Make every moment worth cherishing.

“Breathing is not only the process of inhaling and exhaling; it’s a reminder that every breath we take is a gift of life.” — Unknown