Today the sky canvas is deep blue, stretching across the heavens cloudless and clear. God is smiling down through the sun’s bright rays, kissing the dandelions and the tiny wildflowers awake. Mother Nature is doing every thing in her power to bring forth the spring. It’s getting closer every day, the grass is greening, the trees are budding, the daffodils are blooming.

The songbirds are boisterously singing, giving thanks to God for the beautiful day and the full bird feeders. The finches are quarreling, furiously claiming their perches on the feeders, scaring the gentle cardinals away. Perched on the red bird feeder outside the lady den windows the little titmice soldiers sit erect, their crests pert, dressed in their grey uniforms with rusty orange vests, their large black eyes on alert for the neighborhood cats. I think the word is out that we feed the homeless cats. Got a cat or two sneaking around the porch. Kat has been chasing them away.

When I leaned back in the porch swing this afternoon, I noticed the moon woke up early. Father Sky didn’t have to pull him out of his cloud covers. He was perched as a luminous crescent in the late afternoon’s blue sky getting ready to flirt with the twinkling stars soon to be dancing on the purple velvet of the night sky. Didn’t watch the sunset say goodnight to the day’s light but I know it was a magnificent rendering from Mother Nature’s watercolor brushes.

I said a short prayer of thanks for this beautiful day. I can admit now, before I experienced the deep grief of my daughter’s death, I was not a prayerful person. I used prayer like the porch light, only turned it on when I needed it to welcome me home in the night’s darkness. I said my prayers, just not on a regular basis, not heavy with the faith I have now. As I began to pray earnestly for the strength to help Chief cope with his grief I began to pray for strength to pull myself out of the storm of my grief. God does not promise life will be without trials and tribulations but he does promise to help us through the dark days of uncertainty. Our prayers, said in earnest, can move mountains in our times of need. We can feel the Lord’s love and grace as our prayers are answered.

Bible scripture in Matthew 5:4 reads, “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” Through my prayers God comforted my wounded spirit, strengthened my faith, gave me hope. I was eventually able to walk back into the sun’s light with God’s promise to be reunited with Rosalyn in heaven. I love the verse in Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” My heart was broken and my spirit was crushed but God reached out and pulled me out of grief’s darkness.

We need to take God out of our emergency only box and allow our faith and prayers to be an integral part of our every day life. Prayers are powerful, I’ve experienced their miracles. Scripture in Proverbs 3:4-5 states, “Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways, know and acknowledge and recognize him, and he will make your paths straight, and smooth.”

Think of your prayers as a conversation with a loving father. As Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” It’s a simple prayer but God hears it.

“Though the shadows of grief may stretch out, God’s light pierces through, reminding us that even in our deepest sorrows his love and grace remain unyielding,” — Unknown