Today’s cloudless cyan sky is the perfect backdrop for all the spring colors of the greening trees. I sat in my purple yard chair looking towards the heavens through the leaves of the old water oak in my front yard. The deep blue sky contrasted so prettily with the new chartreuse green leaves of the old oak. God does his best to send us a beautiful day after a storm. Just like life, sometimes a storm’s destruction is hard to understand. But we get through these days focusing on what we have instead of what we don’t have.

I love this scripture from Psalm 46:1-3, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, and though the mountains tremble with their surging.” These words assure us we can rely on God’s strength and comfort when dark storms enter our lives. I can remember the day Chief died and how I wept in the car, sitting in the hospital parking lot by myself, praying and asking God to show me how to live life without Chief. God walked with me down my journey of grief and led me back into the healing sunshine.

The sunshine is so pretty and clear this morning, kissing the bamboo canes dancing in the heavy cool breezes. I love the sun. It just makes you feel good when the sun’s rays warm your face. The sun is 4.6 billion years old! If the sun was the size of a typical front door, the earth would be the size of a nickel. Another useless fact I collected.

As the sun searches in her closet for the perfect pageant gown for sunset, she stops to kiss the tops of the greening trees at the end of my street. The trees are smiling back in their sunlit greenness, looking up like a child smiling at their mother. Mother Nature is cleaning her watercolor brushes, gathering her palette and tubes of paint, preparing for a magnificent rendering of the sunset. Father Sky has sketched no clouds in the sky canvas for Mother Nature to paint so I expect her to blaze up a watercolor wildfire across the horizon. Just peaked out my window and the wildfire is smoldering in flames of pink champagne.

Read this quote by Barbara Marina today — “Life is an adventure. It’s not the destination we reach that’s most rewarding. It’s the journey along the way.” Life is a glorious journey and when we travel with God we won’t be walking alone when life darkens. Isaiah 41:10 states, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

If we embrace the new discoveries, challenges, opportunities, even the obstacles in our lives we can make life an adventure. Helen Keller is quoted as saying, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Life is full of possibilities and unknowns and we have to be present in these moments to experience the joy of living. Some of us speed down life’s highways too fast to experience the blessings of this life. Others get discouraged when they hit a pothole and let a glorious world go by without noticing the beauty of God’s creation. They get stuck on a path of pessimism. These holes in the road give us opportunities to appreciate our blessings that are often ignored.

Eva Burrows said, “The love of a family is a life’s greatest blessing.” Family bonds and close bonds with dearest friends help us through the worst of times and celebrate with us in the best of times. Families rely on each other for support and love and affection. The best thing about being in a family is being loved and accepted for who you are.

God also loves us and accepts us with an unconditional love. God’s grace and love are offered freely regardless of our flaws and shortcomings. As members of God’s family we are on a glorious journey with him on the highway to heaven.

“Learn to trust the journey, even when you do not understand it.” — Lolly Daski