The sky is so pretty this afternoon, looks like a Summer sunny day illustration in a child’s picture book — bright yellow sun, deep blue sky, pristine fluffy white clouds. Father Sky did a great job with his sky canvas today. Earlier in the day storm clouds gathered together in colors of blue and purple and gray and when they would slightly part I could see Father Sky’s blue canvas. Hope Mother Nature is preparing her paint palette with some beautiful watercolors for the sunset pageant tonight. The sun is a rolling yellow ball of fire now slowly turning grapefruit pink. Father Sky is reaching out to walk her down the horizon in the mystical light of dusk.

Sometimes we look at an ordinary object in an unordinary way and we see it differently. My yard was full of songbirds today. The males automatically drew my eyes because their featherings are so dramatic compared to their mates. I noticed how beautiful the female songbirds were this year when I took time to really observe them. The myriad of colors on female bird feathers are so pretty, the different tones of light and dark, highlighted with the bright brush strokes of colors from their mates, the colors melding into each other. I think God spent more time painting the female songbirds’ plumage. God just dipped his watercolor brush in cardinal red and swiped it over the male cardinals but for the females cardinals’ elegant beauty he chose fawn browns and grays with strokes of orange and red. God’s watercolor pallet for female birds was full of color and his paint water cloudy from washing his brush often. The birds have made me happy today. I love watching them and hearing their beautiful songs.

We don’t need to look at life with a magnifying glass to see all the beauty that’s right before our eyes. We always see the bigger picture but sometimes we need to focus closer. We don’t have time to see the bumble bees flight, the beauty of the tiny wild violets, the myriad of colors in the sunset and sunrise. We just need to look, really look, and we can find the beauty in everyday life that surrounds us. It’s right before our eyes.

Don’t know why I love quotes. Been writing them down for years. I scribble them on receipts, scraps of paper, little notebooks, used envelopes, even wrote one on my hand once when I was watching tv. Have to be careful now writing them down. My penmanship is illegible even to me. Was reading about the sky and clouds today and came across this quote, “It’s the darkest nights that produce the brightest stars,” John Green. Think I’ve written about this quote before. Dark nights are full of hardship and adversity. The hope and strength we have with our faith in a loving God are the stars in our dark night. One star can illuminate the night’s darkness and we find our star of hope through God. The stars are alway out there we just can’t see them in the bright sun. The dark of night makes the stars visible. We find our strength in the dark.

Dwelling on that thought makes me remember my mama saying, “This too will pass.” When we have dark times in our lives, we find the stars in our prayers and faith in God. We have to look hard to find them but they are always there. Life is full of changes and trials and heartache and love and joy and happiness. Life is constantly changing and that’s the beauty of it. We have to learn to see the stars in the darkness. If you don’t accept change you’ll miss out on what life is offering you. We have to harness the changes into something positive. In the darkest of our nights, we learn of our blessings.

The pursuit of happiness should not be elusive. “It’s not about being happy all the time, or being sure of all your choices. It’s about knowing that life is precious, even when it’s tough,” Topher Kearny. Happiness is like a wave that rolls you quickly to shore. For a moment everything is right in your world. I think strong relationships with family and friends are a good basis for happiness and contentment. Let’s not forget to nurture these relationships and keep in touch with the people we love.

“Happiness is not about a perfect life; it’s about finding perfection in the imperfections.” — Anonymous