Today has been a good day! I’ll give it a ten but it’s hotter than the metal hinges on the gates of Hades. My jaw isn’t aching, the stitches aren’t bothering me. Went to the grocery store. It was Paw Paw Tuesday at WM, ten percent off for old fogies. Loved it when they asked, “You eligible today for the discount.” Oldest sister-in-law was at the next checkout and I heard her laughing. I hitched a ride with her to the store.

I spent my Mother’s Day gift certificate at the feed and seed store this morning on some beautiful Corinthian Bell wind chimes. My neighbor across the street has a large set of these wind chimes and in a gentle wind I can hear their church organ sounding tintinnabulations. My chimes are tuned to the A scale, so pretty to hear their harmonies. I’m looking forward to their melodies when the day cools and I can perch in the swing. Love this wind chime quote. “A breeze twists the wind chimes into a song breaking my heart with the melody of your absence,” Susie Clevenger.

Simon Barnes said, “Everybody loves birdsong. It’s a human need…the sound of birds gives a deep, if sometimes almost unnoticed, pleasure.” My yard was quiet with its bird symphonies this morning. I filled the feeders and cleaned the bird baths filling them with fresh water. I know they appreciate it. I know they’re suffering from the heat, too.

Ever had a special moment that made you think to thank God for it. “Sometimes I just look up, smile, and say, ‘I know that was you. Thank you,’” Rumi. I have these moments and I feel God’s presence. After a storm, when I see the earth, lush in its greening, and watch the sun roll down the horizon, the sunset magnificently colored by Mother Nature’s watercolors, I thank God for the beauty of the earth. Isaiah 45:12 reads, “It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.” I think God is reflected in the world that surrounds us.

“The simplest of simplest things make me happy. I love small gestures and nature in life,” Erica Fernando. That’s me. I have a childlike faith in God and a childlike marvel and wonder about the natural world. I see God every day in so many places. Job 12:7-10 speaks of God’s creations, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”

Today I saw God as I watched a chickadee bath and cool off in the fresh water in the bird bath. I saw God in the deep dark eyes of my little dog when I patted her head and told her she was a good girl. I saw God in the beautiful blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. I saw God as a yellow butterfly tap danced on the first opened zinnia bloom. And I saw God and felt his presence as the sunset colored the sky a glorious champagne pink. God’s handiwork in nature is all around us. “He has made everything beautiful in its time,” Ecclesiastes 3:11. 

Isaiah 6:3 states, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” The beauty of creation reminds us of God’s love. Spend a little time in nature and you’ll find a deeper connection with God. You’ll see God created a beautiful world for us to live in. You’ll find peace and inspiration. Look up at the sky at night, see the luminous moon and twinkling stars. Stand on the shore of the ocean and feel the heartbeat of Earth as the waves pound the shore. Look upon the faces of those you love and thank God for them.

As Marty Rubin said, “Live for nothing but the joy of being alive.” Count your blessings, be grateful and appreciate the good things in your life. Find joy in the simple things.

“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” — Emily Dickinson