Today was so pretty, clean blue sky, blushed with thin wisps of frail clouds. The sun was working overtime getting temperatures up in the mid-seventies. The breeze blew just strong enough to ping the wind chimes softly and knock the loose acorns off their branches. An acorn fell from my old water oak and hit me on the knuckle of my middle finger as my hand rested on the back of the swing. It hurt so bad. If I didn’t see it bounce off onto the porch I would have thought Fatty the squirrel had thrown a rock at me. One of my friends in Alexander City had a bumper crop of pears one year. Every time he went to gather the fruit the squirrels would throw pears at him. He finally gave up, made no pear preserves that year, just let the squirrels eat them.

The acorns are dropping to a percussion drum beat, sounds like a roofing nail gun on the tin roof next door. It’s almost dark, the air is cooling, my favor time of day as I sit watching twilight invade my world. The cardinals are gathering for a late supper, the males handsome in their bright crimson coats, the females dressed in their fawn brown sweaters, so beautiful in the soft dusk light.

As sunset arrives, the sun is blindingly bright, knocking over a jar of wildflower honey, as she races down the horizon looking forward to greeting Mr. Beaver Moon. As the golden honey spreads across the horizon, Mother Nature scolds the sun and picks up her watercolor brushes painting the pale blue cloudless sky a pastel peach. Wishing for more color, but having no clouds to paint, Mother Nature dips her watercolor brush in flamingo pink and slides her brush down the two jet contrails crossing the sky. Twilight is so magically beautiful tonight.

Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and told her a story about the jeweled sky and the Man in the Moon as he tucked her in under her quilted covers of golden honey. The stars started to twinkle in the darkening sky as Father Sky left the sun and went to wake the moon. The beaver moon was too large and too heavy for Father Sky to lift alone so he and Mother Nature worked together to place the beautiful full moon high in the night sky heavens. I just went to look at the beaver moon peeking through the bamboo foliage in my backyard, so pretty. I was thinking about how much care God took in creating the world. He filled our world with beautiful magic that most of us take for granted or never even notice.

Love this quote by Marcel Proust, “Let us be thankful for the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” My soul blossoms with friends and family who make my life’s garden grow with light and love. I’m thankful for the people who make me happy. It’s those we love the most that we take for granted. We assume they know how we feel about them so we don’t take the time to tell them how we feel, to show them how much we appreciate them. Never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them because tomorrow is not promised. I’m so grateful that the last words Rosie and Chief heard from me were, “I love you.”

We all take our loved ones for granted but God never takes us for granted. He loves us unconditionally and stands by our side through the trials and tribulations that run through our daily lives. He doesn’t judge our mistakes and always stretches his hands out to catch us when we fall. When we need a little nudge to get up and get going on the right path, God guides us through our faith. If you don’t have faith you’re walking on the edge of a cliff on a dark rocky path.

We take God for granted when we don’t follow his commandments, thinking it’s okay because we’re forgiven for our sins when we ask God for forgiveness. Christianity is a constant struggle. We pray for things we want and feel we need but forget to pray prayers of thanksgiving for all our many blessings. Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Instead of being consumed by anxiety, turn your worries over to God in prayer. We can rely on God and know he listens to our prayers and will answer them. Sometimes we don’t receive the answer we are looking for but as time passes we realize God was correct in his answer to our prayer.

The holidays are fast approaching and we need to remember not everyone anticipates a turkey dinner at Thanksgiving with all their loved ones or a magical Christmas with lots of prettily wrapped presents under the tree. As God tells us in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.” We need to remember the shut ins and older members of our families; families with children, who are just struggling to put food on their tables; and those families experiencing their first holiday without a loved one.

Doing good doesn’t have to be complicated. When an opportunity arises just follow your heart. As Wendy Mass writes, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”

“You can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness.” — Anne Frank