Today just looks like a page from a children’s picture book illustrating spring — bright blue sky, fluffy white clouds, clear yellow sunshine warming the earth. But, Old Man Winter had an argument with Mother Nature so he huffed and puffed and lowered the temperature to a fall setting and got old Mr. North Wind to visit and blow all day. The wind chimes are pounding out their church hymns as the songbirds tighten their toes on the bamboo fronds to enjoy a windy carnival ride. Left several windows open last night and it was cold in the house when I got up. Oldest brother came over and went to sit in the lady den, too cold and windy to sit on the porch. He sat down and said, “Damn, it’s cold in here.” He got up and shut the windows I had struggled to open several days ago. These old wooden windows swell and it’s a job to open them.

For those of us on the street who haven’t mowed our yards yet, the clover and dandelion blooms and the beautiful miniature wild flowers are having tea parties with the bumblebees. The bumblebees are so happy they are humming all over the yard. The songbird symphonies have been punctuated by woodpecker drumming all morning. The large carpenter bees are buzzing around the porch swings getting ready to start drilling. A few sprays of cinnamon oil and they’ll high tail it away from here. Bees are part of God’s blessings symbolizing diligence and purity, their stings symbolizing divine justice. We can see the church as a beehive where we work together in obedience to God. Psalm 119:103 reads, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” This verse of scripture tells us we can find joy and loving comfort through reading God’s words. Our spiritual satisfaction in reading scripture can be as sweet as the bees’ honey.

Elizabeth Lawrence writes, “The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.” I love that thought, those big fat bees humming melodies while they work gathering pollen. The birds have been singing, the bees have been buzzing, and the butterflies have been dancing in the wind on this glorious April Sunday. The sun has started a pale orange wildfire burning across the horizon to begin sunset and the flames are burning beneath Mother Nature’s watercolor brush strokes of aqua and pale pink. The fluffy clouds are kissed on the edges with raspberry pink brush strokes, melting into the blueberry clouds like Neapolitan ice cream on a hot summer day. The sun steps on stage dressed in a short chic cocktail dress of burnt orange taffeta. Father Sky is handsome in a black tuxedo. As they walk down the pageant stage of sunset the wildfire on the horizon is extinguished and the day’s light dims. As the mystical twilight’s stillness walks across the yard, Father Sky notices the moon has waked early and is hanging high in the dark blue evening sky waiting on the twinkling stars to rub sleep from their eyes and join him on the night’s stage. The day’s light has gone out and the lights of night are waking.

Been jotting down quotes all day on my scraps of paper. Used to get on to Chief for writing on scraps of paper and backs of envelopes and now I’m doing it. And sometimes later I have to research the quote because I can’t read my own handwriting. These three quotes were my favorites today. “Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud,” Maya Angelo. “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist,” Oscar Wilde. And “You can’t turn back the clock. But you can always wind it up again,” Bonnie Prudden.

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud,” that’s such a beautiful thought. Lots of people are walking around with heavy loads that they conceal. A smile, a phone call, or a note in the mail can be the rainbow that’s gets them through another day. God wants us to connect to each other with kindness and be empathetic when others are hurting. Sometimes just letting someone know you care about them and are a praying for them can be the rainbow blessing they need to hear. “God places rainbows in the clouds so that each of us, in the darkest and most painful times, can see the possibility of hope,” Maya Angelou.

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist.” Don’t be afraid to dance in the rain or walk barefoot in the grass. Life is too short to not live a little. Don’t be afraid to take chances. The world is a big wide wonder waiting to be experienced. We all go through the motions of life but we need to embrace the joys and challenges that life offers. Don’t just exist. God wants us to enjoy life. John 10:10 reads, “…I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows.” I love what Melody Beattie says, “Quit hanging on to the handrails… Let go. Surrender. Go for the ride of your life. Do it every day.” Each day is a day to be celebrated. Be brave enough to experience all life has to offer.

“You can’t turn back the clock. But you can wind it up again.” This might be the easiest to ponder on. Life is full of many difficulties, trials, and challenges. We can’t change the past and we cannot always avoid the problems that come our way but we can wind the clock back up and start anew tomorrow. God gives us the promise of a new beginning each day with the glorious sunrise. Psalm 118:24 states, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

“Life itself is a privilege, but to live life to the fullest — well, that is a choice.” — Andy Andrews