The sky is covered in a layer of thin clouds this morning, light blue sky peeping through the clouds’ weak spots. It’s hot and humid. Did my morning plant and bird chores, sweat dripping down my brow, burning my eyes. Youngest son asked, “Mama, you crying?” I just replied, “Sweat dripped in my eyes.” I picked the tomatoes and finally cut the gargantuan cucumber. How that little vine could hold a cucumber that big and heavy beats me. I didn’t see it before it got so big then I forgot about it. It was as big as a large zucchini. I chunked it in the backyard bamboo forest as a peace offering to grandpaw raccoon.

I saw a pair of catbirds today, so handsome in their slate gray and black plumage. They wear small black caps and have bright black eyes. They have red feathers under their dark tail feathers. I’ve never seen the red feathers till they lit on the suet basket today flicking their tail feathers as they leaned over to feed.

Mid-afternoon I watched the thunderstorm clouds in their dark blues and purples roll across the horizon and when the lightning popped I came in the house. The clouds just kept on rolling on by and didn’t spill a single raindrop from their dark bellies. Now I’m back outside pondering in the swing at dusk. The sun is setting and tinting the clouds in gorgeous shades of ripe watermelon reds and oranges and pinks. A wonderful breeze is cooling the warm porch and playing a soft wind chime symphony. I love dusk when the Earth is preparing to bed down for the night.

I can’t imagine my life without a porch swing. I’m pondering on the beauty of a porch swing. Porch swing sitting and swinging removes stress and relieves anxiety. Porch swings connect us to family and brings us pleasure in the comfort of the rocking motion. I can’t remember our porch not having swings. Don’t know if my grandmother had them here as a young bride. Photos of my mother as a baby on the porch don’t show swings.

The porch swings bring me so much joy. It’s so comforting to sit and relax, let the day wind down watching the world turn on its axis. Guess the beauty of a porch swing for me is the connection with the stillness of nature. I love to just sit and watch the cloud formations, the birds at the feeders, all the neighborhood cats and dogs wandering on their daily jaunts. The world passes by and I watch from my perch in the porch swing. So many wonderful family memories revolve around this porch and its swings.

I can see God as a porch swing, offering us a place to sit and rest from our work, relaxing in the security of being held by his unseen arms. In scripture we read the porch was a place where people gathered to talk, a place where Jesus and the disciples lectured and taught God’s commandments. Sometimes when the world is really still and quiet, I feel the porch swing is my church pew in my cathedral of songbird symphonies. I can feel God’s presence and I’m comforted and inspired by the warmth of his loving grace. In Psalm 46:10 God tells us to “be still and know that I am God.”

Scripture tells us we find God in quiet unexpected moments. In God’s porch swing we can quiet our minds and trust in God’s guidance in our moments of anxiety and uncertainty. The rhythm of the swing calms us. Sitting in the swing gives us a quiet place to pray and be thankful for our many blessings. As we rest in God’s sovereignty, we find peace knowing he is in control. He won’t let the swing rock too high or tip over. If the storms break the swing and the chains fail and the swing falls, we know God will pick us up and lovingly show us how to repair the brokenness. As a child I fell asleep feeling safe and secure hearing the squeak of the porch swing chain as my father sat on the porch at night. Now I’m falling asleep after my prayers, secure in my faith knowing God is watching over me, pushing me gently to heaven in his porch swing.

“In the South, swinging is therapy for the soul,” — Unknown