Tiny Lights

It's been quite a day.  We got a new tivo and had to get it connected to cable, and things are not going well.  I've been on the phone back and forth between the two companies all day and just can't seem to get this problem resolved.  When the room started to darken, I realized I needed to write my blog, but how could I do that when the day consisted mostly of frustration?  I laid my head back, closed my eyes, and started praying.  When I opened them the room was darker still, and what stood out like little bits of hope were the tiny colored lights on our Christmas tree.  Just looking at them glowing made me happy, and I calmed down enough to realize this wasn't the end of the world.  I managed a work-around for the time being, and the big issue will get resolved eventually.  I never look forward to the task of Christmas decorating, but I do so enjoy the end result - this evening even more than usual.  Today, I found God in the colorful, little lights on our Christmas tree glowing in the gathering dusk.

Brilliant Moon

I woke up about 4:30 in the morning, stumbled into our bathroom, glanced up, and was almost blinded by the brightness of the moon!  We have a very high window in our bathroom, and the moon was perfectly centered in it just blazing it's light for all it was worth.  I had to squint my sleep-dilated eyes to be able to look at it.  It was a glorious sight, but I was sleepy, so I could only appreciate it for a few seconds before heading back to bed.  A couple hours later, I stepped out of the house for my walk, and there it was still shining brightly.  The sky had lightened, and the moon had moved a little farther along it's path so it wasn't quite as brilliant, but it was gorgeous all the same.  I found God today in the incredibly bright, white moon that practically lit up a whole room.  (This picture doesn't do it justice, but you can see how bright it is even in the early morning.)

Soup and Crackers

It was my day to help out in the church office, and when I arrived there this afternoon,  I was a little tired but otherwise feeling okay.  By the time I left, it was a different story.  My stomach was queasy, I was exhausted, and generally just not feeling well.  The dinner I had prepared earlier that day just didn't appeal to me at all.  So I turned to that age old classic - soup and crackers.  I can't eat most store-bought soup because of the gluten and dairy, so I had to make my own.  I kept it simple, basically just chicken broth and rice, but oh my, it felt so good going down.  And I just found a good gluten-free cracker that's almost just like a saltine - bland, light, and crunchy.  Perfect with the soup.  It was a comforting meal that warmed me body and soul.  I found God today in that most reliable of remedies for just about anything that ails you - soup and crackers.

Cottony Clouds

The sky was gorgeous this morning.  The clouds were so thick and cottony that they looked like a comforter in the sky.  I was running errands so the only picture I got was from the Walmart parking lot, but the great thing about a beautiful sky is you get to appreciate no matter where you are.  Just look up! I found God today in the gorgeous cottony clouds that filled the sky like a warm blanket.

Glowing Leaves

It was a glorious morning - bright, clear, cold.  The air smelled so fresh.  We were in Maryland just a few days ago, and most of their fall color is gone.  We still have a few bright spots, however, and one of them stopped me in my tracks this morning.  It wasn't so much the color of the leaves - though they were a beautiful orange - as the way the sunlight was filtering through the trees, highlighting some parts while keeping others in shadow.  This one section of leaves just glowed with the light.  It's funny how God's light touches different parts of our lives at different times.  You never know when He will set something aglow in your life, but when it happens you just have to stop what you're doing and drink it in.  Today, God stopped me with those gorgeous orange leaves glowing in the morning light.  

Homemade Decorations

We put up our Christmas decorations today.  Every year I plan to scale back, and this year I did... a little.  But the majority of our ornaments and decorations have sentimental value so it's hard to leave them in the box.  I've done a Christmas project with my kids every year since they were about five, so that means 20 years of homemade decorations.  How could I not put them up?  Once finished, our home is about as far from a "Better Homes and Gardens" designer holiday look as you can get.  But we all love it.  We laugh at some of the less successful projects and beam with pride over the ones that turned out well.  But invariably, they bring about great memories.  I had thought when my kids got older they would want to abandon the annual Christmas project, but they're more adamant than I am at this point that we do it - and they're 23 and 25!  The extensive decorating can be exhausting, but I wouldn't trade the memories wrapped up in our homemade projects for anything.  Today, I found God in every funny, beautiful, flawed decoration made by tiny hands now grown up.

My Own Bed

Is there anything better than waking up in your own bed?  Whenever we're away, I'm reminded by the "not so comfortable" hotel bed just how special my own bed is.  It's just the right softness, just the right sheets, just the right pillow - I feel like Goldilocks!  It's soothing both physically and mentally to wake up at home.  When morning comes and it's time to face the day, it's always better when I start in my own bed.  Although, I always snuggle in for a few more minutes because it's just so hard to bring myself to climb out of it!  Today, I found God when I woke up in my own supremely comfortable bed.