Sunday, May 28, 2006

Optimism and Hope

Sometimes in life it's just good to slow down and look around.

Today started the same as all my days do: I took my coffee and my Bible outside in the backyard for my daily reading. After my reading today I became very aware of the world in my backyard. The birds were quite vocal, a beautiful breeze kept me cool and rustled the leaves in the trees and to top it off the cardinals from the nest next door kept landing on the fence for me to watch (the photo is the fence they land on, even though I was unable to catch them in a picture!). It was one of those God moments that I will always treasure and all because I didn't rush right into the house to get ready for church. Taking the time to enjoy the splendor of God's creations that are ordinarily taken for granted.

The sermon at church today was on optimism and hope and we were challenged to think of things that make us hopeful for the future:

  • The quiet love that Keith and I share
  • James and Loni's marriage
  • The birth of Melissa and Vanessa's babies
  • The number of young people that were commissioned today at church that will be leaving Tuesday for a mission trip to Kenya
  • Butterflies
  • The two high school and one college graduate that are in my family
  • The freedom of religion and worship that we enjoy
  • Walking the dog every morning
  • The love and laughter of my friends

I hope to never become so busy in my day to day life that I fail to notice and appreciate the small things. For aren't the small things more often than not what see you through?

~ Elizabeth

"Life is what's happening when you're too busy to notice." - Wayne Muller

No comments: