Took a little vacation last week, and headed for an island
with my husband, Jerry, our college aged daughter, and her friend (our son had to spend his spring break at controlled burn school--see my last post). Oh, and Labrador
Lucy piled in, too. We used our daughter’s car as our big suburban has a few
issues right now. Tight squeeze. Lucy didn’t mind.
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Though it rained several days, we had use of a condo right
on the beach, and still had a view of glorious scenery.
Wonderful time to be with folks we love. Right now, I’m
holding on and replaying the memories over in my mind. Precious.
While there, we had opportunity to make the acquaintance of
a few new friends.
These guys seemed quite unconcerned with my presence as well
as that of several other tourists who snapped their photos. They continued to
groom as if they actually enjoyed the attention and made no move to take to the
air even though we drew quite close. They made me smile.
It’s a rare blessing to have a few days break from the
regular duties, especially after working so many twelve-hour days trying to get
a book ready to go. The work still stretches out ahead of me. However, I hope
we are getting close.
After my wandering little travel journal, you may be wondering
what my point is today. It’s from James, a book that I am trying to memorize
sometime before I go see Jesus. “Every desirable and
beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading
down from the Father of Light” (James 1:16 The Message).
They are all gifts—the time away, the
husband, the daughter, her friend, the small car, the tight squeeze, the dog,
the rain, the condo, the view, the time, the memories, the pelicans, the
photos, the smiles, the twelve-hour days, the book, the hope, and even the
writing of all the gifts. And so many more besides.
These “rivers of light” compose the life
God has given you and me. No matter what tight squeeze or rainy day we have, “the
Father of Light” has blessed us. Though a preening pelican may not be at the
top of your list, God knows what will bring you joy and delights in sending you
messages of his love and care.
It is well worn but worth repeating, we need to be
intentional about recognizing blessings. They may not be what we’d planned or
even what we’d hoped, but let's be open for those glistening streams of gifts He’s propelling
our way that may wind up being more than we ever dreamed.
Let's watch for packages with tags that read, “The
Father of Light has a gift for you.”
If, however, big birds are your thing, you absolutely cannot miss this live, streaming video from Berry College's Eagle Cam where a bald eagle couple is raising its eaglet. It even captures the birds at night thanks to amazing technology. I could watch it all day. It will fledge soon, so don't miss it.
If, however, big birds are your thing, you absolutely cannot miss this live, streaming video from Berry College's Eagle Cam where a bald eagle couple is raising its eaglet. It even captures the birds at night thanks to amazing technology. I could watch it all day. It will fledge soon, so don't miss it.
Back here on Thursday with a post about an artist whose studio I had opportunity to visit this past week. Oh, and she's a "river of light", too.