Outside

Outside around my home is lovely. It's summertime and everything is fresh and alive and green. Often I will lay on a blanket under a Dogwood tree in my side yard. Its a great place to see and hear creation sing its song to God.

I laid facing the sky and saw so many white fluffy seeds floating by, and remembered God teaching me last summer how He is weaving every little thing together to serve Him. He knows where each seed will land, which will become new life, which will die - He sees how it all fits and brings Him glory.

I also saw a woodpecker. He was big. He had a red crown and black and white feathers and an amazing sound. I will remember his sound so that when I hear him next I will know what it is. He hopped up and down the trunks of trees near by looking for food and He was beautiful.

There are a ton of chipmunks around my home too. They are so cute - and really aren't too afraid of me and my family - they come pretty close to us. They scurry around gathering seeds all while they chirp at one another.

There are so many other birds too - some I am learning to know when I see them and hear them. The other day we had turkeys out back too. And there are always rabbits to see. We have a family of hawks that live across the street. And in the Spring we have a crazy amount of spring peepers. I am excited for the fireflies to come out at soon and make the night sparkle.

All of this causes my heart to sing when I am out in it. At times it's hard to let it end. All of yesterday afternoon I just laid out watching all of these small things working together in concert and I let my mind come back to praise again and again. Each time I strayed to silly thoughts, I would remember and then come back to praise. I prayed for friends, and my family, and read my Bible some, but mostly tried to ask God what was on His heart. I never felt I got a grand answer - just a small taste of His presence and a lot of peace. I am hoping to have many more opportunities like this - this summer. It was such a peaceful way to practice His presence.