I have lived every moment of the last five months with this image in my mind. Not that I didn’t try to stay mindful and present this winter…I did. But, this…this is what my brain screams for from the moment the first frost withers the life from the foliage in the fall. My body yearns to sit here in the sunshine, listening to the deep tones of the wind chime in the gentle breeze, watching the birds zip in to the feeders. My soul remembers this. Sixty-three times I have experienced early spring mornings. Some I haven’t paid a bit of attention to. Sad to waste even one, really. They are God’s gift to us. His promise of growth, of provision, of new life.

As I sat at my grandma’s old dining room table yesterday doing taxes, the view out the window kept calling me to come outside and enjoy this. The coffee was hot. I wore a sweater to ward off any chill that remained of the morning. As I sat there, enjoying the gurgling creek alongside the house, a beautiful black butterfly flitted around the porch. The pink of the flowering quince, the yellow of the fading forsythia, the vibrant green of new grass gave my winter-weary spirit room to breathe. I smiled at the many gifts I’ve been given in this life. The many opportunities to love, to learn, to grow.

Sunday was an emotionally draining day. The worship experience at church was powerful and stretched my soul wide open. Then I sat in quiet contemplation as the rest of my family buried my father-in-law in Colorado. I wish I could have been there, but I will visit the cemetery when I go there this summer. A Sunday afternoon nap is always in order. Sunday night was spent in fellowship at Pub Church discussing forgiveness. There was a larger crown than usual. Forgiveness is a topic that touches us all in one way or another.

As I sat on the porch with my coffee, I thought of Little and Pop and within seconds she sent me a text with a picture of him. I hadn’t seen it before. If he knew you were taking his picture, he would go expressionless. This one made him look so old and tired. It made me sad. I have a wonderful picture that I took at our last Christmas dinner with him. He is listening to the conversation with his new cochlear implant and has such a serene, peaceful look on his face. That’s how I want to remember Pop…enjoying the love of his extended family. I sent that picture to Little. I hope she’ll remember him that way, too.

So, the break time came to a close and I went back in to tackle the taxes like a boss. I had to upgrade to Quicken 2017 then couldn’t get it to connect with my bank. In the process of walking it through with tech support, I accidentally deleted my checking account with 15 years of transactions. ? I have a backup, but after messing with it for a total of ten hours, I could not make Quicken set up a new account. So, since I do not drink, and there was no chocolate in the house, I shut the computer off and I’ll work on it Wednesday. There was a time in my life when I couldn’t walk away like that. Call it personal growth or self preservation, it was my best option. That and a bubble bath. Tomorrow’s another day! ❤️

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1:19-20‬ ‭NIV‬‬