Life is Beautiful

My mind is full of thoughts - happy thoughts and random thoughts, mostly.

I'm sitting at my kitchen table with my laptop, and the house is quiet. The sounds I hear are the quiet buzz of my computer, the wind chimes on the front porch twinkling lightly, the chattering of my fingers typing quickly, and the woodstove in the back room.

Mom and Dad are visiting my brothers for the weekend, so Zach and I are on our own. It's very quiet, but so far I don't mind. It's peaceful.

There's snow pouring down outside, and it looks beautiful. I have an intense delight in all of nature - it is so beautiful and refreshing. I can't imagine living in the city, separated from all of God' glorious natural creations! I'd rather be outside than inside any day.

Last night I made chocolate chip brownies that taste incredible.

I have so many good friends - old and new, near and far, kindred spirits and friendly acquaintances, all of whom I am very thankful for. I never cease to be amazed at how blessed I am to have so many wonderful people in my life.

My piano teacher is in India on a missions trip, so I am playing the piano in church for the next month. It's a big stretch and at first I didn't want to do it. I am reading about Moses in my devotions, though, and how he refused to do something that God placed in his lap and really missed out. I don't want to be that way. So, if the Holy Spirit can speak through our mouths, I'm sure he can play through my hands. I'm excited at another opportunity to grow up and accept responsibility!

I love reading and writing and thinking. It seems my desire for these things is insatiable!

I also love people. And I love animals. They are just fabulous.

I think pretty much, I just love life. It's so wonderful! Without Christ, I truly could not enjoy any of these things because they would have no purpose and I would be wracked with fear and despair. But with him at my side, life truly is beautiful.

June 2012

Rising Radiance

When morning gilds the skies, 

my heart awaking cries, 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

This past week I've really enjoyed getting back to school. Christmas break was wonderful and restful, and charged me up for the other half of my final year of homeschool. On Sunday, I sat down with mom and planned out a schedule (yes, another one - I love planning!) that works for both of us, and I have really enjoyed it. Each morning I get up at 6:30 and have my morning devotions. Oh, it is incredible to watch the sun rise through the leafless trees, splashing color across the sky! It's like a painting; it doesn't even seem real. It's as though the sky is a colorful piece of translucent stained glass and the sun is behind it, making it glow. And it encourages me, because it brings to mind all the verses in the Bible about the rising sun.

"For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, 

and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering.

 For my name will be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts." 

Malachi 1:11

"From the rising of the sun to its setting,

the name of the Lord is to be praised!"

Psalm 113:3

"The Mighty One, God the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God shines forth."

Psalm 50:1-2

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

his mercies never come to an end; 

 they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness."

Lamentation 3:22-23

"For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning."

Psalm 30:5

Our sovereign, holy God is reigning, and deserving our praise - let us remember to worship Him with our lives every waking moment. Let's praise Him early - don't wait! Let the rising sun remind you of His attributes and cause your heart to reverence Him. May we be able to say with David,

"I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning."

Psalm 59:16a

A day in my life

I've had a wonderful day so far. This morning Mom, Dad, Zach, and I went to a favorite restaurant in town  for breakfast out as a family, which we haven't done in many years. It ate so much I didn't eat lunch, and still haven't at 3:27 PM! After two enormous chocolate chip pancakes smothered with peanut butter and drenched in real maple syrup, accompanied by four satisfying sausage links and a glass of milk, who wants lunch anyway?

When we got home, mom and I had a nice talk in her bedroom, with no other distractions and no multitasking. Just... talking. I cherished it, knowing that we won't have another like it for a month. Soon she had to go off with my dad to get a vehicle checked, so I steeled on the couch with Anne of Green Gables (which I have been devouring for the past week or so), intending to read three chapters and leave the last four for tomorrow. But when you're only four chapters away from the end of such an enchanting book, it's awfully hard to put it down! I finished the whole book. The beginning of it is sweet, and it makes you laugh, but the end is truly beautiful. I cried, of course - I always do at those sort of things!

Finishing the book, I went outside to wander around and think and pray. I decided to pick some daisies and make a chain for my hair, and the closest place where the daisies are growing is in the ditch by the road. So, I stepped into the deep ditch beside our dirt road and started picking the nicest looking ones, and stringing them into a crown. As I did, though, I noticed some tiny, wild strawberries growing! Oh, there is nothing quite like wild strawberries. Cultivated ones are alright, but the wild ones are so much sweeter. And they look so much prettier, springing up here and there amid daisies and buttercups, instead of in unimaginative rows.

So I traversed the rocky ditch up and down, wearing a heavy denim skirt and a too-big t-shirt since all my other clothing is packed and a tiara of daisies which looks much less romantic than it sounds. But I didn't care if someone did drive by and think I looked silly, because it felt delightful. That's the nice thing about where we live though - people rarely do drive by! Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of deerflies, and two of them discovered my presence and would not leave me alone. When I had eaten all of the berries I could find, I came in here to write this post, and so I sit, filled with a delightful peace about life. To think that in 48 hours I will be boarding an airplane by myself and heading off across the nation... wow! It's thrilling.