Drawing near- A touch of beauty

These roses were $3.99 at Aldi and last the entire week. Having flowers around me literally reminds me to "stop and smell the roses" and not let beautiful things pass by unnoticed or unappreciated. These little Joy journals (blank journals from Michael's clearance bin) were $0.45 after a coupon. Keeping a little journal like this is an easy way to keep focused on all the little ways that God shows me that He loves me, and not focus on the piles of laundry, or annoying things like lice, or heavy things like cancer. For $4.50 I can add a little touch of beauty to my day. That's less than a Starbucks and much cheaper than therapy.

I open my screen porch doors today and listen to the wind chimes that my mother-in-law gave us when we first got married. Like many of the gifts we were given, I had no idea at the time how much I would come to appreciate and treasure them. They call me to a little "Porch time" alone with Jesus as the wind blows. Listen in for a moment.

My awareness of God began early, thanks to my family reading this children's Bible story book to me. This illustration is of creation, of God filling the earth with the animals, but the image that was burned into my soul was of God hovering near protectively. I didn't remember the giant hand. In my mind's eye, I simply remembered God shining down from the clouds. To this day, being outside, or seeing the sun stream through the clouds instantly draws me closer into His presence.

When I lost my Dad at a young age, I remember God's presence revealing Himself to me as "the father to the fatherless".


A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. 
(Psalm 68:5, NIV)


This sense of His nearness was given to me at a young age, for a later time when I would understand how much I need Him.

How had God revealed Himself to you through life experiences? Does anything in nature especially remind you of His care for you?