A Month of Thanksgiving~THIS

All Around You, The Mercy and Bounty of God

"As a chamber hung round about with looking-glasses represents the face upon every turn, 

thus all the world doth the mercy and bounty of God..."

~Anthony Burgess, 1656

            This morning's sunrise--aren't those clouds amazing?

In Just 90 Minutes

When my Mountain Man first moved us to the Land of Enchantment, I was not enchanted at all. I missed the green. The green. The green. I missed southern tea and polite people and fried foods and houses with big front porches and swings. I missed suits and ties and ladies putting on their best clothing for the Queen of Days. The brown landscape, the often-rude natives, the obsession with organic foods, the adobe houses, and the beach-wear worn to church left me feeling very out of place.

I cried several times a week for the first 6 months of our living here. I was the contentious woman that a man dreads coming home to. My favorite question to ask was, "Why in the world did you bring us here?" followed with a very passionate, "I hate it here!" God's sovereignty was a foreign concept to me, so everything was my Beloved's fault, and I was just wondering why God didn't put an end to all of my misery. All I knew was how barren the landscape was and how barren my heart felt.

Here we are, 15 years later, still living in the desert. I have majestic mountains right outside my window, and I can't look at those mountains without thinking of the greatness of God. I witness some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. In other words, I can see the beauty that was here all along, the beauty that my fist-pounding, temper-tantrum-throwing self refused to see.

We took a walk last week, a nature walk. 90 minutes of stopping along the way to wonder at the earth declaring the glory of God, with its asters and buffalo gourds and unidentified works of His hands. So much  of HIS goodness seen in just 90 minutes, and I marveled at it all. Wait! There are cows and horses and anthills and wildflowers and grasshoppers and...

But most of all, it was a walk down the memory-lane of God's goodness to me, reminders in purple and green and blue and orange, and in the form of little people with the cutest legs ever and the happiest smiles, little people who see life and marvels and God's goodness wherever they are. How could I have ever thought God set me in a barren place?

What a wonder it is that He gives us eyes to see.

Last Night's Moon

I have not yet been able to capture a clear picture of the moon, but last night, Luke got this one! Isn't is amazingly beautiful?

Snowy April

God's Been Painting

"God's been painting."

~Elisabeth, 5, when she saw tonight's sunset

Drive-By Beauty

Ink thinks calling someone a "Bovine-face" would be an insult. I'm not so sure. I love these faces. And how good God is to give us so much drive-by beauty. Yours might not include cows or antelope, but I'm sure there's something lovely along the way that calls for standing and staring. Don't miss it!

"A poor life this, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare."

~W.H. Davies