In Keeping With My New Goals

The rain here has been abundant. Huge, fierce storms that blow in and back out just as quickly. Leaving glistening puddles and drips in the brilliant sunshine.

Jillian loves to play in the rain. She was outside yesterday right after a storm had blown through and came bursting through the door to tell me of a rainbow that ended in the neighbors yard! I grabbed my camera but unfortunately it was gone. But I did capture a few pictures of beauty found in the small things.


Jillian drenched and on the swing here daddy made her.


Our thornless blackberry patch. Last spring it was two little sticks in the ground.


The runoff that keeps the blackberries growing like weeks.


Ripening Figs


Some of the last color in the yard. These bushes got so beautiful this year.


A hot pepper plant that has been crazy prolific this year. I'm drying them as fast as possible.


Sunshine on the magnolia tree.


Us heading inside. Bare feet squishing in the mud.

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I Am In Awe

• I know I've not been around much this week. The thing is, I'm a creature of habit and with the holiday my schedule was thrown off. That combined with the fact that the girls co-op didn't cut them *any* slack on homework has meant a super busy week. I'll try to be back more regular next week.

• Alanna, I've recently come across your blog and find it so honest and open. I don't know if you know that you have comments turned off. If you do and that's the way you want it I totally understand. But if you were wondering why you weren't getting comments, that's probably why. ;D And you totally flatter me by having me listed as a favorite and I'd like to return the favor if it's okay with you.

• And last but certainly not least, I just wanted to say that God has moved so big in a personal area of my family's life. We got the news yesterday morning as I was driving my middle daughter to co-op, and I was so overwhelmed that I had to pull the car over. God hears prayers. And He still works miracles. I think Mike put it best yesterday evening when he said that he hoped that we could someday, in some small way, begin to deserve this blessing that God handed us yesterday. My heart is lighter than it has been for years. All praises be to God.
  

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Is Your Glass Half Full?

Did anyone watch 20/20 Friday night? It was about childhood poverty in America. And particularly in the town of Camden, NJ.

Now, I'm no where close to New Jersey. I'm in southern TN, just on the northern tip of GA. So it's not like this was in my backyard.

I know that we all know in our logical minds that there are poor in our country. But something about this particular program touched me in a way that I can't seem to get out of my heart and mind.

I've watched programs before about the poor. And I've always felt God trying to tell me something when I've seen them. I'm still not sure what God has been whispering to me, but I do know that my interest in those less fortunate has grown over the years.

There was a little boy on the program. They showed him hungry. Hungry! Can we really imagine? Can we imagine what his mother felt? Her *child* was hungry, and she had nothing...nothing... to feed him. And he was in clothing that was entirely too big for him (and grateful for the clothing!). He was homeless and they showed the family preacher taking them to different houses that the church was trying to help them get into. And the excitement overwhelmed this little guys face as he looked around these places that would, most likely, scare the pants off of any of us. The places were pretty awful. Dirty. And the child's face shown with hope at each one. And each one was denied him for various reasons.

He ended up in a single room with nothing but a bare bulb, and he was all smiles from ear to ear.

How many of us, given so incredibly much more, smile when we look at our homes and lives? How many of us literally beam when we look at our blessing every day? How many of us go to bed having eaten just a little too much to snuggle down in our fresh sheet and down comforters? How many of us have the luxury of not wearing a coat in our house in the winter because we have lovely heat with no more work than a touch of a button? How many of us thank God for our blessings when we turn the shower on and hot water comes out? Or we push a button and our garage opens so that we can park our *cars* in more of shelter than a lot of God's *children* have at night?

I turned the TV off and felt true shame for every *want* I've ever had. And then I looked around me and noticed my abundance. Really noticed it.

And my heart has been so full ever since.

My glass is more than half full. My cup truly does runneth over.

Sharon wrote a beautiful post on contentment. I urge you to read her post and see if God speaks to you as He has to me.

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