On My Deck

Today is the first full day of summer vacation, a day that has been much anticipated.  Though I have no "big" or "exciting" plans for the days that stretch out ahead of me, they are special to me in that I am able to start my days spending time with my Lord in prayer and study.  Because of my (very) early morning starts during the school year my study time is often briefer than I'd like due to not enough time or my own tiredness.  I not only enjoy these days of immersing myself in the Word, I need it to strengthen me and recharge my spirit.

The leaves are fuller now
and the plants in the pots
have grown so it's much
more secluded feeling.

I am especially excited about my morning quiet times with the Lord this year because we just finished fixing up our deck and it's a gloriously cozy little haven. There is something.....holy.....about meeting with God at dawn surrounded by His creation.

There is also the added bonus of the deck at dawn being the place I feel closest to my beloved grandmother's memory.  Nana started all but the coldest mornings sitting on her porch in the country watching nature wake up for another day.  Some of my fondest memories are of sitting with her in silence or quietly talking of deeper things....listening to the thrum of the hummingbirds' wings at the feeders, smelling the sweet heady scent of her roses, petting the cats as they wound around our ankles or jumped into our laps to curl up warm and snug, hearing the crow of a rooster or the low, rumbling "moo" of a cow.

So, it was with great excitement that I gathered up my Bible, the study I am working on, my journal, my laptop, a collection of pens, and the dogs to head out to the deck.  I had my books opened before me, the poodle settled in a chair and the hound sleeping at my feet.  The birds were singing and I was having a great study time, really enjoying what I was reading and then I heard it.  A soft little "tapping" on the patio umbrella I was sitting under.  Nooooo! my heart cried, but alas, it was rain.

I didn't end up getting very much time out on the deck this morning, but any deck time is better than no deck time and the good news is that God will meet me anywhere.

Now, since it is Thursday, I'm joining in with Rebecca Jo over at Knit by God's Hand to show some gratitude.

This week I'm thankful for:

• Getting through the school year without any accidents or major incidents.
• My daughter and her boyfriend being approved for their first appointment so they can begin taking responsibility and growing up and setting the ground work for their own family and the little one that's on the way.
• The great times we had with family and friends over the Memorial Day weekend.
• The poem one of the senior girls on the bus wrote for me.
• A break from the super high humidity.
• My husband's continuing (relatively) good health.
• The bunnies chasing each other around the yard.
• A mom who can sew....and doesn't mind picking up my slack.
• Answered prayers.
• My grandson's fever passing quickly and not being a relapse of scarlet fever.
• Olive Garden's salad dressing in a bottle at the grocery store.
• God who doesn't always give what I want, but ALWAYS provides what I need.

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness;

and all these things shall be added to you."