A chilly but beautiful autumn morning

My son left his laptop here at home so I'm taking full advantage of it. :)

On the days my son has college classes, I have to rise while it is quite early so I can get his lunch ready and make certain he eats a bowl of cereal. I also take his keys and start the car so the frost is off the windows by the time he heads out (it's a "mother" thing, our car defroster takes a long time to work). I don't mind at all, it is good to be able to serve another in such a simple way.

He has to be sitting in class at 8:00, it is a long drive in rush hour traffic, and I'll just say... he is not a morning person. On the days I don't need the car, I pour another cup of coffee after he has left, grab my quiet time basket (as Emilie Barnes suggests in her books), and usually read a prayer from the Valley of Vision first.

For some reason this morning, I was looking at the beginning of the prayer book and saw that the first prayer, called Valley of Vision, was written by the man who edited the book (all others are Puritan prayers I believe). I absolutely love that prayer, especially where he has written that the deeper our well, the brighter the stars appear above. My husband may never get this book back (but he knows where to find it).

I had to take a short break from my quiet time to take my insulin and nibble on a piece of orange cranberry nut bread that I pulled from the freezer. Delicious if I must say so myself! While in my kitchen, I looked out the window and saw a beautiful sunrise. For the second time in a week, the color wooed me outside (last week it was a sunset that caused my husband and I to walk to the edge of our gravel lane and watch in awe as the entire sky was painted in vibrant shades of pink and orange which made the colored leaves appear to glow... amazing was the beauty that early evening).

I walked to the county road once again, this time for our daily newspaper. Although the temperatures were quite cold, I decided to take grab a jacket and take a second cup of coffee to the little table on our deck and continue my quiet time there. Before I know it, the colored leaves will be gone and the deck furniture will be moved to the shed for the Winter. I don't always take the time for such an extended time of Bible reading, prayer, devotional reading, and a chapter or two in a book written for Christian women (currently the book by Nancy DeMoss). I needed it this morning.

My husband suffers with clinical depression (the roots coming from the extreme highs and lows and immune system crashes caused by the environmental & food allergies) and yesterday was a bad day for him. This time of year is always difficult as leaf mold (that which develops when the leaves are dropping from the trees) affects him severely. Stephanie and Christopher also are affected adversely by leaf mold.

So, Brenda, how can you sit on your deck enjoying the glories of God's creation when life is "less than perfect" right now? Because life is never perfect and rarely does a day go by without some kind of challenge. I need beauty in my surroundings even more on the "bad days" than when everything is "hunky dory" (hmmm...is that spelling correct?). I prayed for him a lot yesterday and a friend and her husband ministered to him on the phone off and on all day (fortunately, they have a great calling plan).

My sister who was visiting reads my blog once in awhile. She's not a computer person, if I send a link to a particular post then her husband will click on it and bring her to the computer to read it, otherwise she doesn't go near his computer. I was telling her this weekend that what I want most is to let people see that life is what happens while we are waiting for perfection and that we can make our immediate surroundings beautiful without much money. Of course, the most important message is that Jesus is the One who allows me to live this life without getting too loopy. Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with a Person.

I should have mentioned that my brother-in-law who has been taken to a nursing home is the husband of my sister who lives in town. My other sister's husband (back in Tampa) is a "young" eighty-five year old. He is much older than Jean. I call him the "Old Coot", a term of affection I assure you. I continue to pray for his salvation.

Today I'll continue resting after working on organizing a few shelves in the garage (just by doing a little each day, those huge projects are easier to handle). I'm going to work on my "Jewels journal" this afternoon. I miss you, Jewels!

Thank you for all of your comments. I appreciate them so much, even if I don't get a chance to answer them. I could get used to typing away and reading my favorite blogs while sitting in this chair, too! :)