A Moving Masterpiece

A Moving Masterpiece

“The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

I have really enjoyed using my deck this year. I have surprisingly been up early enough to see a few complete sunrises to the left of me—coming up over my neighbor’s house in splendor.

In the morning and afternoon the kids and I play out there, squeals of laughter and camaraderie infusing the air around us. The other day Lily and Charlie were on my heels as I cleaned up the deck laughing and pestering me, telling me how much they miss me---? (I was RIGHT there. I wondered briefly if they were referring to the 30 lbs I have lost recently--lol).

Sometimes I like to wind down in the evening after the house is tidied and made ready for the next day. Tonight I sat with a book and a cup of Earl Grey to enjoy the tentative sun that arrived late in the day. A few nights I have wandered out late leaving the house in darkness, to have solitude—to rest my mind before I rest my body. And there I sit on an old church pew on the same deck watching the same sky, same pond, same trees ---

And every time it is a Masterpiece.

Tonight the blue of the sky is reflected in the pond and the reflections of the trees are blurry. The daisies that grow wild along the road sway gently, and the water looks slightly dimpled from a light breeze that caresses the world as the birds chatter and gather their little ones for the night.

White wispy clouds like strips of soft cotton drift through the evening air and wrap themselves around the ethereal moon as deeper clouds of steel gray move along the horizon. The air is heavy with the smell of damp earth rising to meet the smell of freshly cut grass, warm and sweet from the mid-evening sunlight……

……..It is three hours since I came inside. The moon shines brightly and now shares a sky that is inky blue, with the lesser lights of the stars, peeking here and there from behind the clouds that have faded to a soft blue. My nocturnal friends the peeper-frogs and bullfrogs can be heard and fireflies are flitting across the lawn and through the apple orchard.

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The last few months since I have started writing again, have been an absolute joy. I am living the same life—but with ‘new eyes’. I have always been a pretty happy person, but looking back through my life I see a thread of God-given joy and contentment—even in loss, regret, disappointment and death. I am grateful to see my life; past, present and future with these new eyes of mine--- (smile), but I am also looking forward to new horizons. I want to say thank-you to you, for taking the time to read, whether I am describing the world around me or sharing what is in my heart, the joy and the pain--- and since I know it is mostly friends and family that read-- tonight, I am sending this--

--with love, Annie

Embracing Love

“Something of God... flows into us from the blue of the sky, the taste of honey; the delicious embrace of water whether cold or hot, and even from sleep itself.”
― C.S. Lewis

Last Monday was a long old day. I had decided the week before that it is time to move on. I will be looking for a live-in Nanny’s position to start--Lord willing by September. I have Online College courses I need to finish and I am unable to meet the demands of running a house financially and pay for my education.

After much prayer and contemplation, I finalized my decision last weekend and let my immediate family know. On Monday, I told the families I work for, and also told my youngest niece and nephew. The day was long and tiring emotionally. When the children left for the day there was a welcome stream of friends and family, and by 10pm my body was begging for sleep--my mind begged for something more—solitude perhaps? I turned out all the lights in the house and made a cup of tea and went out in the fading night and sat on my front deck.

As I sat there I listened to the breeze soughing through the trees and could smell the soft scent of the blooming peonies carried on the same breeze. I could hear the geese in the pond across the road singing a dubious duet with the bullfrogs. Stars shone in the indigo sky and the trees that circle the pond were silhouetted in the stillness of the water. As I sat there I sighed, thankful for the tranquility. I noticed a flicker of light in my neighbor’s blueberry field, and then another and another---I laughed softly with delight—dozens of fireflies twinkled in the evening---the first fireflies of the summer.

….And something of God flowed into me…..

In their book ‘A Sacred Romance’, authors Brent Curtis and John Eldridge write about the greatest romance of all time---God’s love for humanity, and His earnest desire to have a personal relationship with each of us. On page fourteen Brent shares his first memory of The Romance. As a young boy he would run through a cornfield in the early evening to a creek on his family’s property--there, his senses were filled with the scents, sights and sounds of the world around him. When I read that, I immediately remembered kneeling at my bedroom window as a young girl in the gathering twilight and the fullness that filled me from the tip of my toes to the top of my head. (I wrote about this in ‘Joy-My Cup Runneth Over’). I didn’t have words for it then, but I recognize now and acknowledge that before I chose to know God, He was there, calling me to Himself and filling my heart with His love through this breathtaking world He has created.

It is so easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of the day, and the stress and sorrow that life brings, and even the relentless noise and clatter of all of life’s conveniences, (including this laptop I am tapping away on). As I write, a bouquet of wild roses grace my windowsill…..picked yesterday after a soft rain, their scent mingling with the peace I have in my heart. God loves us and blesses us every day with the beauty of His creation. I am thankful, when life is too distracting, to be drawn into these moments with the One who loves me best and most.