Monday, March 7, 2016

The blessings of mornings

I am a morning person. I'm totally useless after about 9 pm, but I can effortlessly bound out of bed and be ready for the day at 4 am. I've always been that way. Go figure.

Mornings sometimes offer unexpected bonuses -- like today.

The day started out dreary and rainy, with gray all around.


But unexpectedly, the eastern sky started turning orange before the sun rose.


Light broke through the rainclouds and illuminated the tips of the trees -- can you see the very tops lit up? -- and offered a rainbow.


The other side of the rainbow had a narrow band of hillside lit up behind it.



The episode lasted maybe -- maybe -- five minutes, and then the clouds moved in and it was all gray again. But I was there to witness it.

Bonus photos: Yesterday afternoon Don and I went walking just before sunset. Again, for a brief few minutes, the sun pierced the clouds and illuminated the wet field fence along the road, which I thought was pretty.



This is why I always try to have my camera on me whenever I step foot outside. You never know when God will bless us when a pretty picture, a visual reminder to stop and smell the roses.

11 comments:

  1. I think one of the best gifts you can share is showing others the simple and wonderful gifts that God gives us. and you do that well---ken

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  2. Wonderful photos and a great reminder.
    Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
    Blessings,
    Janae at Creekside Farmstead

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    Replies
    1. Amen!
      In troubled times, this verse is great comfort!

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  3. I just wrote to a close friend that we were going to put our beautiful Idaho homestead on the market and return to the beautiful paid for home in Wyoming, as we don't think with the economic downturn there it will sell any time soon. The morning after we made the decision to let this little piece of paradise go, I rose about 0430, made the coffee and enjoyed the solitude of the morning. I'm selfish that way.
    I went to the little bedroom we use as an office. It faces the ridge to the SSW that is across the St. Joe River and the water that looks like a lake behind it. The moon had cleared the ridge to the SE and was now shining on the water. I nearly cried at the sheer beauty and the gift God had awakened me to see.
    I'm very much like you, in that I seem to either be in just the right place, or have eyes to see, spectacular sights. Yesterday on the way home from CDA, while watching with childlike eagerness for the swans on the water, I spotted two young bull elk challenging each other, pushing back and forth. A little farther down the road through paradise, there was a field covered in elk. Then came the swans.
    We hear and see the swans everyday. The elk bed down at times in our front yard. We have a cow moose/calf pair that visit. Unfortunately, we heard a wolf howling last week. I love the sunshine on elaborate spiderwebs, watching the sunshine dance on the water of our pond, the little catfish at dusk, skimming the surface with their mouths open. Sometimes I have my camera, but often lately, I've desperately wanted to see it all through just my eyes. More selfishness.
    I'm grateful that you are not selfish and that mores so, you are talented and share your words and pictures with us. It makes it a bit easier to let go of this place and go to the other place of beauty.
    As a child I learned that I could either pick the flower and enjoy it for just a fleeting time, or marvel at it every day God intended for it to delight me where He put it. Cameras help us with that, too.
    Thank you for this timely post. Sorry I'm so wordy.
    sidetracksusie

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    Replies
    1. Susie, I hope you see this reply, and know I'm grateful for your beautiful post. It resonates deeply with me.

      I hope and pray God will kick the big rocks out of the way for you, and the move back to Wyoming, if it does come to pass, will unfold with many joyous and unexpected blessings.

      A. McSp

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    2. Thank you, very much A. McSp for the kind prayer. Prayers always work.
      I feel very settled about it.
      The impact of the EPA ruling and nitpicking lawsuits over coal lease permits, are wreaking havoc on the economy of Wyoming. People's lives are being destroyed, so my sadness is but a ripple in an ocean of giant waves.
      We are blessed and are trying to do Gid's will. When and if he wills it, we hope to find another piece of land very bear by and start again.
      Thank you so very much. If you are curious, you can see the view from my porch on the FB page The Red Barn Farm.
      Sidetracksusie

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  4. Hope this isn't a second posting of the same...

    I just wrote to a close friend that we were going to put our beautiful Idaho homestead on the market and return to the beautiful paid for home in Wyoming, as we don't think with the economic downturn there it will sell any time soon. The morning after we made the decision to let this little piece of paradise go, I rose about 0430, made the coffee and enjoyed the solitude of the morning. I'm selfish that way.
    I went to the little bedroom we use as an office. It faces the ridge to the SSW that is across the St. Joe River and the water that looks like a lake behind it. The moon had cleared the ridge to the SE and was now shining on the water. I nearly cried at the sheer beauty and the gift God had awakened me to see.
    I'm very much like you, in that I seem to either be in just the right place, or have eyes to see, spectacular sights. Yesterday on the way home from CDA, while watching with childlike eagerness for the swans on the water, I spotted two young bull elk challenging each other, pushing back and forth. A little farther down the road through paradise, there was a field covered in elk. Then came the swans.
    We hear and see the swans everyday. The elk bed down at times in our front yard. We have a cow moose/calf pair that visit. Unfortunately, we heard a wolf howling last week. I love the sunshine on elaborate spiderwebs, watching the sunshine dance on the water of our pond, the little catfish at dusk, skimming the surface with their mouths open. Sometimes I have my camera, but often lately, I've desperately wanted to see it all through just my eyes. More selfishness.
    I'm grateful that you are not selfish and that mores so, you are talented and share your words and pictures with us. It makes it a bit easier to let go of this place and go to the other place of beauty.
    As a child I learned that I could either pick the flower and enjoy it for just a fleeting time, or marvel at it every day God intended for it to delight me where He put it. Cameras help us with that, too.
    Thank you for this timely post. Sorry I'm so wordy.
    sidetracksusie

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is so nice to find someone else who is a morning person. We seem to be a rare breed, or at least one well adapted to hiding!

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  6. My husband and mother in law are the exact same way about waking up early. They don't need an alarm clock to wake up, an only set one for such occasions as surgery morning to ensure they are not late. It use to drive me nuts, but I've learned to go with the flow. Twenty + years of never hearing an alarm clock......sweet. Love you blog!

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  7. Wow! I saw this really great post today.Yesterday afternoon Don and I went walking just before sunset. Apple Stickers

    ReplyDelete