Serenity. Peace. Love. Togetherness. Family. Time. Nature. Sun. Moon. Stars. Life. Stillness. Beauty. Laughter. Blue skies. Gentle breezes. Warm sunshine. The setting sun. The rising moon.
Gifts. Blessings. Treasures.
I seek you God earnestly. For your words. The treasures you provide to me in scriptures and in life. Gifts. Blessings. Treasures.
Gifts. Blessings. Treasures. I am truly grateful for them all tonight. God is good. My heart is calm and my soul satisfied. I am blessed beyond measure by these wonderful gifts. They fill me to the brim with happiness.
I have had the genuine opportunity to spend my day immersed in the needs of my family. They are the loves of my life. I am often overwhelmed with the needs, but today, God gave me peace in serving. Serving Him. Serving my family. Serving my family for Him. It brought me great happiness. To Him I give the glory for all. To Him I give thanks for all.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. ~ Ps. 63:3
My early Friday was spent like most early Fridays. Cleaning up the messes that have been left over the past week. Doing the laundry, tidying up the house, tending to household chores. Cleaning up our house for the ones I love. In the midst of my cleaning, I was frequently called to the garage to "inspect" the progress of the go-kart rebuild in progress by thirteen year old son and his supervisor, my husband! His excitement was uncontained and contagious.
In the midst of this glorious day, my sweet seventeen year old began texting me from the tennis courts. Her request involved our family heading to the lake to enjoy the water, the warm temps, the glorious evening and some family time together. We decided it sounded like a great idea!
I spent the middle chunk of my day working side by side with my oldest daughter as we finished stuffing and addressing the envelopes that hold her high school graduation announcements. Whew! This mom is still having trouble accepting that her firstborn is about to embark on a new journey of life on her own. We finished up and off to the post office I went to mail off this final stack of envelopes!
My trip back home found me at the local Walmart store that I love to hate and affectionately call Wal-Hell! Where else can you find everything you need and hate the whole experience?? I managed to secure all items on my shopping list ... and then some! I hustled home to put away the groceries with the help of my daughters, while simultaneously packing a cooler so we could all head to the lake for an evening of family time.
Lake time with my family is one of our favorite things to do! Camping, fishing, hiking, or just a quick evening to play by the water, enjoy a campfire and laugh together brings joy to my soul. It brings serenity. It brings me peace and fills me up like the word of God.
I feels these moments with us all together slipping away from me though. My soon to be graduate plans to move about 3 hours away. That will happen in less than a month. My heart aches as I think of our family times that will change without her always here. Perhaps that is why nights like tonight settle so deeply in my soul and fill me up with gladness. I praise the God above for the gifts of my children. For the gift of the time he has given me with them; to raise them, nurture them, grow them and teach them to fly. I sing praises to Him because he is God. He is good. He has blessed me.
Thank you God for an evening with my loves ... all together ... all of us ... enjoying your gifts. Your love is amazing and you continually bring me gifts. You calm my heart and fill my soul. I will ever praise your name. And tonight, I will rest well.
My soul will be satisfied .... and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. ~ Ps. 63:5
