Stand Tall

There's been no rain for so long. Plants are struggling to survive. I watered the tree line plants and it brought a deer out of the woods to eat something that wasn't dry. All I can do is pray for rain. Most summer months , we want an abundance of sunshine but now the day after day baking sun feels like punishment.

In my last entry, I shared how I always look for the bright side of everything. That's kind of like saying that I want the sun to always shine! In reality, everybody has rainy days and everybody needs the rain to breathe life back into tired smiles. During my journey to Sedona, I "rained" all over everyone but the "sunshine" that filled my soul when I left was stronger than it had ever been. So, I can appreciate the power of rain.

Have you ever heard someone say " The sun must be shining on you today"? And, how many times do we reach out for God's smile turning our faces up to the sun?

Maybe, just maybe God's smile comes in the form of rain too! Right now, the plants and animals are longing for that to be the case. Now, I will always be a fan of sunshine but it's the rain that has helped me stand tall!

Nothing Is Easy!

I took this picture at the small pond in my neighborhood nature preserve.  It looks stunning and perfect.  One would never know that it was floating alone.  Alone, that is,  in a pond filled with messy weeds, some fallen tree limbs, and a discarded plastic bottle or two.

In the eye of the camera or the eye of the photographer, we get to crop out everything but the stunningly perfect!  And then we can pretend that it's reality.

Well, it is!

Everything in life can be beautiful...if we zoom in on it.  That doesn't mean that there isn't debris outside the frame of the picture. Life comes with debris too.   It's up to us to choose what part of this world we are going to focus on.

I, myself,  am in love with the beauty!  I want to surround myself with others who see the beauty too.  What I have come to realize is that if we spend too much time with those who focus on the weeds and debris, we find ourselves thinking that may be all there is out there.  Then we never bother to take a picture. No one wants pictures of ugliness.

Well in my little world, I take my camera.  I look out at the big picture of weeds and downed branches and I choose to take a picture of the one blooming lily pad floating beautifully alone, not deterred by it's surroundings.  It decided to be stunning and perfect anyway!

It's not easy.  Nothing is.  But it is a choice we all have.  My choice is to go with the lily pad!