Determination

Right outside our front door, there are brick steps that lead up to it.  I walk up and down those steps so many times in a day; and of course all of those daily steps add up to many, many more steps when you take an entire summer into account.  This summer, each time I walked up the steps, I kept my eye on a little cosmos that decided to plant itself right in the middle of them.  Early in the summer I heard someone mention pulling it up ... but no one ever did.  I haven't watered it, or fertilized it, just watched it.  And that little flower has been determined to grow without any humanly help.  Finally, it reached its goal .... and it is only about three inches high.  This tiny flower is so sweet, blooming ever so brightly.  And it just makes me smile, knowing that it is only there because of God's hand.

Fall is Underway

September is moving by at a very fast clip -- too fast really.  Fortunately (and I am extremely thankful) we haven't had a frost yet.  That means we can still enjoy the flowers, of which I will be taking time each and every day to enjoy knowing that any morning now I will wake up, and they will be gone.  I am still bringing in produce out of the garden as well; however, I know that I need to start bringing everything in before they get nipped.  And by bringing everything in, that means I will be busy processing it all into some form or another just waiting to be enjoyed throughout the winter.

Farewell to Summer

This morning as I enjoyed a cup of tea, I began pondering over the past season.  I know that technically, summer still has a few weeks to go; however, with school beginning tomorrow, that kind of signals the end of the season. 

When summer began I had all kinds of plans, hopes, and dreams for how it might possibly pan out.  Of course, as is usually the case, it turned out somewhat differently -- not in a bad way -- just in a different way.  I was able to plant my vegetable garden, and lots of flowers even though we had such a rainy May and June.  Countless hours were spent at my daughter's tennis lessons; but that was nice because it gave me the opportunity to sit in the warm sunshine visiting with a friend and getting some crocheting accomplished.  I was blessed to be able to teach two different friends how to crochet a granny square.  I cheered my son through two triathlons.  When my daughter made the transition from tennis to volleyball, that also afforded me time to spend with another friend.  I did lots of walking, and have lost nearly 10 pounds.  Another birthday came and went.  Time was set aside for a five day camping trip with my family which included picking huckleberries.  I created a chocolate cake for the annual chocolate contest at our local fair -- of which I did not place in the top three -- but I can imagine I finished in fourth place (lol).  I've made jam and pickles, and I guess the list could really go on and on.  The Bible talks about how God directs our steps.  I may have had specific ideas at the beginning of summer what I might like to do; but His plan for me this summer was just perfect.