beauty everywhere...

Today I had the pleasure of sitting in the backyard for 2 hours to bake in the sun, reading the remainder of “The horse and his boy” and, my favorite part, observing the local birds going in and out of the bird house that is on one side of the yard. I especially liked the buzzing of two humming birds (portuguese: beijaflor... means flower kisser) around the bird feeder, zipping by overhead, chasing after one another, and having, what appeared to be a good time, if you were a humming bird. Their speed and sleakness amazed me... it was fun to envision what it would be like to be their great creator... figuring out how to make tiny wings flap so quickly, getting them to hover mid-air while feeding on a flower... pretty cool. After baking, I decided to hit up a walk on the beach and once again was stunned by its beauty and calm. The tide was way out, and so were the sea gulls feeding on shellfish and playing in the surf. It was fun to observe the way the water trickled through the sand on its way out to sea, making cool designs with the darker sediment and the lighter, sparklier sand. Its nice on some levels to have life slow down so much as to get to see these little things. I don’t think that I’ve taken this much time to observe nature and the more I observe the closer I feel I am to the heart of God. Somehow seeing His creation helps me to understand the delicacy and thought he put into making me. The way he clothes the lilies of the field, or the hillsides of porto belo, helps me to see the beauty that is within me, underneath the things I hold onto for control, even more so, recognizing that the lilies and hillsides don’t put effort into how they look on the outside... I think I need to let him clothe me in his love and care rather than the things that I think should be on the outside. Its a hard life, I know... Missing you all terribly, Feliz Anniversario Pai