some favorite pictures

looking to the East

looking to the South-East

six farm children

Stuart loves his Estelle! The youngest farm children.

One of the advantages to all of the stormy, rainy weather we experience is that we get some spectacular evening views. The clouds will part to let radiant gold light through, which touches barns and fields and makes them glow. The clouds are tinged with pink and purple, and far away windows glimmer in the last rays of the sun before it sets. These little breaks in the rainy gray weather make said weather so much easier to bear, and always highlights the beauty around me. The six months of non-stop rain really makes me look forward to summer, and I am always so grateful when it arrives. This of course leads me to reflect on the storms in my own life these last few years. The non-stop rains of stress and sorrow have made me more keenly aware of God's grace and loving care of me, and more grateful for the good which he has given me. I am learning to take delight in the things around me, to soak up the beauty and goodness around me in the same way I soak up the sun when it finally arrives. In the same way that a sunny warm day here and there help sustain me until summer comes, delighting in the good I have been given (instead of dwelling on what is wrong in my life) will enable me to stay true to the path I have been given to walk. Just some thoughts as I get ready for bed, before another busy week begins!