Like that quote from the Sex & the City movie where Samantha says, "Relationships aren't just about being happy. I mean, how often are you happy in your relationship?"
Charlotte replies, matter-of-factly, "Everyday."
Samantha, incredulously: "Every day?"
Charlotte, with certainty: "Well, not all day every day but yes, every day."
But my goal wasn't just relationships (although, admittedly, my relationship with my kids on a second to second basis can change from over-the moon-peacock-proud to throw-you-out-the-window-frustrated and back again!)
Ultimately, at the end of everyday I wanted to, not only be able to say I was happy, but to feeeeel happy. Content. Satisfied. Joyful even. To truly know that "my soul was joyful in the Lord: it rejoices in his salvation." Psalm 35:9.
So, my little wheat-bouquet-excursion with the Hud-man was one of those moments. I know of no better way than to experience the awe of Our Creator than to admire His creation. We trudged out to the closest wheat field, snipped and piled, snipped and piled. There was some clean up to be done, but it was a beautiful day and this type of work needed to be done outside anyway. So, as the little one played in the sunshine, I stripped each stalk of it's outer husk and trimmed each end to sit evenly in my vase.
I love bringing the outdoors in. My beauty usually comes from the great outdoors and although I am always humbled and overjoyed by the ocean and expansive beaches, I can't see them everyday. Out my kitchen window, it's the wide-open prairie. Yours may be majestic mountains, towering trees, or maybe even calculated, repetitive cinder-block. Or perhaps your beauty isn't in the scenery, but in the sounds, smells and textures surrounding you. At this exact moment, for example, the beauty is certainly not in the piles of paperwork littering my computer desk, but in the "calm before the storm". It is 6am on a Saturday and none of my children, nor my husband are awake yet. I am savoring a steaming latte and letting my brain wander in the serene silence of dawn. I wouldn't want the house to be this quiet all day long, and so the beauty of this hour that I have is all the more potent.
It's been nearly a month since I took these photos. The frosts have come, the crops are all off now and even in these photos you can see the fall moisture affecting the heads of wheat as they droop. But it's still fall, and I'm still enjoying this lovely bouquet that I don't have to water, trim or clean up falling foliage. What a great daily reminder of the beauty that surrounds me. Do you think I can hang tinsel on this arrangement and keep it through December?
What beauty surrounds you today?
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