Dear Reader:

“Nature is the living, visible garment of God.” Goethe

Now I will never have to wonder again what God will be wearing tomorrow….a thought I have had since a child….”What does God wear every day?”

After coming across this quote yesterday I suddenly realized that the answer had been right in front of me my whole life…and yet I had missed it. Of course God dresses in garments of nature…beautiful, breathtaking nature…garments of His own design and creativity.

It makes me smile to think of God in human terms deciding what He will wear each day….ocean blue, magnolia green, gray Spanish Moss, yellow sunflowers, or brown earthy mountain tones. A different garment for eternity. God definitely dresses for success!

Sarah Ban Breathnach from her bestseller- Simple Abundance-starts her book by asking readers to “pick up the needle with me and make the first stitch on the canvas of your life….they are the golden threads of a simply abundant tomorrow.”

Breathnach makes the visualization, metaphorically, using six threads that can create abundant living by producing a tapestry of contentment that wraps us in inner peace, well-being, happiness, and a sense of security.

They are:

1. gratitude– after completing our inner spiritual journey we will discover that our mental and spiritual inventory of all we have…makes us very rich indeed.
2. simplicity– the desire to clear out, pare down, and understand the basic essentials we need to live life abundantly
3. order-after paring down a sense of order in our life begins to take over…replacing the earlier chaos in our personal lives
4. harmony-provides us with the inner peace we need to appreciate the beauty surrounding us each day
5. beauty– then opens us up to joy…
6.  joy– the highest elation of sheer wonder and awe of life itself and our Creator

It is amazing how going through an external home make-over motivates us to do the same thing for the internal side of our home. Yesterday found me climbing my four step ladder to clean my plantation shutters because the new windows were so clear and attractive… I didn’t want dusty shutters taking away from their allure.

In moving the furniture to get to the shutters I noticed how dusty the floor was behind these tables and desks…so I started sweeping the floors and getting rid of stuff off the tabletops. Simplicity really is best…de-cluttering does bring order into our chaotic lives.

Even something as small as removing some wilted flowers from a vase and letting the one remaining flower bask in its own beauty…simply quite charming…four flowers are pretty…one is stunning.

So until tomorrow….when I wake up and see my bright white shutters reflecting off my bright clear windows…I will be in harmony with life and filled with joy at the beauty of one orange flower.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* This past weekend was the Turners’ family favorite days…they went to Hilton Head to stay at a Disney resort hotel there….overall the weather cooperated fairly well…and they were able to squeeze in most of the activities they wanted to do with the children while there. John shared with me some family pictures from this beautiful resort.

https://goo.gl/photos/rknHU2RM5gMUdZt17

* Anne will be flying back out this upcoming weekend to stay with her sister Nancy following another chemo treatment…please keep both of these gals in your prayers… because as a cancer patient…I know how much harder it is on love ones and caregivers.

*Little Rudy will have surgery Wednesday to prolong the quality of his life…please keep Kaitlyn and Tommy in your prayers that all goes well Wednesday.

*Even before Honey read the blog today she sent me this picture of the “threads of life” artwork that she and Mike awoke to on their deck this morning. (The blog title picture was actually taken by a tourist traveling through Georgia.) Isn’t nature awe-inspiring…the garments of God.

*August 31 was always a special day in my family….it was my amazing Aunt Eva’s birthday (who was like another mother) and my two wonderful cousins’ birthdays….(Charles and Marilyn) brother and sister…who were born three years apart on the same birthday…August 31!

*I have heard you know you are getting older when you talk about the weather and how time flies….well, then, I am officially “old” because I can’t believe that in another day….September will have arrived and I pray some of these strong rains dissipate throughout this week.