Dear Reader:

Wednesday’s blog ended with this photo I took while waiting in traffic at Five Points…I just thought the fading sunlight was so pretty on the path and green foliage…everything was lighting up under the last sunbeams of the day.

It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the photo again…that I picked up on something different in the picture. If you will glance right up above the marker (in the forefront of the photo) the sunlight is apparently hitting a leaf and casting it aglow…but to me…I, immediately, saw a white feather (too many Forrest Gump re-runs I reckon) gently falling down amid the foliage.

Wherever the truth lies…it made me so happy…like God was definitely sending me a little wink just to let me know He was with me. When things like this happen…I always sense that God has just walked through the place I am now discovering minutes before and leaving “bread crumbs” for me to find to guide me home.

I have never been a consistent walker until these past few weeks…having my neighbor Vickie walk too certainly helps keep me on track…but even when our schedules don’t click to walk every day…I can’t let a day go by without walking now. I realize it is my time to walk and talk with God through the beauty of the scenery I pass…finding some new natural discovery every day without fail.

The walks are making me realize that we can never remain in one stage of life forever…as much as we might wish sometimes. Whether it is a happy stage we don’t want to end…or a grieving stage that we don’t know how to leave…God is gently pushing us out to keep walking…walking with Him.

Time moves forward and so must we.  Dr. Ray Pritchard says: “You can’t stay (stuck in a stage)  because God’s Word is always going forward.  

In Philippians 3:14 Paul says that he moved forward toward “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”. The Christian life is not static. It is a walk with God that moves you forward into a larger life with God.

I think the difference in me now and when I was working, especially when all the children lived at home…is that I was experiencing experiences only at the surface level (there was always somewhere else to go, something requiring a deadline, papers to grade, projects to help the children with, a daily dozen distractions….etc.) and now?

Now I really take in the wonder of the experience. And this differentiation makes all the difference in the world. For example…with the Bradford Pear blooming today swarms of bees, yes bees, are everywhere. I looked this up because I don’t remember seeing swarms of bees around the pear tree in the past and the article said that it wasn’t their favorite place to hunt for nectar but since it was one of the earliest to bloom…in large numbers the bees could do quite well accumulating nectar from the Bradford Pear.

One bee in the back yard was either infatuated with me, mad at me, territorial, or loved the smell of my Clinque “Happy” cologne! As I was cutting back weeds from the forsythia this bee buzzed me and then followed me all over the yard. I managed to even get some close-ups of him.

The Forsythia is out and blooming and my Ginger Shell plant has a green shoot…I was afraid the cold really got it this past January.

And here is my infatuated, happy, angry stalker bee…upclose and personal.

So until tomorrow…Ah…the wonder of the experience.…Thank you God for precious time to experience Your precious world.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Mollie and Eloise made it to Phoenix safe and sound…it just took them longer than expected. Rutledge gave little sister a big brother good-by hug for good luck.

Walsh decided to take the boys to a College of Charleston (Cougar) basketball game last night….He said Rutledge was really into the game….not so much Lachlan. During the National Anthem Lachlan could be found on the dirty floor between the bleachers eating popcorn off of it…I was scared to even ask if it originally belonged to them…the popcorn I mean.

This picture in front of the College of Charleston basketball sports arena with Rutledge and Lachlan…looks like something out of an old spooky movie…the regular child and then the “child of the corn” with strange lit eyes. One just has to laugh…Lachlan is now the official middle child and must live up to that decree of honor… and P.S. He has to go a long way to catch up with his dad.

*Don’t forget…. if you haven’t already voted…the family sure would appreciate you voting for Lee Barbour for Charleston Best Musician. The voting ends at 12:00 P.M. today. *And thank everyone who has already voted since our February 11 blog letting you know about the competition. Will certainly update you when we hear the results…very soon! Just click on the “here” below and find the Best Musician category! Love and kisses.

In other local news, I’m very honored to be nominated for Best Musician by the City Paper this year! And, while the nomination is awesome, it would be even more incredible if I won! I’ve always hoped to earn that title but did little to promote that goal. Self promotion is a difficult one for me, and getting better at it is another goal for 2018! So, if you think it is a fitting title and are willing, please go vote for me here. Also, if you wanna vote for Gradual Lean for Best Jazz Band, by all means, go for it…thanks in advance!

Click on this link to read a short synopsis  on Lee’s musical talents.

lee-barbour-musician | ABOUT