Dear Reader:

Remember me telling y’all the night before last…about how “comfy” I was in my recliner in the evenings… watching movies, fun television shows, or simply reading….it was the special gift of time I give myself… to completely relax after the sun has set?

Well Saturday morning…I went to fling back my shutters and noticed how the sun’s rays had lit my bottle tree up…making it appear to be  in flames…just beautiful! And then as I glanced back after opening both shutters the slanted morning sun’s rays  hit a plant on the side table in my Happy Room and it too was basking in the morning light. What a great start to a beautiful day…inside and out!

Lynn Gamache, one of our long-time post readers… and also a fluent writer, hailing from Canada… sent me this January devotional message from My Streams in the Desert publication. I loved this metaphor on life… written by John Ruskin.

“There is no music during a musical rest, but the rest is part of the making of the music.  In the melody of our life, the music is separated here and there by rests.  During those rests, we foolishly believe we have come to the end of the song.  God sends us times of forced leisure by allowing sickness, disappointed plans and frustrated efforts. 

He brings a sudden pause in the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must be silent.  We grieve that our part is missing in the music that continually rises to the ear of our Creator.  

So how does a musician read the rest?  He counts the break with unwavering precision and plays his next note with confidence, as if no pause were ever there.

God does not write the music of our lives without a plan.  Our part is to learn the tune and not be discouraged during the rests.  They are not to be slurred over or omitted, nor used to destroy the melody or to change the key.  If we will only look up, God Himself will count the time for us.  With our eyes on Him our next notes will be full and clear. 

If we sorrowfully say to ourselves, “There is no music in a rest,” let us not forget that the rest is part of the making of the music.  The process is often slow and painful in this life, yet how patiently God works to teach us!  And how long He waits for us to learn the lesson!”  by John Ruskin

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So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

*Yesterday was so pretty I couldn’t stay inside…I even started picking up fallen limbs and branches from all the recent storms we have had (I seriously detest that job)…but this time I just wanted an excuse to continue enjoying this sunny warm day in the sixties.

It was while I was out ‘picking up sticks’ that I noticed that the most color in the backyard, garden, and wooded area behind my lot came from normally ‘dull’ shrubs that suddenly had burst into beautiful primary colors. In the garden the encore azaleas were abundantly forming buds… the sturdy asparagus fern had bragging rights and regardless of the weather…the azaleas will soon be blooming.

It “hit” me…like the message said…“the rest is part of making the music” … so even sleeping winter foliage can surprise us with life deep down inside giving us a preview of color…after the “rest.”

*I know Susan and her family would appreciate prayers today as they say good-bye to a sister, aunt, and special family member…Wanda. Susan and Wanda had plans to have adventures and take trips together…since Wanda had, tragically, recently lost her husband to cancer.

When a loved ones passes…it is not just themselves that we miss…but the dreams that must change too… with the loved one’s departure.

Safe travels and may all of you, Susan, find comfort among family and dear friends today. God-speed.