Undiscovered Trails

When I woke up this morning and realized how beautiful it was and with Scott having a day off today, I thought.... "Let's have a picnic!!" I'm a nature girl by heart and have always felt at home, closer to God even, out in the middle of all his wonderous creation. My heart longs so for that place of beauty and wonder. Open fields, hidden, wooden trails, quiet streams, vast oceans, anywhere BUT HERE. Sometimes I feel like I live in the ugliest place, it's hard to find those tranquil places in Laplace, La. Until today. When I thought picnic, I thought let's go to the spillway. I've only seen the spillway from a distance and knew it at least had wide open space and some trees. We grabbed the blanket and some essential's (including camera) and with kids and dog in tow we hit the road. We picked up a bucket of chicken and headed to the spillway!

When we got there we found a nice shady seculed area, unpacked and had a lovely little picnic. It was such a beautiful day, almost a little chilly, but such a blessing to be had. Not long and the boys were up and ready to explore their surroundings, Jade had already been doing a pretty good job of exploring. Ever since my boys were little they've loved to pick me flowers and surprise me with them. It still melts my little mommy heart everytime they do, and their little gifts of love will always remain with me in my heart.

Not far from where we parked we noticed a bike trail, an alluring, undiscovered (well, by us anyway), little trail just begging us to come explore it. The trail was perfect, narrow and winding, surrounded by thick woods and winding river! This is exactly what I was longing for today! We had a blast following each other, going deeper and farther along the trail, across little bridges as we listened for creepy crawlies and enjoyed the cool breeze and warm sunlight shining down upon us through the trees. We walked a good ways, almost an hour and could've kept going, but we were actually getting tired and knew we had to walk back. Next time we'll be sure to bring some water along. As we headed back, all I could do was Thank my Heavenly Father for providing us with such a delightful little adventure today and reminding me, his beauty can be found everywhere, even in LaPlace, LA.

Blessing in Disguise

I made it outside to my swing this morning to spend some time with the Lord in his word and devotion, my peaceful place. And it was so sweet! If only I would stop more and retreat to this place. Part of my devotion is reading from Oswald Chambers~My Utmost for His Highest. This is what I read this morning and you'll see in a minute how it tied into my day.

"When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things--things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there."

Scott has been needing to take the car in for an oil change and because he's been home sick I thought today would be a good day for me to go get it done for him. So, Jordon and I headed off the Quick Stop. As I sat there I begin to think to myself, "Hmmm...I think I reminded myself last time not to come here because they are rather expensive. Oh Well, I'm already here. Man, I wonder how much this is going to be." Just then, the attendant called me over, "Mam, you're going to need a new air filter, as you can see this old one is pretty dirty." "Sure, go ahead", I said reluctantly after he told me it would be an extra $19.00. By now all I could was figure I was going to be spending at least $50. Not long after I was called again. There had been a "freak accident", while taking the cap off to change the oil, it had cracked. They got on the phone right away with the Saturn dealership to see if they would have a replacement. To make a short story even shorter, the owner went and picked up the part, replaced it, serviced my car (including a wash and shampoo job to the interior) all for FREE!! All I can say is, "God you are GOOD!" He really did show up for me today and in an unexpected way doing an ordinary thing!!

In Search of Life

Okay, Well. I've never been good at keeping up with a journal, so we'll see how this goes. I've gotten away from writing like I used to, in fact I've gotten away from a lot of things I used to do. Such as, getting up early to spend precious moments with the Lord in devotion and study. Time spent with the boys just playing and having fun. Sitting out on my swing enjoying God's creation around me. Dancing with my boys. I do still do these things, but not as often as I'd like or as often as I use too. And I wonder, why. Where am I? Where have I gone? In some way, I pray this is the start to taking the time to find that girl again. Because those are the things that are the most important! Enjoying my God and enjoying my family. The journey in search of Life, Life to the Fullest!

"But seek for His Kingdom, and these things shall be added to you."

Luke 12:31