heat
Water in the old kettle atop the hot wood stove bubbles as the heat rises to warm the room. Though the sun shines bright today, the cold of winter makes itself known through every crack and crevice that is not sufficiently sealed in this old farm house. The stillness of the morning is a welcomed reprieve from the blustery winds that brought with it subzero temperatures last evening. In the warmth of the morning fire and in the presence of the shinning sun we pause to reflect upon present and past. Challenges have more often than not been turned into opportunities for growth and burdens have been lightened with a healthy dose of gratitude. Healthy reflection often illuminates the light we may often have taken for granted. Yesterday is gone, but reflecting on it in the light of today presents opportunity to brighten our path each step of the way. A thankful heart is the instrument through which gratitude brightens our vision. May we be willing instruments that grow to see the gift of grace as more than mere rhetoric. As we take it in, may we live it out!
Heat radiates from the old cast iron stove and fills the room with its welcoming warmth. The old pot nearly full of water simmers gently as it gives up its moist rendering in the otherwise dry air. Gracie the Golden Retriever sleeps gently by my chair soaking up the warmth on a winter like fall day. Free of pain and agony that left as abruptly as it came three days ago, I reflect with gratitude upon the gift that is another day. Armed with an agenda of tasks and errands, we make our plans to accomplish all in the light of a thankful heart. “This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24