It’s 5:30 am. I get up and start into the bathroom. The house is dark and quiet. Halfway there I begin to chuckle when I realize the I am shuffling exactly like Quasimodo in the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
It’s my birthday week and I started a new year and my body objects to the passing of time, but my sense of humor is keen even stumbling around in the dark early morning.
Even more than New Year’s Day I have a strong sense of new beginning today.
I rose in the night my mind exploding with ideas and I keyed them as fast as I could into my digital journal so that I wouldn’t lose a single one. I will tell you all about them when the time is right.
I smile when I remember I have fresh coffee beans to grind and apple butter from a recent trip to the Ohio the Amish Country for my toast this morning. God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.
I get out and take a brisk walk in the frosty early morning. It rained the entire month of October but it’s November now and the sky is deep blue above the bright yellow maples. Looks like this weekend and early next week will will enjoy a bit of Indian Summer.
I visit a woman adjusting to her new phase of life—likely her last, and then drive to visit my niece in the hospital with all her life before her.
Lois has an appointment for a root canal but still manages to arrange a wonderful birthday for me including steak and chocolate cake. I enjoy calls from the kids and greetings on-line all day long. They sing to me at AWANA and that brings me joy.
A fresh new year lies ahead and I’ve never been more clear and certain about what I am to do with my life. I have an active parish to serve snd people far and wide to nudge godward every day. I love among thousands of people who need to know how beautiful Jesus is.
I hope you have a strong sense of the goodness of the Lord and an idea of your place in His great Kingdom and what he wants you to do. There is something about knowing your God-given assignment that puts a spring in your step even if you are slower than you used to be.
God has been very good to me and that’s a comfort when you get old and shuffle around like Quasimodo every morning.
Bittersweet Farm
November 3, 2021
Especially enjoyed the beautiful pictures of the countryside in your part of America and the frosty morning. We have been dry in East Texas for the last three months, so our Fall is not so dramatic this year. But, I do love watching the leaves as they drift to the ground; although, last week, we had unusually high winds for two days and the leaves took flight! Compared to the mostly colorless leaves, the grass looks greener than usual.