This afternoon I spent sometime in the yard. It's a beautiful yard that Adam (mostly) and I have worked hard to maintain. A cooler 92 degrees drew me outside to tend to the garden and shrubs for a few moments. As I made my to the back to toss out the old flowers, I couldn't help but get excited thinking about the many new blossoms in my front yard. I love cutting fresh flowers and my mom said one time that, "when you cut and give, you will receive more in return." My mom is a great woman of faith. The "knockout roses" were bountiful and budding as bright as Seattle summer roses and my gardenia bushes had begun to bloom again! What a joy to have inherited all of this at our first house. Somewhere between the compost pile and my lovely arrangements of fresh cut flowers, I contracted 19 mosquito bites between my chin and my shin. It was all I could do to run in and shower off as quickly as possible, thus robbing me of my joy that I had gained from enjoying our yard just moments ago.
God blesses us with a beautiful earth and flowers and sometimes we get taken back by the things that get in our way or rob us of our joy. The mosquito bites were my enemy today. As I got out of the shower, smelled the sweet gardenia and looked at my small vase, my joy returned. All too quickly, we let the enemy slip into our daily lives by way of procrastination, gossip, selfish desires, and so on. But if we look to God, the one who gives us joy, then we can press on. God gives me hope. Hope that Adam will return safely, hope that our marriage will stay strong, hope that there is always a God who loves me.
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