Sunday, September 9, 2012

Look Up and See


It is still summertime in Texas. And, believe me, Fredericksburg is

 
Hot.
Dry.
Drier.
Dying.
Brown.
 
Although this summer is so very dry ….. let’s remember and not forget and let us give thanks…. our land is NOT as dry as last summer—Remember????  That searing, awful, parched, wild-fire summer of 2011 when many lives were lost, miles and miles of property left scroched, hundreds and hundreds of homes destroyed.

This summer is hot again and we are under water restrictions and burn bans. Last week as I rushed here and there, marking errands off my always-growing To Do List, we sweltered in 101° days. In September !!!

 Heat from the asphalt streets even gets us country folks agitated. We zig and zag, cut and run, and we rush through yellow lights without even a 'scuse me!! Forgetting good Texas manners, we drivers glare at each other and yes, way out here in the country, I’ve received a few unfriendly “waves” from time to time. We struggle through days filled with a landscape void of life and color, a summer that just won’t stop, political hot air, and a world that seems ready to dry up and blow away. Our spirits sag and drag.
Our side yard.... but the landscape all over the county looks like this.
Depressing.
 Last Wednesday as I came home from my errands, praise music from the radio seeped into my soul--against my hot, tired, frustrated being. Finally, I turned up the sound and tried to change my attitude. As I turned into our driveway, I actually lifted my eyes to the hills……. AND…… GUESS WHAT……………
 
I looked smack dab into beauty !!! The TOP of that brown, dying, desolate picture of our side yard in the photo just above.
 
 
Beauty and hope and joy and color and life poured over my soul !!!!
When I bothered to LOOK UP. . . .
I saw the WHOLE picture.
 
 
 
I wonder ... can I keep my perspective, remember to praise, take time to seek life, count my amazing blessings, and GIVE THANKS as I wait for autumn and cool weather?  
I will really, really, really TRY. God showed me how beautiful it is to LOOK UP.
 
I hope you will LOOK UP a lot this week and find huge

Blessings !!
   Love, Liz