Blessed Sunday
We spent a long weekend at Ponca State Park just a week ago, and it was such a wonderful time of refreshment and renewal. It has been a busy summer, and this special weekend in the fall that we set aside each year to meet (and eat!) with most of my extended family is a treasured anticipation.
We do lots of hiking through the gorgeous trails there at the park, lots of exploring and eating together and cooking over a campfire, but perhaps the best part is just sitting around the campfire in the evenings, talking and laughing and catching up on each other’s lives.
I’ll write more about this special weekend another time soon, but since this is a Sunday post (and personally, I like to take time off on Sundays) I’m going to just post a few photos and make a few observations and then I’m going to let you go, Gentle Reader.
I figure if God allowed Himself a day off after He created the world (although, granted, I’m not creating the universe and everything in it every week) then we all should allow ourselves a day off, too, once a week, or whenever possible!
Here some early morning clouds roll in over the Missouri River, at Ponca State Park.
Being a visual artist, I have no trouble in seeing and appreciating God’s creation every time I go out my door. Right now (literally) I’m glancing longingly at the window, at a cottonwood tree out by our pond that is catching the early morning light. I’m ready to go out and admire what kind of a day God has in store for me today.
Now this. Is color.
I have no doubt that I’ll catch my breath when I step out my door. God’s creation is just full of unending delights, don’t you agree?
Realizing that not everybody is as visually-hypersensitive as I am, I’ve always tried to point out to my children the constant visual barrage of delights that surrounds us, even here on the Great Plains, where we have no “flashy” mountains or seas, but plenty of color and texture and breathtakingly lovely vistas, just the same. Corn fields, Gentle Reader, can be absolutely beautiful in the right light. And don’t even get me started on bean fields in the fall, when they are turning many shades of yellow, rust, and orange. It thrills my soul when little Mack will come running and yelling “Mom! You’ve got to come look at this sunset!” Oh yes, there are beauteous landscapes, no matter where you live, to enjoy.
I’ve always reminded the kids also that God could have created the world in shades of gray, and how much we would have missed the gorgeousness of color if He had!
Sometimes, all you have to do to have your breath taken away, is to look UP.
So I would like to encourage you, Gentle Reader, to stop what you are doing today and rest a bit. Stop working. Cease the striving. Just stop. Go outside for a bit and take a deep breath, and enjoy some of the creation that God has blessed you with. There’s beauty everywhere.
The shoreline of the mighty Missouri River is full of lovely texture.
Turn off the ‘pooter (little Mack’s word for our computer) and the ‘phone and all the rest, and just leave it off for a time, if you can. I always try to “unplug” on Sundays, if possible, and I find that this weekly “tech fast” helps me focus on what is actually most important in my life, in particular the people in my life who mean the world to me. Also it gives me a break from the work and the news and the plethora of information that the web contains.
It’s stressful to try to keep up with so much seven days a week, isn’t it?
Sumac in the fall is the most delicious color!
That’s my hope for you this Sunday, Gentle Reader. . . I hope you have a blessed one!
Some of my favorite people, my nephew Adam and little Mack and Amalia, in front of a startlingly lovely sunrise on the Missouri River.
- Make your own version of “bulletproof coffee” and rock your world
- Make Sonia’s Roasted Tomato Sauce for the freezer, in minutes! *recipe*
15 thoughts on “Blessed Sunday”
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What wonderful beauty you share from your part of the world. I consider myself lucky to be amongst thos who see beauty in everything around me, too. I pray every morning that those people who are wracked with grief will find some beauty in the world to help them live without sorrow.
Francene,
That is such a thoughtful prayer. I’m glad that you are one who sees beauty intensely, too, and I must say that I’m not surprised!
Such beautiful pictures. Just the way God would have it. Looking at the pictures I realize not matter where I am…. I’m in God’s house.
God’s creation really is so inspiring, isn’t it?
I am not a religious person, but your post was beautiful. There is beauty in everything!
Thank you, Jenny. 🙂
Yes Amy, I often spend time wondering and looking. I start with the birds. God must have enjoyed putting a touch of red and a dab of yellow on the wings of one bird and giving us the red winged black bird, Then when God had a lot of colors just adding a lot of them to one bird and giving us a parrot. Now for the fine work of the butterfly, God would use a very tiny brush and add special designs to all the many different types and sizes of butterflies. I believe God really did enjoy creating the world for us. It is easy to understand God’s great disappointment when the only creation that he gave free will, goes and breaks the rules right away. We should take a moment as often as possible to stop and wonder at the beauty God put here for our enjoyment, and be thankful that we are so blessed.
Chef,
I have no doubt that God made people with your sensitive eyes (for beauty) to NOTICE those details and exquisite bits of beauty, in part to praise Him for it! Just think of making such an unbelievably beautiful creation and then having nobody notice it . . . . what a disappointment that would be!!! I am thankful every day that God took such care to make this beautiful world! Thank you for your insightful comments, Chef.
I love your leaf photo. I’ve posted photos of trees turning color on my blog, but never thought of photographing the individual leaves. The other day, I took a walk with a friend and she was picking up colorful leaves to display in her living room under glass. It brought back so many memories of going on leaf walks with my young son, and pressing the leaves between sheets of wax paper. Thank you for sharing your Nebraska natural beauty, and I hope you recharged for the busy day tomorrow.
Alana,
The color in those sumac leaves was just wonderful. We don’t have much RED in the Nebraska fall landscape, so my eyes always seek it out!
I have to admit that I am not religious, but the words of the prayer are very meaningful. 🙂
I appreciate it, Sophie!
What a beautiful blog, love the photos and the words are wonderful 🙂
Thanks Anita-Clare! 🙂
Sumac… so beautiful… But, I honestly thought it was “shoe-make” until just a few years ago when I was it spelled out! Honestly! How did I not know that!