Desperate for sunshine

It was raining, and the morning crawled along.  

How can it be only 8:00?

I sipped coffee, and made a hearty effort to be fun mommy. The activity was a good one, in theory, but someone hit someone, and the markers spilled, and one was in tears, and nobody was listening to me, and then, my patience was completely gone.  

It was 8:05.

God, how are we going to make it through this morning?

But God causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good. 

And so, by grace alone, the rain stopped and the sun came out.  

Desperately we went out into the rain-soaked world.

And, as He so often does, God distracted us from our complaints by overwhelming us with beauty.

It was everywhere.

I took a picture of him smelling the flowers, and he consented, 

but then he made sure that I stopped to smell them for myself, too.

I love when they care for me in this way.

And to me, the smell of roses mixes in my memories with the taste of red raspberries,

because my Grandmother nurtured both in her yard,

and she shared the sweetness and the beauty with me.

Raspberries and roses.

Why is this one different than the others?

Wonderfully odd.

I never get tired of the beauty of water on things.

Thirst quenched.

And mine is, too.

My heart expands again, as I behold His works.

 My  heart expands, 

filled with the beauty of spring around me, 

and once again,

filled and grateful for the beauty

 of the little hands and noses and feet that explore this world with me.