Homebound

One sick boy and the Sabbath day.  That’s how it all started.  My boy was not sick enough to stay in bed all day, but not well enough to go mingle at church.  Although we hated to miss the fellowship of our church family, we decided to take the day at home, and a beautiful day it proved to be!

Sunshine and invigorating breezes beckoned to us, and we followed!  I think that the out of doors is a balm for our tired bodies and minds, and we need to slow down more often in order to stay really fit.  We buzz around day to day like busy bees, yet what we really need is to take a rest so that we can appreciate the wonderful things that God has blessed us with!  If all we do is buzz by, then we miss so much!  Today, we slowed down, we tromped through the woods, and we looked.  Deliberately looked.  We suspected that God had placed hidden treasures for us out there, but we would not see them unless we searched.  So, I handed my son a camera, picked up my own, and we plunged into the woods.

The photo gallery is a sample of some of the hidden treasures we found, mostly captured at the hand of an eleven year-old little chap.  Each little flower raises its head to the Maker whether any human eye ever walks by and stops to enjoy its beauty or not.  Isn’t that how we should be too?  Just blooming cheerily wherever we find ourselves, not worrying whether anyone is watching our work or not; just doing our best for the Master?

So…some day soon, I recommend that you do as we did today.  Slow down.  Look around.  Push back the branches and step off the trail.  So much awaits you!  What you will see, feel, hear, smell, and even taste, if you’re brave enough, will delight you in a way that our Creator planned.  You will not regret such “wasted” time, for every part of your body and mind will swell in thankfulness and awe at the hidden gems scattered about amongst dry leaves and broken sticks.

Aren’t God’s ways amazing?

Young Dogwood

Squirmy tadpoles

Capturing the treasures

Just us!

Carpenter bees and Blueberry blossoms

Cherry blossoms

Ground Ivy

Apple blossoms

Pink Spring Beauty

Blueberry blossoms in abundance!

White version of Spring Beauty

Praying Mantis egg case

We hope it’s a Pink Lady’s Slipper shoot

Dogwood

Fiddleheads of ferns

Big dandelion

Spotted Wintergreen

Little dandelion