An Update, and, Saturday's Outing

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. I Chronicles 16:34

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

Thank you, ever so much, friends, for your prayers! The struggles my parents and family are facing have been ongoing ones, spanning roughly a year. There have been many times in the past months when we've faced great uncertainty, then saw God do things that humbled and thrilled our hearts, surprising us again and again with His Way of doing things.

This time was no different...an outcome very different than we expected, and also a delay of sorts, meaning another Hard Day lies in the future. But, we are all very grateful to the Lord for His Plan in all this, for His good ways.

One thing for which I'm really thankful is that mom and dad got an unexpected (isn't that how He is? more on that theme later in this post - His catch-us-off-guard goodness) break in routine: over half a day of just being quiet together at home, a much-needed breather. Thank You, Lord!!

On a quite different note, I'm also dying to share the grand day God made for us as a family on Saturday! Want to hear? Bear with me, as this may take a few days! It was such a full, gorgeous day. We took about 300 photos (no, I won't subject you to that, or anything close to it). I've been recording it all in my journal, but wanted to share here, too.

My original plan for BB's birthday was to make him sort of a gourmet picnic, then take us all on a fun outdoor outing downtown. But he kept mentioning it might be fun for us to go on one of our rambling day trips, maybe making a visit to a favorite state park. So, we decided to keep the picnic, nix the downtown trip, and head west for the day. Oh, was that the right choice! We prayed together the night before, asking the Lord to clear the skies for us (clouds were the prediction) if it was His will. Oh, and I'd even prayed over the food choices, wanting BB's birthday picnic to be special, and not having much time or creativity at my disposal. I'll stop talking now and dive into the day - the photos come in order as we experienced them during the day....

This is our sixth spring her in TX, and we don't remember ever having seen the bluebonnets put on such a thick, profuse blooming. It was overwhelming! Notice the gray skies overhead...

Indian Paintbrush is in bloom too, but the classic blues definitely hold a monopoly on ground space, especially this year. This was one of the loveliest, most intense patches of Paintbrush we saw. Oh, look! Blue sky!!

Our whole drive to the state park was filled with oohs and aahhs. Lest it seem like overkill, just know that there's really not much impressive color to be seen any other time of year in many parts of TX, so the bluebonnets are quite beloved. Their season is almost over. This was the peak weekend. Oh, hey, I took the photo above only moments before the local sheriff ran me off, and told me I couldn't take anymore pictures! We'd noticed a pretty little spot on the side of the road, with a stream, shade trees, and wildflowers, so BB pulled over, I got out, and took two quick photos...only to have the law drive up, ask me where my vehicle was, and tell me that "there are plenty of other places to take pictures." Ouch. I think he was concerned about safety, mostly. It was hard not to take any more photos, though!!

At the park. First stop: bathrooms. Then climb trees. Then sit still for mom to get a picture of all of you!

Oh, I guess this one's a bit out of order. It was such a treat to see the giant carpet-swaths of color on both sides of the road at some points in the drive!

Praise Him for His lovely creation! Already, the Lord had filled our minds with more beauty than we'd expected to see. He is so kind! And the day had only just begun...