Quiet

[God said,] No one is to appear before me empty-handed. Exodus 34:20

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. Hebrews 13:15

How can I avoid coming empty-handed before the Lord? And how can I at the same time find solid ground when my emotions or circumstances throw my mind willy-nilly? I can come to Him bearing the sacrifice of praise in my hands, spoken from a heart richly blessed. When my flesh would rather worry or be sad or try to fix the problem or whatever, bringing Him the sacrifice of praise is the first step in getting my head out of my me-centered clouds. 

She's 11 months now. And she has A Curl.

And evidence in that little back that she's no featherweight

What A Dad!!

What happy daughters! (And nicely mown grass!)

Love those hands, love that man

Still playing with my food. This didn't turn out like I hoped. I only had one option for a blue background and it just didn't click. But it was fun making a squash sea-monster!

965 a pair of cardinals in our back yard, on our back porch! such a very, very rare sight

966 1030pm - 5am: got to sleep through!

968 golden, sparkling summer sun flickering through pear tree leaves and branches...magical, beautiful, holy...

969 sky blue, blue sky

970 picking up the kids' toys today for them, just to bless them

971 little ones beginning to conquer old, hard habits

972 getting my hands into some summer produce

973 Fredericksburg peaches - the radiant color, intoxicating scent, sticky dripping on my hands...

974 the cracking sound of the watermelon rind after I sawed it in half today for the girls

975 senses, with which to take in all God's blessings

976 kitchen window candle burning in the dark of early morning

977 J.G., who gave me the candle

978 a few mornings lately when I've had more time than usual to unfold...journal a few lines, start the coffee, read, pray...

979 time in the car on a family day trip for BB and me to talk and reconnect

980 kids who traveled well enough that we could have such good conversation

981 that what truly needs to get done, gets done
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Feeling rather quiet here these days. The Mercies keep coming, of course, but my heart is quiet, mulling over ideas, trying to really learn all God wants to teach me.

How are you feeling, now that we are all halfway through this summer?