This morning I woke up underneath the warm blankets and looked outside to see a beautiful day revealed. The sky a perfect tint of clear blue, the wind blowing the pine needles and leaves to the ground whispering "autumn" in each breeze...pushing the seasons ever forward as another year passes. Once I mustered the courage to pull my covers back, my feet hit the floor, realizing that I was on my own timetable today...no rush to be anywhere, no one to please, and just doing the day as I want it to be done...so my heart sang a song of thankfulness to my God who made this day possible...and who knew exactly what I needed after a dark, rainy night.

Sometimes I see myself and I wonder how I have gotten to this place...with all my fears, my tendancies, and my passions. It seems so far removed from the simple Iowa girl who always dreamed of the "normal life" as she grew up. Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a season under heaven for everything...I read that passage the other night and tears came to my eyes as I realized the season in life I am in...and sometimes we just have to hold to the Saviour's hand and ask for His presence to be so very real...that He will carry us through this season and give us the strength to make it...I've stopped asking that things will be easy...its the tough things that grow us...but those seasons require His ever present love to cling to day in and day out.

And if you have no idea what I am talking about, that's fine. You don't need to know. But each season has its ups and downs...but each to the glory of our Father. And He is good and faithful and loves us so deeply that He promises to be there every step of the way.