The Reason for Joy

This little critter cheers my soul. She has capture my heart and I may not ever return to normal.

Is it even a question that she is a member of my family? I think the outfit gives it away (half naked with a funny hat and something stuck in the mouth).

Parenting

I have been watching my grand-daughter for the last several weeks while my daughter goes to a summer class in the evenings. I have forgotten how intense it is to care for a little critter who is unable to do for herself. She is just now on the verge of crawling, then the world will change.

My wife and I were talking about the need to child-proof the house, or at least part of the house. This accommodation will keep the newly mobile from any real trouble (still allowing for any trouble that is common to kids anyway). I am not sure if any house could become child-proof in the sense of absolute protection. What I am sure about is that the rugrat will find somewhere, sometime, a something to mess up.

I can't seem to recall being too uptight about this whole process when I was in the primary parenting mode. I seem to remember that we parents got to a place of, "no biggie, it's just a rug, a lamp, a plate, whatever." We had fallen into a malaise of parenthood where the things that held importance before took a place farther down the line of worth. It just didn't hold the same power over us in comparison with the life giggling on the carpet playing with the plastic toy keys.

One thing is sure, I have fallen in love again with a little curly-headed, big-eyed, smiling baby girl.

Summer Morning

There is something idyllic about summer mornings. The heat of the mid-day and late afternoon are only a hint at 8 am. Their omnipresent sun are not even felt at that hour. The trees in my yard block its rising so that our back porch is protected from the specter of the rays to come.

The birds are a collection of work projects at that hour. On my back porch their rushing here to there is apprehended through their chirping and constant flight from tree to ground to tree. Quail, jays, robins, and woodpeckers form the congregation of my backyard. They are a choir of singers expertly led by the director of the universe.

Sipping my coffee and speaking to God make this summer morning a project of my own. To know the Creator through His creation, to sense His power and His masterwork, to give way to His awesome continuing action on the earth is the foundation for ultimate pleasure.

This summer morning, in the hand of God, I praise Him for His grace and the excellence of His artistry.