Turn Around

My flower beds are a MESS!

Both front yard and back loudly announce to even the casual observer, "I have been sorely neglected! Please come offer your assistance; no help will be refused!"

Usually by this point in the summer, I've settled into a routine of maintenance with all our flowering plants and shrubs. Most backyard mornings in July yield not only a fabulous sunrise, but also an abundance of colors and textures and scents at our house.

Not this year!

A wedding takes place in 16 short days. And I can't find one single "Parents of the Bride" book or article describing how to squeeze flower bed maintenance into the schedule. Not one!

At this point, we're doing well to keep the dogs and goldfish fed! Smile.

But as I sipped coffee on the patio and breathed in the beauty of the sunrise, the Lord gave me a different perspective. Not much color within the confines of the normal flower beds. But my kitchen table displays a veritable rainbow of citrus-colored silks.

Roses! Gerbers! Hydrangeas!

(Meagan asked Frank to create her wedding flowers. And the kitchen table serves as the holding spot for all completed pieces. You should see her bouquet - simply stunning!)

Beauty and color can be found at our house. I just had to turn around a bit to see it.

It started me thinking about other ways to turn my perspective:

• The rain continues almost daily now. I HATE getting my feet wet!
• But FL needs rain desperately. And it's keeping the temperatures moderate.

• When I walk in the mornings, the humidity covers me like a blanket!
• This causes me to burn more calories which improves the likelihood that the blue dress will continue to zip effortlessly.

• Frank currently serves as the exercise/clean foods policeman for us both!
• If we keep at this, we'll likely be around to enjoy Meagan and Nathan's children.

• Sleep evades me pretty often these days!
• Time lying in bed before dawn offers sweet prayer opportunities.

• Several "final payments" remain before the big day!
• These pretty well assure us that the "MEGANATE Wedding" will have multiple testimonies of God's faithfulness. (Did we tell you that a friend is baking their wedding cake and another will be doing the video?! Testimony!)
  

I have a favorite passage in Habakkuk. (Try saying that O.T. book three times fast! Smile.)

It talks about a decision. "Though the fig tree and the olive tree fail to blossom. And though there are no cattle in the stalls. Still I will praise You, O God."

(Definitely the "Sheri" paraphrase! Smile.)

For me this morning, that's more like - "Though my flower beds are a mess and time is flying and we're watching for a couple of big miracles before the 23rd, still I will praise you, Oh God!"

So I turn my perspective and praise. Mostly because the blessings totally outweigh the struggles. And because the God of Angel Armies merits my praise!