My Favorite Place.....well, one of them.

"I've long since stopped feeling guilty about taking being time; it's something we all need for our spiritual health, and often we don't take enough of it."  L'Engle

I am really enjoying the rhythm of the summer and I do not take it for granted.  I am truly thankful for the opportunities I have to create space.  Space for quietness, family meals, evening walks, friends dropping by, and favorite foods.  Something that I am LOVING right now are my morning walks before most of the world is really awake.  I enjoy hearing the birds chattering away and singing "good morning" to the sun or is it Son?  It is so much cooler that early in the morning and since I am a real sweat-er, I appreciate those few degrees.  With the rains this summer, it has smelled so fresh and clean.  Walking in the rain has brought back sweet memories of Seattle and wonderful friends.

I am a Texas country girl and have always loved the mornings.  There were more critters to watch out for on the farm, but this summer, I have found that the city is not lacking in some of those creatures.  There are the dogs with their tails wagging that greet me from peep holes in the fences.  Cats that are lazing around in front yards contemplating where they will lie day for their daytime sleep.  We even have a male and female duck that have found a home down one of our streets that walk warily away from me as I approach.  The rains have brought out garden snakes and frogs.  I even saw a cotton tail one morning.  I had a friend ask me one time as I was talking about the birds if I lived in a cartoon.  Funny.  But, I guess it could seem like that.

When I get home, I let the outside in for a while with an open window by my spot at the dining room table.  There, you will find stacks of books, journals, pens, and a Bible.  I LOVE that spot by the window.  Thankful for some being time.  Time to listen, time to reflect, time to remember who and whose I am.  Time to ask questions.  There may not be answers, but as Michael Card says, "Questions often tell us more than answers ever do."  Just time.  Being time.

Hope you are taking the time for being.  Don't feel guilty.....it will enrich the rest of your life.