The opening photo is from a Bing wallpaper page. I could not resist the beauty!

While reading a novel called Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine, I came across this quote:

“It is a gift to live. There is beauty in the persistence of her heartbeat, the tenacity of her breath, the courage of her bones.“

Then another day I read this from Insight Timer.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.” -Henri Bergson“

Persistence, tenacity, courage, change, mature, creating oneself endlessly. I find inspiration in those terms. It is not easy to live. There is power though in learning to ‘play the cards you are dealt.’ Using the circumstances of your life to inspire you to rise above, to do better, to be different than the last time you found yourself disappointed in your behavior.

I am watching the foliage out my window as it ceases to make chlorophyll. The spice bush is glowing all yellow. The maple nearest to it is also turning buttery. Less sunlight makes as if there is sunlight in the very leaves! “As summer fades into fall, the days start getting shorter and there is less sunlight.”

As Bob and I age we are very aware of ‘less sunlight’ essential energy in our bodies. The quotes above encourage me to keep growing and changing for the better even as my body degrades and slows down.

As long as I draw breath I hope to always be praising the Lord my God. As long as I wake up “on this side of the grass” I want to pursue the glory and power of our Creator.

Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6 NRSVUE

It is gloomy and drizzly today as Hurricane Isaias has blown through here as a rain storm. A huge tree in the distance is ‘suddenly’ glowing yellow. Tomorrow will be sunny and I imagine the environment around us will look quite a bit different than before the storm. Such is our life day to day. Storms come, things look different. We try to keep smiling as the seasons turn all around us and within us!