Take a Look ...

So, each morning the very first thing I do (after making sure that Sophie is still breathing - IF she wasn't the one who woke me up!) is take a trip to the little girl's room. This time of the day is the ONLY time of day that I have 100%, completely ALL to my self, so this is the way I chose to start it:
I have me some time with God. I pray for my family and friends and give to Him all I have ahead of me for the day. I also have a devotional book that I keep on a shelf above the toity (strange place, I know ... did I mention that I am A*L*O*N*E?!?!?! 'Nuff said?) written by Max Lucado.
All of this to share with you what God - and Max - layed on my heart the other day ... and it still hasn't left. Now, I cannot tell you how many mornings that I read that book and think to myself "self (that's what I call me!), you need to share that with the bloggy buddies!!" and then I leave the bathroom and enter into the realm of Hurricane Hattie, Cyclone Sophie and the chaos that IS my day and I never get it shared. This time though, God has not let me walk away. So, here it is:

"Are you still in love with Jesus? Before you remember anything, remember Him. If you forget anything, don't forget Him....
...Has it been a while since you stared at the Heavens in speechless amazement? Has it been a while since you realized God's divinity and your carnality?
If it has then you need to know something. He's still there. He hasn't left."

This has me stopping to think, remember and realize. I have thought about the fact that my life is such a combination of miracles that I cannot even begin to share them all. I have an amazing husband - he is the very best man I know and is SUCH a man of God that it startles me at times. He TRULY makes me want to be a better person. A more Godly person. And the way that we came together is SUCH a work of God - ONLY He could have done it! And then there is Hattie ... the story of Hattie coming into my life is a long one (I will share the details another time) and is FILLED to the brim with divine promises and follows a trail of crumbs that could only have come from the bread of LIFE! To have her as a daughter is such a miracle. SUCH a gift from God! And Sophie, oh my sweet Sophie! I knew her even before she was born and I was privileged to WATCH her come into this world. And, oh my word, has she made my world a better place. She has a spot in my heart that I didn't even know was there to fill and I cannot remember life without her - or imagine life without her anymore!!! Two sweet miracles. I am their mommy. They are my children. I did not give birth to them, but my HEART KNOWS that they are mine. Sophie - the spitting image of a childhood Hubby. Hattie - so much like a childhood me. Only GOD could bring it all together. Only God.
I have remembered times that I looked into the Heavens - literally - and SAW God! The day that Paula passed away, at the moment she died, someone she knew was taking a picture of the sky. This picture shows a cloud, the sun poking through a hole shaped like a human form. (I sooooo wish I could show you that picture. I will try to find it for later.) It was - in my mind - a picture of my best friend entering Heaven. AMAZING! And once, as a child, we were on a trip to the Grand canyon. I can remember my mom sitting outside the hotel room on the grass and waiting for what seemed like FOREVER for the sun to set. I didn't understand why ... til it hit the horizon. I was sitting with her, holding her hand and felt her gasp. I looked up and saw it. It was like she KNEW that that day's setting sun would be beautiful. And just for her. And finally there was the time that we were on an outreach with Generation Of Promise. This was a youth ministry with kids from 4 to 18 reaching out to the community. We were having an evening off and were barbecuing. The kids were letting off steam and it was, in a word, CHAOS. So, Lesa and I took a walk. We walked far enough way that you could kinda hear the voices of the kids playing in the background - loud enough to be sweet, soft enough to be peaceful - and we stopped and sat. Lesa is an amazingly special person to me. I have shared things - details - with Lesa that I have shared with no other person on the planet. She is that kind of friend. I love her so very much. That evening we shared a sunset, with beauty I had never seen before and have never seen since, that I believe God sent just for the two of us. We both needed peace and God gave it to us then and there. Oh, my friends, He is so GOOD!
And I REALIZED that, truly, if WE do not praise Him, surely His creation will. A flower, a cloud, a child's smile, a sunset, an ocean view, a mountain view, a prairie view ... so many ways that He shows Himself to us every single day! Do we take the time to see it? Surely not enough. But if we look, He is there. He is ALWAYS there!
I will say it again ... He is SO good! Just take a look.