FOUR O'CLOCKS IN THE MORNING

I'm one of those people who grasps at encouragement and inspiration anywhere I can find it.

This deal-i-o of working evenings is whipping my tail. Yes, I absolutely love being home all day with the family and having some sunny waking hours to doodle in the garden, write, and help with laundry and meals. I do NOT like missing the big family meal in the evening. And coming in at 11:00 or 11:30 and then not getting into bed until midnight or later? Well, let's just say that I'm one tired puppy!

Anyway, after falling into bed very late last night only to have to be up again early this morning to start breakfast for the vine-dressers and to get ready for baby Maryanna, I definitely felt my mood drooping (not to mention my eye-lids).

Today's encouragement?

The four-o-clocks growing next to my front porch are a precious gift from my friend Carol. I cannot see their bright pink blossoms and smell their sweet fragrance without thinking of her and smiling. I have missed Carol so much. The flowers are a little piece of Carol that I can see and touch and smell while I'm waiting to laugh with her again in Glory. Has she really been gone three years?

But the four-o-clocks only bloom in the late afternoon/early evening, and this week I've missed their beauty. I've been stuck instead amidst the electronic beeping, the metal and concrete, the fluorescent lighting that is the world of Wal-Mart.

I glanced out the kitchen window early this morning as I shuffled between starting the coffee and frying sausages. A flash of electric pink caught my eye. What?! I trotted outside and down the steps and waded through dew-heavy grass. Carol's flowers! Covered with blossoms! Mmmmmmm.... Sunshine for a weary, gray soul.

God's smile, four-o-clocks in the morning.