Monday May 30 2016  THE SIMPLER LIFE

The synonyms of EXPERIMENT are:  “trial, test, research, experimentation, testing, and try out”.  So that is what I am planning to do.  I am going to “try out” a new way of life for me.  It will be somewhat of an experimentation with a way of life that I have longed for in the past.  I’ve experimented with it but could never get it to stick for long due to extenuating circumstances.  Well, those circumstances are not a hindrance any longer, so perhaps now is the time to try it out again.  My motivation may be that I want to do it on my terms and not wait until it is thrust upon me because I have no other choice.

My desire is to simplify my life.  Dave is on board with this also.  I also believe I am being prompted by God to do so.  When I first began sorting I was a bit hesitant about what to part with.  For some reason it is becoming easier as the days and weeks fly by.  I have asked God to prepare my heart and help me and it seems that is happening.  Prior to this time in my life my biggest threat to the simpler life was the fact that I needed to work.  Now that period of my life is over (forever I hope) and I must again look forward and project where I want to be next year, as well as in five years and beyond.  “Younger” would be my first hope, but since that is not about to happen I must prepare for my future.  And both Dave and I want our future to be less encumbered by what we have collected throughout our past.  And we both have the goal to slow down, living life in the slower lane so to speak. 

And so today I started by taking it a bit easier on this Memorial Day.  Yesterday I wrote about my reflections on what Memorial Day signifies to me.  Today I thanked God again for our brave men and women throughout the years and thanked God for the privilege of living in a free country.   I try to never take that for granted.

I was awake quite early and Dave wanted to sleep longer so I slipped outside in my house robe to enjoy the early morning crispness.  We live on a quiet cul de sac with only three other houses so we don’t have much traffic, especially not early in the morning.  I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to step outside after a night rain and just inhale the aroma from the fragrant damp earth.  I wish I had my IPhone with me so I could have taken some photos.  The lighting was so beautiful. 

My first inclination was to go back into the house and start working or go to the gym to work out.  I couldn’t pull myself away from the calming effect of such an awesome morning.  I brought my fresh peach and strawberry breakfast outside and munched on my fruit and boiled egg over the next hour.  During that time I fertilized all my recently planted pots, pulled several hidden patches of weeds, walked the perimeter of our home, and then ended my quiet interlude by pulling up more weeds by the roots.  The rain softened earth was perfect for weeding.  I especially wanted to annihilate  the weeds that were blooming that would soon spill their seeds.  We can get two or three crops of weeds each summer if we are not diligent to tackle them before they go to seed.  When you live in the woods weeds are king!  The woods thinks the weeds are just part of the family, but we soon find out that they can overtake a perennial garden all too quickly if left unabated.  “The Simpler Life” might someday mean moving to a different location.  The Lord will prepare us when that time comes.

I finally came back inside and decided to spend some time with the Lord and do my journaling.  My first written words were “Awesome Day!”  And I felt the Lord prompting me that that was the title of my poem.  And so it was.  This is what I received.

AWESOME DAY!

By Kathleen Martens

May 30, 2016

Summer rain through the night,

Fresh new earth in the light.

Glistening droplets cling to grass

Like gleaming shards of colored glass.

Cool and wet the fragrance lifts,

Offering rich, and abundant gifts.

In ecstasy of morning sun,

In lightening shadows the Fairies run.

With morning’s glory darkness erased

Highlighting raindrops in delicate lace

Clinging to a spider’s web,

Becoming more vibrant as darkness ebbed.

My world is birthed in brilliant wonder

From midnight downpour with sound of thunder.

The earth drinks greedily last night’s rain,

To offer beauty, its goal and aim.

The splendor of the flowers that grow,

And all the crops the farmers sow,

And thirsty trees thankfully drink,

As dancing leaves like glitter wink.

The birds are singing, delighted with worms

That crawl upward, and from soil squirm.

Energetic squirrels delight in frolic

In grassy areas so bucolic.

The world awakens as if in praise,

For the spectacular gift, of such an AWESOME DAY!

Thank You God for creating a new day.

Thank You Lord for the gift of life.

Thank You Father for the two butterflies I saw today.

Thank You Lord for your protection over our children and grandchildren and grand-dogs.

Thank You Lord for who You are.

GOD BLESS YOU ON THIS AWESOME MEMORIAL DAY.