I LOVE

I love storms.  I am not naive.  I have seen the weather map.  Many places are having severe storms.  Hail the size of baseballs.  Tornadoes and too much rain.  I realize storms can be devastating and can change lives in an instant.  Those are not the storms I am talking about.  

I am talking about a good, ole summer storm.   One you can feel in your bones.  The air changes slowly.  You know it is time to bring the clothes in off the line.  (You have to be old to understand that activity.) Mothers call their kids home.  (This does not require the use of a phone.  Again, being over 64 helps you understand this concept.  This requires stepping out the back door and yelling, in full mother voice, “Get your butts home and get them home now.”)

Even when I was only knee high to a grasshopper, I loved storms.  It had to rain really hard for this one corner, on our porch, to get wet.  And that is where you would find me during a storm.  I would wrap up in a blanket, curl up in the corner, and listen to the thunder and watch the lightening.  And after the storm!   The world looked different.  The sky would be this amazing shade of blue.  The wet leaves looked a new shade of green.  Everything looked so clean.  The world even smelled different.  I love storms.

I love ice cream. I will eat the kind that comes in a box, but I love homemade ice cream.  One of my uncles made the best ice cream ever.  It helped that there was a cow close at hand (Pun!) to make a contribution to the cause.  Fresh eggs, vanilla, and sugar.  Pour into canister.  Add ice, salt and then crank.  The secret is in the salt and cranking.  There has to be enough salt to melt the ice and cranking was a true art form.  The professional (aka my uncle) knew the exact speed to turn the handle.  Too fast or too slow and the ice cream did not set up right.  Part of the experience is the anticipation.  When will it be done?  Can we eat it right away or do we have to wait?  Who gets to lick the paddle.  I love ice cream.

I love God.  I look around and see the poppies - red and orangish flowers, paper thin, that remind me of the poppies along our driveway when I was growing up.  I feel the gentle breeze and it is like a kiss from heaven and reminds me of a babies breath as they nap on my shoulder.  I feel the warmth of the sun and am reminded how wonderful a fireplace feels on a cold winter’s night.  I hear the ocean and am reminded of standing on a beach, taking deep breaths, and relaxing with each wave.  I have wiggled my toes in mud, grass, creeks, and, not on purpose, those brown clumps in the cow pasture.  (That is what I get for going barefoot.) And to think God gave me all of this.  How could I not love Him?

What do you love?  Storms?  Ice Cream?  Good books?  Traveling?  Quiet days at home?  

Now what really amazes me is that the world God spoke into existence has something special for each of us.  And isn’t that just something?  It means each one of us is so loved by God that he created summer storms for a little girl sitting in a corner of a porch.  He created flowers for the person with a love of roses, geraniums, and poppies.  He created the mountains to be climbed by those with a spirit of adventure.  

Now what really amazes me is that the world God spoke into existence has something special for each of us.  What did God create just for you?