Nature, Peruse it, Enjoy it, Protect it

What is your favorite natural site? Is it the Grand Canyon? The Philippine Islands? One of the Virgin Islands? The top of a mountain? Maybe it's your backyard. A lot of what makes it your favorite site is who you enjoyed it with and what you did while you were there. Because I have been blessed with a wonderful husband who at the time traveled a great deal with his job and accumulated many frequent flyer miles, I have had the opportunity to travel much of the world from the Virgin Islands to Bora Bora. We have been to San Francisco, Gatlenburg, Orlando, Williamsburg and a few places in between. The places have been beautiful. We've been blessed to stay in 5 star motels because we were able to obtain a time share. But, if I had the opportunity to go to any of these places today and you told me I would have to go alone, I'd say, no way. I'll just stay at home with my Heroe Hubby.

You see, right now we no longer have the time share. We had to liquidate to have monies to live on. We have very few of the frequent flyer miles because HH is no longer working at all, let alone for a company where he can accumulate free miles. A trip anywhere right now is out of the question because of gasoline prices plus the fact that my health precludes car travel. So, where is my favorite place right now. It's still right around the corner where we can take a blanket, spread it on the table (I can't sit on the ground anymore) and have a peanut butter sandwich, apples and cookies. You ask how can this measure up to a thatched hut in Bora Bora. Well, it's not the place, it's the company.

There is no one I would rather spend my time with than Heroe Hubby. He is wonderful. His heart is so full of love that he constantly gives it away. You see. That's the funny thing about love. The more you give it way, the more you get back. Besides that, HH knows my every need. He can read me like a book and know exactly what he needs to say. I love him so much. God blessed me with the perfect partner. Thank you Lord.


Gifts From God - His Nature

The first gift of God’s wondrous nature
That I remember having been given,
Was my family’s first camping trip
Where I slept under God’s great heaven.

We had yet to get any equipment,
Didn’t even have a tent.
Mama and Tracy Ann slept in the car;
Papa and I did from God His sky rent.

I had never seen such a wondrous sight
As the brightness of God’s stars aloft.
Being a rather curious girl,
At dawn I asked who had turned them off.

For many years after that occurred
Camping was our summer vacation.
We added each year to our camping gear
And had many wonderful nature’s revelations.

Once a family of skunks acted right at home
As we sat around the fire singing.
One night we sat the tent up
In a deluge of wind and hard raining.

Pat and I have shared many gifts from God
As we shared together His nature,
From the complete darkness of Mammoth Caves,
To the majestic walls of the Painted Desert.

The most wonderful gift I remember
Is when we made our trip out west,
And while standing on the rim of Grand Canyon
Sang "How Great Thou Art" to our best.

We have been to the isle of St. Thomas
Where we fed the iguana by hand,
And then to Pepeete Tahiti
From where we flew to Bora Bora to land.

We’ve been blessed to see tall mountains
Valleys quite deep and wide below,
We’ve seen ocean waters so clear and blue
Sand so white it appeared to be snow.

With all of these wondrous blessings
God has given me to share
My favorite is ‘round the corner,
We pack a picnic with what’s there,

And grab our big brown comforter
And load them in the back of the car,
Putting a radio in the basket too,
We have supper at Frank Liske Park.

None of this would ever be possible
If God had not spoken it into being,
And given us such wondrous things
For our hearing, feeling and seeing.

We need to enjoy them every day,
Thanking God for this world we’ve been given.
We need to take care of it every day,
Treating it as we will Heaven.

THANK YOU LORD!!!!
Joyce K. Smith
11/24/08