It is a gorgeous March day in Austin Texas! Yesterday was lovely too, and as a consequence of those blue skies, warm air, and eager gardening heart, I way overdid it in the garden over the course of 6 hours. Goodness! Those bags of mulch and garden soil are getting heavier every year!

I just cannot seem to help myself! I dig and lift and drag and trim until I stumble back into the house, parched and exhausted at the end of my project and despite all that, I still find myself saying “What a glorious day it has been!” To say that I am not your average woman would be an understatement!

As a result of yesterdays enthusiasm in the gardening department, I now have a couple of arthritic knuckles paying me an angry visit! I am also walking around the house like the stiff tin man in the movie The Wizard of Oz!” Ouch! However, I am accepting of the aches and pains because they mean I am still able to do these things and I am alive and well and still walking this earth!

Lately, I have taken to reading many different stories about near death experiences. At first I was intrigued. Then I was obsessed to find as many as I could to read or video testimonies to watch. It has been like a graduate course on the next life in heaven.

People who experience NDE say that heaven is ablaze with a beauty unlike any we have seen or experienced on this earth. They say that experiencing heaven makes earth seem pale and imperfect in comparison. So much of what I have read made me want to suit up and buckle up for the ride of a lifetime to the next life, the “real” life with God, and the sooner the better.

That is, until I went outside yesterday and stood surrounded by Gods creation. If heaven makes this life pale by comparison, I just cannot imagine what that kind of beauty must be like to experience because this earthly beauty is absolutely breathtaking!

I watched birds flitting about making their nests for their impending future families. I looked closely at the tiniest little buds emerging forth from the tips of my Rose of Sharon tree and I felt my heart stir! Berries were ripe on the Yaupon Holly tree as a juicy banquet for the birds who were working up an appetite getting their nests ready.

As I dug into the earth, creating a hole to place a new plant, I saw earthworms wriggling their way through the new territory where they found themselves. I felt the warm sun on my back and as I looked up, I watched a few white clouds lazily making their way across the deep blue sky. All this beauty in motion and I got to be a part of it! I AM a part of it all, and I thanked God that He chose ME to be a part of His wonderful creation! Most of the time I don’t see myself as anything particularly special, but I must have a lot of value for God to have chosen ME!

I walked onto our courtyard porch area and saw wrens busily stuffing all kinds of leaves and twigs into our decorative bird cage in preparation of the babies soon to arrive. There in front of the cage entrance is a fake cardinal. The little wrens had to get up close enough to this imposter see for themselves it isn’t real. . So now they navigate past this red wooden bird and make their nest. I imagine them convincing themselves that the imposter will help keep predators away!

As I sat in our courtyard quenching my thirst with icy water, I looked up towards our very big and old oak tree on the front corner of our house. I noticed a heart shaped pair of branches right in the middle. Who says trees don’t have hearts? This tree was estimated to be 400 years old by one arborist and 250 years old by another. We don’t really care, we are just grateful it continues to live and give shade in the very hot Texas summers.

Do I want to go to heaven? YES! Yes, of course I do, however I am more than willing to wait for that experience. I am ready and look forward to it, but just not yet! I find enough beauty on our earth to satisfy and amaze me daily. Besides, if God wants me here, I trust that He has a purpose for me being in my life right here and right now and I trust that my purpose will someday be shown to me!

I don’t think our purpose on earth is necessarily a big event type thing. It may be as seemingly small as making another human being feel as if they matter in this world and to feel as if they are loved. I think daily gratitude for this life and for this world we live in is extremely important. Love definitely rules!

The sun is shining again and creation is beckoning for me to come outside once again. Nature! It is Gods playground created for all of us with the most perfect playmates to spend time with!

Have an awesome day!

Jjb/3/6/2020