simply a fresh outlook.

 

"sometimes the first step to a more simple, intentional life is seeing the world through a different lens, gaining a new perspective.." {no sidebar} ..... & sometimes it takes getting away in a tiny tin can to enable the fresh perspective place over time and distance and earth and wind and may i say it: even fire(s). gaining a new outlook requires reassessing all areas of one's life. i desire to live a simple life though simplicity or the reduction of life to simplicity might ought be considered a cluttered and messy path. press on.. for the strength in the process is from God alone. not of one's own strength.

contemplation & prayer has brought me to a good place ...

far too short is life to release one's energies in areas

which perhaps are seasons more than stationary pursuits .. 

some of these realizations

were completely unexpected

so i'm taking time to mull & pray.

regardless, i'm making my little world littler,

already finding peace in the process and result.

.growth can seem messy .. the result is anything but.

a warm, welcoming, cozy space awaited us each

night while on the road. over the course of a month

we learned to take turns in the "dance hall" of the tin can. 

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waking at midnight we lay still to the 

crack of lightening and boom of thunder

and downpour of rain for hours on end..

while i *love* a good thunderstorm in the safety

of my solid built home, it's quite a different

experience in a tiny tin can in the middle of

a wisconsin apple farm alongside the Mississippi!

yet we were safe. no leaks. no harm,

save for my heart beating out of my chest.

morning coffee was (and is..duh!) always a treat.

using my vintage kettle to heat the water

makes for a better brew - of that i'm convinced.

plenty of mornings i woke too early (for most humans)

and once i realized further sleep was not to be had

yet the hubs slept deep and still,

i rolled out of bed and gingerly padded to the kitchen

to prep a cup of liquid life, then padded and 

ohhh so carefully got back in the coziness

of covers and warmth to drink in the elixir

and life enhancing qualities of such

a truly God-given beverage.

wink.

fires.

at home.

on the road.

upon our return home we learned

that at one point the fire could have

easily and quickly made its

way past the ridge and down the mountain

to our neighborhood .. a twenty minute alert.

a very real threat, to be sure.

immense gratitude to the fire fighters.

the blaze was great and outrageously destructive.

many lost their homes, livestock, pets ... and loved ones.

we count ourselves humbly fortunate.

thank you, Lord.

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"aspire to live a quiet life,

to mind your own affairs

and to work with your hands."

I Thessalonians 4:11

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"it is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life."

j.r.r. tolkien

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"take time today to pause, to linger, to quiet the noise

and remember that your worth is not measured

by your productivity." {unknown}

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".. and a person with a changed heart

seeks praise from God, not from people."

Romans 2:29

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"He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me."

2 Samuel 22:20

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.. and lastly ..

remember this in these perilous, contentious, & uncertain days:

"How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted. "Look at the nations and watch - - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told."

Habakkuk 1:1-5