Heavenly Hues

The sky is an ever-changing landscape; a heavenly artist's natural canvas of work and wonder. I am constantly in awe of the sky: I love looking at cloud shapes, and I also enjoy seeing a clear blue panorama, I marvel at sunsets and am stunned at sunrises, I am drawn to dark looming clouds, as well as wisps of white fog. I just love looking up to see what is on display daily that God has created!

One night at the beginning of October, the kids helped me get the hay-bale maze ready for the upcoming opening day of our Pumpkin Patch. After we came home from school and ate a quick dinner, we headed down to the maze that Grandpa T. created. We cleared out weeds, hung up spider decorations, and made sure all the pathways were clear. It took a couple of hours of all of us working together, but we got it all done in one evening. On the way back up to the house after we were finished working, the sun was just setting. I stopped at the top of our driveway and couldn't stop admiring the colors in the sky. The boys were also amazed at what they beheld, and they all ran inside to get their ipods so they could capture images of it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket because I worried that if I went in the house to get my camera, that the gorgeous sunset would disappear. It is hard to describe how breathtakingly beautiful it was, because my phone's camera doesn't do it justice, but the sky only lasted this way for a few short minutes before the colors disappeared. The boys and I stayed outside taking photos, watching the sun set before our eyes, until the last remnants of it could no longer be seen. It was a good moment in time.

It is easy to see the beauty in the world around us. I am so drawn to God's creations and nature, which is why I think one of my favorite hymns is "For the Beauty of the Earth" and one of my favorite primary songs is "Heavenly Father Loves Me". I was asked to sing in Sacrament Meeting at church at the end of August, and I sang a song that I accompanied myself on the piano called "Life is Overflowing with Beautiful Things". It's very similar to those two songs that are my favorites. The first verse in it states: "Blue skies, mountains, rainbows, fountains--These are some things I love to see. Rivers, canyons, pine trees, oceans--Heavenly Father made them for me. Life is overflowing with beautiful things made by our loving and glorious King."

 I'm so grateful that I stop once in a while to realize and absorb my surroundings, because I know God has created these things for the enjoyment of His children. And I'm so glad that my own children appreciate the creations of our Heavenly Father, too!