My Bit of Heaven On Earth

Ask me the word which describes my home and I'll reply, "peaceful." And it isn't even an elaborate, full-of-conveniences home, either (nor will it ever be). 

No, ours is a simple two-story Craftsman Bungalow on a tiny lot on an average street. Our backyard is downright miniscule, but my secret garden is back there along with a bird refuge of sorts. In fact, we have regulars who dine every morning at our backyard cafe on the Birdseed Special whose chatter probably mirrors the regulars at the coffee shop downtown.

Inside our house lives three people, six cats, 7 pet mice and some wild mice, too. I sit here at the computer and hear the non-pet mice above my head. Or think I do. My daughter promised she will buy a humane mouse trap for us, but please do not use an inhumane one, she begs! I must remind her of that promise because those occasional squeeks and scratchings above me bring scary pictures to my mind of mice falling upon my head.

Anyway, for 11 years we have lived and loved each other inside this house and shared a myriad of experiences. And now we often share our home with our daughter's sweet boyfriend who adds joy to the scheme of things. I'm glad I've kept a diary the past five years to rescue our days from slipping into obscurity. Mostly the diaries record the happy moments and even the sad ones make the glad times more precious.

There are the big moments, of course, but more often? 

I choose to recall the simpler times. The sunny mornings I've played with our cats with the pen light upon the walls, the time Naomi snuck two kittens home from the flea market on her father's 40th birthday. The summer afternoons Tom and I shared lunch at the front porch table, the hours the three of us have felt connected in the kitchen and laughed together, the evenings I watched the fireflies dancing in my secret garden.

Oh, give me a million more intoxicating moments of delight to savor for the years ahead when life will change by bits!

 Help me grow in grace and not be afraid to s-t-r-e-t-c-h my boundaries just a bit and to never, ever think that my best days are all behind me. Most importantly, may I have an anticipation even now that life will always be as good as I make it.

That is my prayer for today.



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