What Life Means to Me

A friend drew the above picture for me today, in a particularly uninteresting lecture on Ischaemic Heart Disease.

I was reliably told that it was a picture of my future.
Apparently I am going to live on a farm with my husband who will be a shepherd.
We will have one flower outside our house.
The sun will be glorious every day.

At the time of this picture's drawing I perhaps did not appreciate it as much as I should have (or as much as my friend would have liked) but as I have looked at it I have smiled more and more.

It reminds me of the simple joys and simple beauty of life.
We have a wonderful earth and getting to experience the countryside and the awesome creations of a loving God is one of my truest pleasures. I need to get out into nature soon so I can have a bit of an 'Elizabeth Bennett' moment. :)

I especially love the sunshine. I know we're going into winter and the changing seasons are sometimes a bit of a pain (understatement) but we do get the odd rays and I am grateful when we do. I have often said that I am solar-powered. Perhaps one day I will move to a country where my productivity will double!

I also liked the little shepherd man that apparently is going to be my life partner. He seems hard-working, he has his own interests, but he clearly loves the home we've built together and is out there defending it from rogue sheep. Really, what more could a woman want in a man?

Our home also looks warm. I mean, it's sunny and there's still smoke coming out of the chimney! What an inviting place to be!

Then, there are the clouds. I am absolutely certain that they are silver-lined. I'm not the kind of person who is pointlessly optimistic. I think there are some situations in life that completely suck, and we're allowed to feel the full force of them. Yet, there is never a reason to not be able to find a smile.

When I'm in my hardest moments, it's often then that I am most grateful for small kindnesses that people do. Friendships grow as you support each other in times of difficulty and I will never forget a friend who has gone out of their way to ask how I'm doing, or put an arm around me, or text me, or sent me a package, or spent time with me, or even draw me a picture (all of which have been done) in times where I have been struggling. There are some people in my life that really take my breath away. My biggest hope is that I will similarly be there for them in their dark times.

Life isn't about never having hard moments; it's about never letting those moments seem like your whole life.

I am grateful most of all for a Heavenly Father who is perfectly loving and who I know is responsible for all the things in my life that make me smile.