Chartreuse kumquat

  i am sitting in my living room with sand still between my toes and my skin tinged pink by the sun.
 i have spent a perfect day outside amongst friends and eating yummy food.
 to an outsider, none of this would be particularly extraordinary or exciting, but for me it was perfection.  
think on this, an afternoon spent out of doors, feeling the sun kiss our cheeks and laugher flowing from our lips, the perfect afternoon. a small backyard full of people, food overflowing the tables, a great day to start up the grill and have those first, oft anticipated, grilled meats of the spring, signifying that winter, indeed, has ended. 

   pale white skin, used to the dark winter sun is often forgotten about as we spend our time eating and laughing and its only when we feel that faint heat creep up that we remember, and we know we'll cary the mark of this afternoon for a few days, but no one really seems to mind.
   we hear a bird sing a sweet song, which is then repeated by one of our number, and they sing to each other, back and forth. 

we've gathered for a meeting, to bring a stronger unity to the worship team at our church. a time to be together, worship together, pray together, and, just simply be. and we were blessed by a beautiful day and a lovely yard in which to spend it. its humbling really, to be a part of this group. the collective tallent i was surrounded by is always breathtaking to me, and i love to see them at their work. today was no different, even in its simplicity of an acoustic guitar and voices, simply beautiful. worshiping God, loving each other. 

   its reminded me how thankful i am, for this time, this place, this church that i am a part of. as many of you know, its been a long and dark winter, but praise God, winter has ended and with the bloom of spring God has brought me to a place of contentment. a friend challenged me the other day when i said content, almost seeing it as complacent, so we looked up and the definition of content is satisfied. and thats exactly what i am, satisfied. its such a change from where i've been. always wanting to be somewhere else in life, always wanting that next step, but i have been actively trying to let go of that. to live each day, love the moment i am in and to be content in that. i still have me dreams and aspirations, never fear, but the general discontent of life itself is gone.  its a beautiful thing, this peace. so much anxiety, so much stress, simply gone.. and i know everyday wont be like this, but for now, this is enough.