Vanilla Coffee, Muffins and Sunshine

I awoke with fresh joy eager to jump into my first Monday after spring break.  Birdsong floated in on the morning breeze. Robins hopped about in the freshly mowed grass seeking juicy worms. I stepped out into the sunrise and smiled at the cheery lilac bush full of sweetness and morning dew.  Walking through my neighborhood, I visited with the children awaiting the school bus, laughing and bubbling over with happiness.

"The Lord is my Shepherd.  I shall not want,"  I thought, then quickly restated the verse.  "The Lord is my Shepherd.  I do not want."  New insights, new thoughts, new hopes and dreams...Oh, that every day could start with such delight!

It doesn't last, though, does it? How quickly disappointments can dampen good spirits!  Happiness turns to sadness in an instant.  I am fragile and vulnerable, weak and stressed. Writing was not going well and my cheerful mood began to fade.  Oh, sure, in my weakness He is made strong.  I knew God loves me and cares about everything concerning me. But, my joy had drifted behind a dark cloud and I needed encouragement.

My spiritual daughter, Lindsey, popped over before class to share vanilla coffee and muffins with me.  A simple coffee break brought sunshine from behind the clouds. It wasn't something she said that fed my spirit, though because she knows me, she was able to help me solve the writing block. What set my feet back on solid ground and changed my world was simply being reminded that she is walking alongside.