Living in Houston is a bit different. While many parts of the country are finally starting to feel like spring is here to stay, for us it's almost gone! We are typically hitting temperatures in the mid to high 80's with 70%-80% humidity. That means that we've have many days already where it feels like 90 degrees, and we are not even out of April.
Today as I add to my (very irregular) counting of 1000 blessings I am reflecting back on some of the beauty we've enjoyed this spring.
51. Hummingbirds buzzing about at our ranch this spring...truly amazing! I have never seen them in such a frenzy. The boys and I sat in awe watching on this particular evening. I grabbed my phone and took this short video. I was barely 12 inches away from them and they didn't even seem to notice!
52. Monarch in our butterfly garden almost ready to emerge. The boys never tire of watching each chrysalis as it changes from its gorgeous jade green to translucent to new butterfly!
53. Those first moments of a monarch's life still clinging to her former home.
54. The reminder that butterflies are to me of this precious truth:
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ~2 Corinthians 5:17
55. And although the transformation of this butterfly is complete, my transformation is very much still in progress. And the progress is oh so agonizingly slow. And painful often. I wonder if it hurts the butterfly as she struggles to emerge from her chrysalis. Because sometimes for me this process seems just.so.hard. But I cling to the promise found in Scripture,
And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.~ Philippians 1:6
56. A black swallowtail caterpillar on a fennel plant. My absolute favorite caterpillar!
57. This lesser vine sphinx moth the boys spotted on the window at church at our Saturday night Easter service.
58. I am so incredibly thankful that my boys are learning not only to spot nature but are beginning to delight in it. There is a sweet connection between loving our Creator and truly appreciating His creation.
I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver
59. The delight on little and not so little boys' faces at seeing one of their favorite places on earth for the first time in 2011, our swimming and fishing place we call Blue Hole. For bullfrogs croaking underground while we fished and the tiny baby perch the boys caught on that gorgeous spring day just a few weeks ago.
60. For all the beauty we get to experience each time we leave the burbs and head to the Hill Country. What a privilege and joy!
* Sorry about the quality of some of the pictures. I need a class to learn how to take better nature photos on my phone! :)
