Taking It All In

It's been an incredible couple of days if I do say so myself. I'm talking quality time with those I love and of course this beautiful fall weather. Thanks again to Ed & Toni for sharing the house on Lake Erie with us this past weekend. It was refreshing to "get away" from everything and just relax with no agenda. {outside of eating and fishing} It's a great reminder, for those of us who sometimes take things for granted, just how blessed we are by those around us.
The lake was a little windy, but beautiful. I caught myself a couple of times, my mind wandering while just staring out at the water or looking at the horizon. Some things that were going through my mind; Lake Erie is HUGE, this is a special place, I'm with special people, wonder what the kids are doing? how many slimey fish can I put in Ed's tackle bag? man I really miss my brother Mike, what am I going to do that will make a difference? holy crap there's a lot going on in my head and that was just a start.
As I'm taking in the sights, smells and sounds of all that's around me I realize just how incredibly lucky I am. The love of family and friends is so overwhelmingly taken for granted at times. What have I done to deserve such love? Wow..that's a tough one. But it's one that if we were honest, we have all struggled with that question at one time or another. There have been times when I've not felt worthy of such love.
When I read the last couple of sentences that I typed I can't help of being reminded of a verse from 1 John. "See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are!" Think for a minute how precious your children, or even any children you know, are to you. Imagine that same kind of love being lavishly placed on you. Again, I think sometimes the love God has for us, as his children, is also taken for granted. I know that I have been guilty of this from time to time. Even with a pretty good understanding of that kind of love, there will always be questions, doubts, fears, etc. just because of our human nature. It's how we approach or deal with these kind of things that continues to chisel away at our character and makes us who we are. We are always going to have questions about life and some of them will not get answered this side of heaven. But in my case, it seems that a lot of these questions are taking a lot of my attention lately. I'm not sure if there's a reason for all of this, but for now, I'm going to keep on keeping on; loving like I was created to do, and accepting the love from others as they were created to do. I'll be here taking it all in, and hopefully some questions will be answered soon. That's the view from my stand!