My first day to actually be home since I returned from Florida last weekend.

It was yesterday.

I slept in a little. I sat long and luxuriously, after I wrote yesterday’s post, and had some more quiet time. I caught up on social media, wrote a few notes that needed writing. Then I ate some breakfast.

Don’t get me wrong. After being away from my house for basically two weeks, I had a lot to do. Laundry was piled up, along with the mail. The fridge needed to be cleaned out and restocked, and I had some non-profit stuff to take care of. But it was quiet, save for Pandora and her classical guitar station softly playing in the background. The roadrunners were out in full force yesterday, zipping across the yard, and catching my attention every single time they did. The horses were grazing in the lower pasture, where I could see them in plain view, looking beautiful, as always, against the deep green of late summer. I performed my tasks with a calm satisfaction, feeling grateful for my home and the joy of being in it.

Later, I smiled to myself as the door opened, and the sound of business shoes hit the concrete floors. While I love my mornings, my favorite part of the day is ushered in on the heels of those shoes. Pandora had changed her tune to the Mad Men Suite, and I suddenly found myself wrapped in arms of safety, stability and love, dancing in the kitchen as Sinatra did that thing he does.

A gift. The entire day, a gift of respite from the busy, a reminder of moments available every day when we train ourselves to stop and notice them. Yes, they are available for you, too, these simple pleasures…tailor-made just for you with God’s fingerprints of love all over them.

It’s Saturday. Go. Open your eyes…and your hearts.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 NIV