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 I worked with a dear friend that loves poppies. Red poppies. It is a love edged in pain. Red poppies are often symbols of remembrance. For her, they represent heavenly babies never forgotten…always part of her very being, but an earthly loss never to be completely filled. These are California yellow poppies. Sunshine. Hope. Life-giving . They are for her. They are for other dear ones. They are for you. These friends that grieve are a testimony to the hope they have in Christ of being reunited with their babies one day. In the meantime, their stories are not finished. Blessings on your day, dear ones. Praying that for whatever loss you are grieving, these yellow poppies might breathe a RAY of sunshine, hope, and remembrance into the darkness of your pain. Love always.

 When we first moved to Rollingwood in Rockford, Michigan (with two boys under two), we put in a yard and all our own landscaping. The neighborhood was just developing, houses were mere feet apart, families were in a very similar life stage, and we were in heaven. As new neighbors watched their building progression, I would bundle the boys in the wagon and loop the cul-de-sac to visit.  Upon the first greetings we all knew we were going to be best friends. We were. We are. At one time there were 14 boys under the age of four in our cul-de-sac alone that sailed house to house in Superman/Batman capes and various asunder Power Ranger costumes. We had a pact when it came to the ice cream truck at dinner time; we watched kids play while Mom “peed” on  pregnancy sticks; we nursed babies with a reassuring glanced out the window that revealed another window glowing with light, and so much more. I planted a one dollar packet of pink and purple cosmos that also claimed the southwest side of my house as its happy home. The most beautiful feathers of green foliage and magenta blossoms danced in the summer sun, reseeding again and again in reckless abandon. Praise God for swaying cosmos! Praise God for carefree children at play! Praise God for sisters in Christ! Blessings on your day dear ones as you–His child–praise him in his sanctuary!

 We had “Mom’s  Tea” when I taught preschool, and it was a highlight of the year. We worked so enthusiastically to make it beyond special for mom… muffins  the size of dinner plates, tea, table settings, centerpieces, place cards, corsages, flowers, gifts, songs, the whole “shebang!” For years, my three-year-old class planted pansies for Mom (the only surefire bet to survive May in Michigan).  They painted pressed paper egg cups yellow, glued on black pom-poms, and together we wrapped their “bees”  with black tape secured with a pipe cleaner and bubble wrap wings.  Into the painted pot of pansies they would go before the rousing choruses of “Bringing home my baby bumblebee” and “More like Jesus” were sung to Mommy. Pansies and preschoolers. You know, I should have marketed a T-shirt: “Preschool  isn’t for Pansies” (this is true on so many levels!) It would be purple. It would have a crown logo. “Whoever welcomes a little child in my name, welcomes me.” Blessings on your day, dear ones. You are stronger than you think.

 Believe it or not, this is an American goldfinch. Prior to their summertime flaunt of bright, sunshine-yellow feathers, this male bird follows suit with his more subtle female counterpart to blend in with the drab grey of late fall and winter days. Very soon, however, his spring coat will begin  to melt away the smudgy brown  into a brand new creation of a clearly defined black-patched head, brilliant yellow body, lined black wings, and a stark white rump.  ” In Christ, we are a new creation. The old has gone; the new has come!”–2 Corinthians 5:17. The Creator designs and works His plan before our very eyes until the transformation is complete. Birds are small. People are big. Perhaps our transformation may take a bit longer… “until the day of Jesus Christ!” Blessings on your day, dear one. You are a new creation!

Graceful, charming, delicate, doe-eyed…I don’t know why, but the tufted titmouse embodies these characteristics for me (and more) and has always been my favorite bird. Something about the way it moves, enjoys the company of the other birds, and faithfully attends a feeder draws my heart to take notice. No striking color here–gray, white, yellow-ish orange some might recount. But a closer look reveals such exquisite beauty…the gray can become almost a slate blue, the creamy tummy gives way to the softest yellow, peach, and almost tangerine. The sleek lines of the body carriage peak into tufted crest. Tiny bead eyes, smaller beak and whispy feather “whiskers” make one understand its comparison to a mouse. The more you look, the more beauty is revealed, the more charming and endearing it becomes, the more my heart is captured. Blessings, dear ones, as you look around this day. May beauty be revealed in surprising new ways.