Restoration

Today was a hot day. Even I wouldn’t have sent the children to spend the day outside. A morning drive from Longview to Dallas followed by an entire day cooped up in the house with six children under six-years-old tired me and tested my patience. I even snapped at a few of my family members this evening.

Exhausted and ashamed, I left the five preschoolers playing in the backyard and took the baby for a walk. The day was cool by then, -- the temperature might have even ducked close to 90 -- and life was showing in my beloved neighborhood. Children played basketball while adults watered their parched lawns. I smiled at friends and then turned my attention to the sky.

Mourning doves flew over first -- calming birds. I used to dislike them. I rounded the corner and seven swallows fluttered past. Cliffs, I think. I brought binoculars, but I hadn’t used them for so long that I forgot to look through them.

At the top of the hill, a sparrow’s round body darted past. Crickets and cicadas sang their evening chorus. Mockingbirds and sparrows were plenteous, and a cardinal or two played among the rooftops.

As I neared home, more birds began coming out. I would have enjoyed another walk around the block, but home duties called me back. Above the greenbelt, swifts dotted the sky. I went inside.

God's in His Heaven,
all's right with the world.