Today

School days are full, full, full here. We begin classwork at 8am and work hard until our noon break. After lunch the younger children are usually almost done with their work and the older children have only independent work to do, so I can sometimes sneak away at about 1 or 2pm for a little excursion...

Autumn is by far my favorite time of the year, and today was classic. 57 degrees won't last long around here in November. A bike ride was definitely in order. Biking is my very favorite form of exercise right now. It gives me time to not only work out, but also enjoy the outdoors and have some uninterrupted prayer time.

There is a lovely park near my house that I frequent as often as possible for the delightful 13 mile path there. ZMany times one of the older boys will go with me, but today they were busy, so it was just me. It usually only takes me about 45-40 minutes, but today my camera tagged along also, so I won't say how long it took! LOL!

I thought you might like to see how lovely my afternoon ride was:

It was cloudy when I started, but the blue sky was peeking out... absolutely beautiful. After a few minutes the sun came out.

I don't know if you can see it in the photo below, but there are whitecaps on the lake. That always means tough going at least one way on the ride for me. Fortunately I faced the wind on the way out today and had it helping me on the way back!

I wish I could post the sounds that I heard.... the wind whistling through dried grasses, birds calling and even some insects still making insect noises!

This is what I love about taking pictures, it allows me to see, not just look and to observe the beauty around me. I can celebrate the "everyday" and rejoice in the simplicity an beauty that the Lord has placed all around me. My camera slows me down and forces me to evaluate and enjoy the moments that pass way too quickly.

When I walked in the door after my ride, I was greeted by the little boys singing "We love you Mommy, oh yes we do, we love you Mommy, oh yes we do!"

Life. Simple and so good.

To top off my day, our oldest son Nate called home this evening. He is away at basic training in the Army at Ft. Benning GA right now. It does my heart good to hear his strong voice. Each time he calls he has new adventures to share. Best of all, many involve his input spiritually into the lives of the other young men in his platoon. He has had many, many opportunities to share the Gospel there and as a result has quite a few of the men reading their Bible in the free time that they have in the evening. "Send more Bibles, Dad," is music to my ears! Truly I have no greater joy than to see my children walk in the Truth. (3 Jn 1:4)