Surprise!

 

There are surprises that aren't so good. Like the huge spider that was in the kitchen sink when I went to get a drink of water last night.

But surprises can be great, too, like the year I turned 49 and Randy treated it like a big birthday. He invited our families to eat out and then go "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at Music Theatre of Wichita. I didn't know anything about it until we got to the restaurant.

Another one of those good surprises? I found the photos from Lincoln, Nebraska, that I thought were deleted from my camera's memory card. The photo I took of Kinley on our brief stop in Topeka looks like she was dressed for a surprise party, doesn't it? (My Great Aunt Opal sent the birthday hat and some beads from a birthday party at Leisure Homestead. Our little princess loved the crown and the bling.)

The gazebo at the Sunken Gardens, Lincoln, NE

The photos weren't crucial. They weren't from a wedding or from a family reunion. But it wasn't like I could just go back to the Sunken Gardens or Antelope Park and take them again. I thought I was going to have to use my lower-quality cell phone photos for my report from the Great Plains UMC Annual Conference for the church newsletter. It was better than nothing, but I was still a little perturbed at myself for "losing" the photos.

So it was a happy surprise to find them! As I took this photo in the Sunken Gardens, I had thought about Randy's insistence that he wear K-State shirts to golf at Big Red Country courses while I was at the conference.

While I got lots of church business during the day, the gardens did their own "preaching," too.

All the world  is an utterance of the Almighty. 

Its countless beauties, its exquisite adaptations, 

all speak to you of Him. 

–Phillips Brooks, clergyman and author

This email devotional with the quote above arrived about the same time I found the photos.

 

God's "countless beauties" may be found in a Kansas wheat field ... or exploring perfectly-manicured gardens in a city.

I just have to take the path that opens my eyes to God's gifts all around me.

A Time to Act

Open your heart to the beauty that surrounds you.

(From the same email devotional)

 

A Time to Pray

Dear Lord, please help me to see the beauty of every day.

Today, I hope to see wheat harvest in action again after a three-day hiatus. Randy tried cutting yesterday afternoon and the wheat tested 19. But, with no rain overnight, we hope to be back to harvest mode this afternoon. I'll be taking photos of golden wheat again instead of golden roses.

Best-Laid Plans

Best-laid plans: I often have them.

They may be as meticulously plotted as an interstate highway. Or they may meander and shift like sand on a dirt road pummeled by the Kansas wind. But I like my plans and my lists. They just don't always work out as well as they do in my head. Know the feeling?

We spent last Tuesday night in Topeka. It was, admittedly, a roundabout way to get to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Great Plains United Methodist Church annual conference. But there was a certain little girl who lives in Topeka that needed a visit from Grandma and Grandpa. Brent drove over from Manhattan, so we got to share a meal prepared by Jill and Eric and served under their backyard gazebo.

Then, Wednesday morning, I joined some 1,800 other lay delegates and pastors from United Methodist churches from every corner of Kansas and Nebraska.

Since it had rained, Randy went along for the ride. Actually, he drove the whole time, so I guess he went along for the "drive" ... in more ways than one. While I spent the time in meetings during the day, he "drove" little white balls across the landscape of three different Lincoln golf courses.

We ate at some fun places in Lincoln's historic Haymarket district. Thursday night, we went to the Sunken Gardens and Antelope Park, where I took dozens of photos. I posted one from Antelope Park to Facebook, but I thought I'd edit the rest of them and share the best ones after I got home.

I was trying to be a stellar church lay delegate and post photos from Pastor Ben's Friday night commissioning service to the Stafford United Methodist Church Facebook page. I accomplished that goal. 

But, in my efforts on an unfamiliar computer, I guess I erased the memory card. So my pictures of Kinley, the gardens and other snapshots of the conference are gone. As I told Jill (who is my anti-clutter preacher), she will have one fewer memory card to throw out one day.

So, I will have to be happy with the photos of Kinley I received by text last week. And I am.

Princess Kinley and her Royal Coach

Can you imagine what a sticky mess it is to feed a roomful of 2-year-olds watermelon?

My only scenic photo of Nebraska is the rainbow that I took on our way home on Saturday, which I also posted to Facebook.

But, that's OK. I'm back to the County Line, where we may not have Sunken Gardens or a rose garden. But it's beautiful, all the same, especially after more rain. We got 0.50" while we were in Lincoln and then 1.30" Saturday night into Sunday morning. So, it will likely be a couple of days before we try cutting wheat or get back into the hay field.

It may not be the lily pool at the Sunken Gardens. But it's beautiful, all the same.