Hello, God. It's me, Mara.

You know, Lord, the cloud formations, from our point of view here on our hilltop, are breathtaking! We do need rain in our area. One minute it looks like rain clouds bounding over the horizon; a bit later, the sun is bursting through again in a teasing way. The rain drops are so few and far between in our particular area and the valley of trees below really do need a wash job. So glad You are in charge of the weather, Lord, and that You can handle that job. That would be quite a feat for any of us to do, right? Thank You for the quiet moments today as we enjoy the marvels of Your work.

Oh, Lord! Did You just see that? That's the first time we've seen another bird fly in and sit and chat with "Stiff Legs," the little plastic bird on the fence! There's a variety of birds up here to entertain and sing to us, but we didn't notice what kind of a bird this one was. But it kept right on talking, trying to convince "Stiff Legs" to be his flying partner. This reminded us of Uncle Ed's parakeet which would chirp and swell his chest at its image in the tiny mirror. Lord, were You trying to show us today how Your children get carried away with the fake and useless things in life?

Or was there another message You wanted us to get - about reaching out to someone, expressing care, even IF they didn't listen or heed what we spoke.

We read Your words in Luke 14:13-14: "But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Love, Mara