Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens

The Lord is my rock and my fortress.
He is the One who saves me.
My God is my rock.
Psalm 18:2

Maine...I love it. I love being together as a family and seeing old friends.

I love the view from the porch out to sea. I love waking up and looking out my bedroom window.


I love the old kitchen with an old wood stove that I remember using when we were younger.

I love the woods and the scent of pine mixed with salt air.

I even love the fog and slight chill in the air in the evenings.

There is something about being at Gray Gables that fills me with peace and whispers, "this is home". So I thank God for this place to rest and the opportunity to come home and refill my tank for a week this summer. My sister Julie says, "Maine is how we make it through the other 11 months of the year."

Sometimes when I am homesick, I look through pictures of Maine and try to transport myself there mentally. Even though it worked for Julie Andrews to sit on that huge bed in the middle of a thunderstorm singing about favorite things, it doesn't REALLY help to transcend the situation. It would be cool if that worked, but it doesn't. There is a young woman who emails me from time to time. She struggles with depression. When she's depressed she locks herself in her room and listens to music and shuts the world out. I don't think that works either. In fact, I think it makes it worse.

What does work? When life is out of balance, what brings perspective and hope? For me the trick is to take the focus off of me and put it on other people. When I open my heart up a little and give it to someone else, when I throw my energy into doing something for someone in need, or when I give without expecting anything in return, then I start to feel hope and vision and strength. Sometimes, it is at these moments, when I finally unclench my fist and reach up toward heaven saying, "God, my resources are spent, fill me up. I need you." And God opens the flood gates. God is my strength in whom I will trust.

In the meantime, a week in Maine is a nice filling station along the way.

May the Grace and Peace of the Lord, Jesus fill you up,
Nancy