{ Non stop rain and contentment where you are }

I promised myself that I would read my Morning and Evening Devotional, first thing every morning, and I've stuck to my promise.  The evening one, I will say has been harder to stick to, I tend to get everything done by evening and then fall into my bed and I'm out like a light.

What I've been doing is making sure to read them the next morning along with the morning devotional.  That kind of defeats the purpose, but it will do until I fall into a proper habit.

I've also been making my way through the book of John, and loving it.

It really does come down to making an effort and sticking with it, because life tend to throw all sort of curve balls your way, sometimes impeding your best intentions.  There's one thing that I find has always happened to me, in all my years of trying to get closer to God.

The minute I start reading the Bible on a consistent basis, the devil will make sure to throw something in my way to get me confused, distracted and end up leaving my Bible reading habit, because you know, as humans if something happens often enough that it becomes a pattern, and is not something comfortable or joy inducing, we steer clear of it.

However, this time, I've stuck with my resolve and have dug my heels in.  I've rebuked the devil and will not allow him to steal this joy from me again.

We've had the most glorious of rain, the past two days.  It has been consistent, the pitter patter constantly falling on the rooftop, creating this wonderful rhythm, that induces states of sleepiness and a calm like no other.  I do so love the rain.

Even though we've had a cold front move in with these storms, I have enjoyed numerous moments of propping the windows open, letting in the fresh cool breeze, watching the curtains blowing in the wind and listening to the rain outside.

I've spent equal amounts of moments, sitting at the window and watching the view.  The field behind us with horses and cows.  The fields in front of us filled with trees of all shapes and sizes, a small river running through, the occasional deer or family of deer leaping around.

As I have sat and admired God's beauty, I've thought about all the different homes we lived in, in different States and different views.

Every house had a favorite window, with a favorite view.   Even the house in Arizona which was smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood, on a busy Air Force Base.  Same with the house at Mountain Home AFB, where I first became a wife and a mother, and where I later took up blogging.

Each house had something beautiful to offer.

Our first house, was in Mountain Home AFB where we lived from 1998 to 2007, didn't provide much of a view at all.  We lived in a Cul de Sac, surrounded by other military families.  The front door provided a view of the neighborhood children playing outside.

We had a tiny front yard, shared by the neighbor.  See the tree, that marked the halfway point of our yards, so when I say tiny, I mean tiny.

Our backyard on the other hand, was awful.  Nothing we did could make it better, there was hardly any grass, just a ton of mud, it was tiny, and behind it was the base Fire House.

And even so, every night, out the kid's bedroom windows, we had the most beautiful sunsets.  They were partly covered by other houses, the firehouse and the base itself, but nonetheless.

 

If you want to better see what our first home was like, take a look at this post, I had taken a couple of pictures and now looking back, I miss that house so much.

Our second house, and third AND fourth, were at Luke AFB in Arizona.  We lived in 3 different houses on base, during the 6 years we were stationed there. 

Without a doubt, the most breathtaking sunsets and sunrises I have ever witnessed, were captured in Glendale, Arizona.  I was in love with the sky, morning, noon, night, I couldn't help but take my camera, head to the back or front of the house and capture as many pictures as I could.

 

In 2013, Curt retired from the Air Force and we made our way back to Idaho, back to Mountain Home.

Our fifth house, was in Mountain Home, Idaho.  This was our first country house, sort of.  It was at the end of a rural road, we did have neighbors but we also had an acre of land behind, with the most spectacular view of the mountains.

Once again, I had the most gorgeous views out of my windows and I completely indulged in every single moment that I could witness God's hand at work.

After one year, and after being told we could buy the house, the owners decided they wanted to move back, so once again we packed out belongings and moved.

Our sixth house, was also in Mountain Home, on the opposite side of town.  I used to call my Amish Farmhouse.  It was nowhere near a farm, or anything like an Amish house, but it just reminded me of their homes.

Once again I was surrounded by neighbors, not a field in sight, and my first thought was that I had lost all my beautiful views.  But as always, God knows best and He provides. 

In 2015, we moved to Texas. 

Our seventh house, which is now our forever home, is in the country.  3 acres, huge field for crops or whatever we choose to do with it, fields in the back, fields in the front, a small river nearby, deer, trees, all kinds of birds and nature.  Our dream home, our dream place to live.

Again, we have been afforded the most gorgeous of sunsets and sunrises, and views in general. 

By this time, you are probably wondering why I'm talking about all of this, and why I'm sharing all these photos.

Simply because I want to talk to you about contentment and finding the joy wherever you are.  I wasn't always like this, matter of fact the reason I'm sharing all this is because I used to think that the house I was in was the end all, be all.

Every time we moved, I would feel so sad thinking that I would never have views like the previous home, there was no way that I could see anything more spectacular.

And then I would move and be surprised.  Every house had something to offer, every view was beautiful, because even though the walls were different, the cities were different, even the States were different, one thing remained the same.......our Lord. 

So he kept providing me with the views he knew I loved so much, bringing me right to this specific moment in time.  Beautiful view, our dream home!

Contentment at it's best.

So next time you are faced with change of some type, whether it be a new house, growing older, a new job, a new pet or whatever it may be, just go with it, don't hold back thinking that nothing will ever be like the previous one because although that may be true, it almost always turns out to be even better.