Our Back Porch

Our Porch

Every single morning, year-round, as soon as I wake up and I make my coffee, I go out and sit on our back porch. 

We have lived in our Bushfork home since 2015, and the enclosed porch has become a refuge for my soul. Whether it's spring or summer with the water fountain running, or late fall and winter with the space heater on and me bundled up, I spend an hour or two there every single morning without fail.

I spend the first few minutes settling in, appreciating, and thanking our Father for His Son, this day, this life, and this space. After offering my praise, I quiet my heart to listen - then listen more deeply through His Word.

This time on my porch has become a large part of me. It is woven into my being and my soul. My time on the porch is filled with every sweet and precious memory I carry in my heart..

It's the sweet scent of Honeysuckle filling the air while in Arkansas in April..

sleeping in our Cheshire house with the windows open and listening to the rain gently falling on the leaves..

the beautiful sunrises in Key West..

hearing the mantle clock softly tick and chime while sleeping at our Vo'Vo and Feety's house while growing up..

watching mom play the piano with her grandchildren..

picking and eating the big, ripe raspberries straight from the bush in the backyard of my New Britain apartment..

the man behind me at Aldi's who was dancing because it was his 87th birthday and he was going to have a big party that day..

the little girl at the Boiling Springs library with the pink cowboy boots singing "It's a Small World After All" again and again and again..

looking out the window in the early morning haze in Rhode Island and seeing my Dad gracefully move through his Tai Chi routine..

being at my sister Leah's house and looking out the kitchen window and watching her tend to her flower garden knowing how much peace it brings her..

being on the receiving end of Bill's love every single day..

being in Turkey during a training exercise and looking up and seeing all the stars - the millions and millions of stars..

the beautiful, flowing brook that ran along the side of our house in Bristol..

lying in bed and hearing Missy next to me snoring..

the precious little girl at CVS paying for her greeting card with money she took out of her little purple plastic purse..

swinging on the tree swing Bill made for me.. 

watching my Dad blow bubbles in the back yard with Morgan..  

after a rainstorm, seeing the full double rainbow while in Fort Jackson..

all the mornings sitting on the front porch with Emil and Missy watching the day slowly begin..

the cheese 'skirt' you get when you make grilled cheese sandwiches..😊

being at the Baltimore Airport and being blessed to see an Honor Flight returning and coming off the plane..

playing in the canal, creeks and woods when I was a little girl growing up in Wallingford, Ct..

dogs in cars. Always dogs in cars..

when Glenn Holland walks into the auditorium at the end of "Mr. Holland's Opus" to see the impact he truly had on everyone's life..

The Sound of Music..

the older gentleman at the Flea Market "helping me" back up into a spot..

the full moon. The half moon. The crescent moons. All the moons..

all the time I spent with my dear friend Ms. Ruth in the six years I knew her..

sending, getting and saving handwritten notes..

seeing the first daffodils of spring..

and waking each day to witness the Lord's mercy, goodness, love and glory again and again.

This is what sitting on my back porch feels like to me. It is my prayer for you that you all have or find your own 'back porch'. 💖

P.S. If you comment and leave your name, I will give you $1.00* Yessiree!  One whole dollar! You can have it in quarters or the kind that folds - your call 😃

* I am not above bribery to find out who reads my blog and who writes such wonderful comments but doesn't leave their name.