Law of Diminishing Returns

Try as we may, holding on to our initial feelings of joy and pleasure over just about anything, is just about impossible.

Whether it's the warm feeling you once got when you went to the mail box to retrieve a letter, the pure and simple joy of skipping rocks on a lake, or the thrill of buds opening up to the first flowers of the season...we don't quite feel the same innocent 'first' feelings.

As we read through Mother Comfort's correspondence over the years, looking for clues and information that she may have forgotten to pass along, we notice that it was those early letters that she wrote and that were written to her in her early years, that were fresh and full of 'young lady' news. News of how a young woman can have more joy than she can possibly express. As time goes by, the discipline of returning those greetings continues, but the message becomes a bit dull and repetitive, doesn't it. How many ways can we describe the weather, the growing season and the hard times that have fallen upon us. Long past are the days of new marriage, babies, new cars and the house that is being built with love.

Oh, Dear Lord, keep my heart fresh with the newness of life, help me see today's beauty in every situation. Help me to look at the same things again and again and find the wonder in them, simply because You cared enough to send them my way.

I give you a new variety in my slow, but steady, parade of African Violets. This one was planted from a leaf, as were the others, and took an unusually long time to produce a baby plant. The baby plant sat there, tiny as ever, for at least a year. I almost gave up so many times! Finally, about a year ago, it decided to engage in the act of active living. In so doing, it has produced sparkly little flowers and deep green leaves, and, although I don't feel the way I did the first time I saw the shimmery little petals of an African violet, I am still filled with wonder when the sun hits them just right.