By My Own Hands

I am up, but I am still in bed. I awoke to a rainy morning. David and I are hanging out again today.  I have several things that I plan to do today but none of them are urgent. I received an email from a very dear friend with whom I worked with at the VA hospital.  She is the epitome of giving, as God would have us to be givers, yet she sometimes suffers ridicule for having such a devotion to God and His people.  We are living in that era that the Bible speaks of; a time when men will become lovers of themselves more than lovers of God.  I struggled with this permeating attitude for many years while I worked after my military retirement. It is only certain that the times that are upon us will only worsen.
In my back yard I have a built up garden trough with a trellis.  The previous tenants had painted it with the most ugly mix of colors.  My initial inclination was to tear it all down and be rid of the eyesore once and for all but my wife insisted that something could be done with it.  This weekend we went to Home Depot and purchased a gallon of barn red paint.  I painted the trough and the adjoining trellis as I listened to a gospel CD on my boom box.  Before long the trough begin to look almost brand new as I stroked, brushed, and rolled the paint onto its unattractive surface.  I must admit that I was somewhat proud of the transformation that was occurring right before my eyes; and even more so by the actions of my own hands.  Life is like this. There are many things in life that we desire, many things we may even covet because what we possess never seems to add up to what is "over the fence" on our neighbor's property. 
The truth is that we must apply our own efforts to our "gardens" to derive beauty from it.
Have a great and productive day.
I love you all,
Dennis