It all starts before dawn as I trudge sleepily along, coffee in hand, to the barn where I get feeding prepared, make sure all things are in order before letting the horses in. As I rattle the cat food container and fill the multiple dishes for the barn cats, they scamper in, stop for me to pet them, and hungrily go to work on their breakfast. I praise them for doing an excellent job since there are no signs of rodents anywhere. Then I turn my attention to doling out grain in buckets for the horses, delivering it to their stalls while I also check to be sure they have plenty of fresh water. Then I walk to the pasture gate and let the horses in and they scamper to their stalls and begin munching and crunching, enjoying their favored meal. The sound is soothing in the otherwise quiet setting, but that is about to change, for here come the two Great Pyrenees, our silent sentries and guardians of the farm and all of us, human and four-legged ones, who reside in harmony here. They greet me enthusiastically and I now have a moment to enjoy an early morning with my God who is at my side. So, with a few minutes to spare, I walk to the easternmost fence line and watch the brightening sky over the wooded forest ahead and I thank God for giving me moments like these.
I begin turning out the horses, one by one, as the sky lightens as the turkeys and the deer mysteriously arrive in the fields from their secret hiding places. And the picture of the horses, with the deer and turkeys beyond them show how they an teach us about how we, too, must learn to live in harmony with our fellow man. I then put out some scratch for the free ranging chickens as they also show for the first time and the living scene of nature that I never grow tired of witnessing, is once more in full display. The cool air now begins to heat and I know it marks another hot late summer day, but it has blessed me like few other things may. An on this Sunday Morning Coming Down it tells me that despite the apprehension and concern that so many of us feel on this day, with God foremost in our lives, the promise and hope for all of us is always present. I hope each of you, no matter what your lifestyle might be or wherever you find yourself this day, will make time to find a special place in nature's setting to praise God this day. He'll love you even more and you will feel so much better in so many ways. That is just what a open heart can do. Enjoy this Sunday Morning Coming Down and the rest of you day because God loves you and wants only good things for you. Just give Him the chance and you'll see it unfold as you enjoy this and every day. God bless.