thanks for today, bright hope for tomorrow

The first pumpkin pie of the season, from scratch, of course.

"...blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside." From the hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness - and God's faithfulness to us has truly been great.

Early this week, my husband was just hired at a new job! He had been out of work for exactly six months, and God provided for our needs in every bit of that "desert" time. Like the Israelites who spent 40 years in the desert after their flight from Egypt, our shoes and clothes did not wear out, we did not go hungry, and God blessed us beyond our need. Friends sent anonymous checks. The insurance money from my February accident paid for six months of bills. A couple we barely know felt led to give us their 2003 Jeep. For free. I found a three-week job teaching music. We celebrated our third anniversary. We were able to pay for my third semester of grad school, out of pocket, without taking another loan. My textbooks were mercifully inexpensive. We haven't had any medical bills. There have been no more accidents. We had the money to replace a cracked radiator in one of the cars. He has been faithful to us.

And He has given us hope for tomorrow. Hubby's new job is in a city with many possibilities for me as a music teacher. The position is one where he has set hours, the possibility of twice-a-year raises in his salary, and it's a positive work environment. The new apartments he has been looking at in the area seem nice, and the people seem friendly. This will mean a challenge for us in some ways, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel: graduation is coming. In another six months, I will have completed my degree. We can look for a more permanent place to live. We can build more permanent ties with a church and community. We can even (perhaps!) begin a family together. There is hope for tomorrow.

Here are some things I took joy in today:

We live in a place with so much beauty!

A walk along our road...

...the beautiful repeating pattern of thistles
and the star-shaped skeletons of summer's flowerseven dried-out corn has some sort of beauty, poetry to it - And who but God could have dreamed of rainbow colored leaves?
Just beautiful.