There is this house not too far from mine that has a sign in its front yard that says “God’s Country.” I don’t know the intended meaning behind the sign, but to me, it always makes me pause to think about the beauty around us and recognize the master artist that God is. Some much of our time is spent worrying, and stressing, even about some of the silliest things, that it actually quite easy to lose sight of all the good.

This past week though I have been driving the kids to Miss Anna’s house so her mom could help with the munchkins. Her house is even more out in the boonies then mine. I guess I could have been upset about the extra time it took, but I actually enjoyed the drive and was thankful for the view. It was beautiful – there are no businesses, very few cars. There are just open fields, roaming cows and horses, and sunshine filtering through the trees highlighting the various shades of autumn (and did I mention that the kids often fell asleep during this treck – so add to that mental picture – PEACE). It doesn’t get much better than that!

Yesterday, I attempted to take a few iphone photos – although I don’t think I/the photos give “God’s country” the credit it deserves.

So grateful I got this lesson in thankfulness.

Here’s a slight edit variation on the barn. I could probably play around with that one all day – amazingly – all these edits are done from the phone – such a long way we have come with technology (check out snapseed – pretty cool app)