Rainbows and dust bunnies......

This little picture of a prism rainbow on my floor is a good summary of life right now.  What did you notice first about this little picture?  My eye is drawn to the rainbow.  I am thankful for that.  But look closer......

Yep, that there is a heap of who knows what!  A filthy combo of dog hair, crumbs, dust bunnies....speaking of let's just call it dust bunnies because bunnies are cute!  

Those are definitely hiding under my entryway table!  Cute little bunny rabbits!  

Except, it's not!  It is dirt.  But lately, I've had to make myself look for the beauty.  I've had to make myself find the joy.  It has not been easy and many times the joy is under layers of dust.....ahem.....bunnies.  

Joy is a concept found many times in scripture.  I counted nearly 50 times in the book of Psalms alone!  If the bible talks about it so much it must be easy peasy lemon squeezy!  Right?  

It is not for me!  I have to work at it on a daily basis!  And many times I am deep in dust and dirt and grumbling and complaining before I realized I lost my joy.  

Joy is a fruit.  In Galatians 5, verse 22, it states: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentelness, selfcontrol, against such things there is no law.  

We had a small peach tree in our yard.  I was excited for the abundance of peaches we were to get.  We lived there for 8 years.  All I got from that skinny little tree was a couple of hard rock like green orbs that tasted nothing like a peach and more like a hard lump of foam.  The point is that fruit is something that has to be cultivated.  The cultivator has to be patient to let the tree bear fruit.  It is not immediate but something that is planned and prepared for.  

Bearing fruit is hard!  But we have to be intentional.  I have really made a point in taking joy in some little beauty of the day.  And yes, the day I took the first photo, I noticed the rainbow first.  I wanted to document it.....a little rainbow on my floor.  It was beautiful.  It was only after I snapped it that I noticed the mess beside it.  It stole away my awe of the rainbow for a minute.  Until I realized that the beauty was still there and still was the dirt.  Why would I let something as nasty, ugly and useless as dirt steal away my appreciation and joy of the beauty of the design of refracted light that God put in place.  

My joys and beauties the past couple of days:

• Burning bushes
• The first hints of fall leaves changing
• A field of yellow
• The feel of Charlotte's hand in mine
• The joy in my children's faces when they are doing something they love
• The feel of Mickey's ears

Looking for the joy and beauty is still hard.  I am sure that practice makes perfect.  I hope this week you look past your dust bunnies and see the rainbows or snuggle a bit more or play a game.  Dust bunnies will always be there!  Trust me!