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While I realize that Sweet Summer can only offer a few more stray weekends of her long, warm days before she tucks them away for another year, I allow myself to start opening my tight grip on these fleeting warm New England days. In truth, I’m ready for a new season.

Spring brought unsettling news that forced this daughter–a daughter of a cancer patient–to cling to God’s promises.

Summer ushered in disappointments that brought this momma–a momma of a brave daughter in dismal pain–to her knees with a tear-soaked, downcast face.

So I’m ready for a new season. Both my mom and my daughter are under the care of compassionate medical professionals who can help them, we are all experiencing hope and growth, and I’m noticing beauty in my days again. An imminent season that promises autumn hues on every branch and crackling color under every footstep sounds just about perfect.

So when Tauna asked me to share some ideas for fun fall foliage activities with kids, a dozen ideas of things to do with autumn leaves spilled out into my contributing post over on Proverbial Homemaker this week. There’s inspiration for everyone–from a photography challenge to a Thankful Tree, from nature journaling ideas to tradable art card inspiration–so take a peek.

Any day now, fall leaves will be precariously positioned on sumac stems and beech branches…

We’ll harvest our apples, finish canning our garden surplus, And enjoy cooking over a warm fire.

Check out these dozen things to do with autumn leaves and enjoy the beauty of fall with your family. Join in a jubilation with creation itself, who is rejoicing before the Lord, as King David described it in Psalm 96.

That’s right, by pressing some fall leaves, taking some breathtaking pictures, or making some autumn art cards with your kids, you’re joining the party.

Charles Spurgeon points out, “Then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice. He does not say, let them rejoice, but they shall do so. ” The party’s happening folks. We’re invited. Join in.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord... Psalm 96: 11-13

If you’d like 5 Simple Tips for Amazing Fall Photos, be sure to check out this post by clicking the photo–>

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschool, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

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Click on the image below to pin this post.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera on my Resources page and even purchase your own here.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

And hop over here to find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the Top 20 Must-Read Homesteading Blogs of 2018.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post 12 Things to do With Fall Leaves first appeared on Souly Rested.

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As the American poet, William Cullen Bryant, so perfectly professed, Autumn is “the year’s last loveliest smile.” Why not capture its joy in your camera’s lens?

When I think of how Henry Beston, a New England writer and naturalist, summed up fall, I wonder if he too had the seasonal wardrobe difficulties we have in our family. Beston wrote, “The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.” After all, as reluctant as the seasonal changes are outside our window, the clothing changes inside are even slower. Our drawers and closets are overflowing with too many seasons’ worth of clothes, since we need a little bit of it all right now, with rather warm sunny days feeding into frost-filled nights. When we headed out to try some techniques for our Fall Photography Challenge, my young photographer personified my thoughts and chose an outfit that exemplified the day’s weather: shorts, a winter coat, and of course Bogs, the quintessential New Englander’s choice of shoe.

She and I had enjoyed our first Mother/Daughter Photography Challenge, as well as our second photo challenge, and, with the beautiful foliage surrounding our days, she was eager for some photography tips for capturing some stunning autumn images. Thus began our third challenge: a Fall Photography Challenge. Whether you would like to try them on your own or with a child or grandchild, you’re sure to find that these 5 simple tips lead to some great fall photos.

{{ See the forest and the trees }}

Don’t be afraid to zoom in on colorful detail in the landscape. My Blogger wrote a whole post around this shot she took yesterday:

But some shots beg for a wide angle. The beautiful yellow canopy over my daughter as she bowed down to get her camera ready was one I had to zoom out to capture.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera here and purchase your own here.

You should consider helping your child start a blog if they love learning photography and want to show off their amazing new pictures. Seriously. I explain all you need to know and why you might wanna consider it, in this post.

And be sure to check out these other two fun photo challenges, If you haven’t already: first this one, and then this one too.

{{ Tell a story }}

With the explosion of unnamable hues around us for the few brief weeks of autumn, words become inert. Let your lens tell the stories.

Her attire spoke volumes and her companion was quintessential. I couldn’t help but let my camera write this narrative.

And her image of this long-ago-deserted bob house leads each viewer to craft their own story. (A bob house is a small, portable fishing shack that die-hard ice fisherman set up on iced-over New England lakes every winter.)

{{ Build on all you’ve learned }}

Regardless of the breathtaking beauty around us, we can’t do justice to the heavenly hues if we forget all the other techniques we’ve been talking about. (Eight fundamental basic techniques are covered in this recent post, followed by this one.)

My Blogger captured a stoically beautiful image of our now-deserted bird house. Yet without the use of the rule of thirds, it would have been too simplistic. (Use your camera or almost any photo editing program, under the “crop” function, to see the 9-paneled grid, and line up focal points accordingly.)

When I noticed her endearing four-legged sidekick was far enough in the distance to be a strong background element, I got down low enough to make the grasses a blurry foreground element and focused on the photographer for this nice layered look.

{{ Think beyond the trees }}

All fall foliage shots don’t have to be arboreal. Fall is a wonderful excuse to get outdoors and expand what you see, not limit it to one subject. From vibrantly growing mycelium fruiting bodies (fancy talk for “mushrooms”–guess what Biology module I’m studying with my daughters?) to simple buildings or flowers that are suddenly matted in autumn’s richness, there are so many other things to see this time of year. My blogger and I didn’t have to go far to find interesting subjects.

This sunflower image above was taken with my Google Pixel; truly, in my opinion, the best phone camera on the market.

{{ Just add water }}

Admittedly, adding the mirror-like quality of water is an effortless technique if you happen to be leaf peeping in the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, but any pond or even puddle can be conducive to a great shot. We enjoyed using the reflective qualities of quiet morning waters as backdrops and center stage.

And I couldn’t resist the appealing polka-dotted-duckweed spots scattered on the blackness of shallow shore water.

A few other tips my Blogger and I enjoyed as we challenged ourselves to get the best autumn pictures we could capture:

• If the sky is grey and overcast (which by the way is the perfect time to capture the true colors of the leaves), minimize the amount of sky you show in your frame. Save the sky shots for the clear-blue days.
• If you often feel that your foliage pictures never quite do justice to the beauty of reality, do some adjusting. If your camera or your photo editing program allows for it, just slightly increasing your saturation, contrast, and sharpness options will help your camera mimic the true colors the way your own eye captures them.
• For those times when you don’t have your “good” camera on you, you may want to consider upgrading your phone to one with a high-quality camera lens. I’m continually shocked at the high quality images I am able to get with my phone (like the image above of the bee on the sunflower–that was taken with my phone. Seriously.). As a photographer, I’ve been extra picky about my phone and have tested many. My Google Pixel (affiliate link) is the only one I’ve kept. It’s so amazing, I may never give it up.

Whatever techniques you decide to try, enjoy capturing “the year’s last loveliest smile.”

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Psalm 96:12

Don’t miss this post, full of a dozen more inspiring ideas–>

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschool, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

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Just hover over this image for the Pinterest logo.–>

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera and even purchase your own here. But the bee on the sunflower image above was taken with my Google Pixel; best phone camera on the market.

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password. (If you don’t remember your password, no fear, we always include a personalized reminder in every Thursday email, “Hard Work, Simple Joys.”)

The post 5 Simple Photography Tips for Amazing Fall Photos first appeared on Souly Rested.

She was deeply intrigued in the beginning, which revolved around a lazy July morning. I suggested we each take some pictures–a Mother/Daughter Photo Challenge–using some interesting techniques. My young author listened eagerly, immediately seeing potential for improving her blog posts. (Yes, my 12-year-old has quite a following on her lifestyle blog about writing, creating, and growing up on 14 rural New England acres.)

She started roving the farm, snapping her shutter, and capturing some interesting images. Within a week, we had challenged each other to try out these 3 different techniques. But once we mastered those ideas, she moved on to other projects, and I decided to wait until she was interested in learning more. I waited. I reminded. I mentioned. I gave up, assuming at some point she’d let me know when she had a thirst for more new approaches to her photography.

Meanwhile, she and I were still capturing some neat shots, relying on our first lessons. I snapped this of our neighbors one evening:

Using the rule of thirds, I made Captain Lucy the central focus. (Lucy is the furriest and cutest one on the boat, and of course that sweet pooch deserves to be the focal point.)

I was also lucky enough to be able to take advantage of a little bit of backlighting in the same shot. Lucy is subtly outlined in the warm light of the evening sun.

And the Young Blogger is a natural at filling the frame.

As it is so often with parenthood, after I planted the seeds and just waited, her interest took root on its own. Finally, a few weeks ago, she came back for more, and I was ready with a few new ideas. So here’s our second photo challenge:

{{Leading Lines}}

We had never thought about leading lines, until we challenged each other to look for them (that’s pretty easy) and capture them (that’s the tricky part) in our shots whenever possible. The “lines” can be a wall with horizontal siding, stairs, or furniture (like a wooden bench, with slats). Place the subject on the far side of the seat, fences, and railings, or in such an angle that the “lines” are pointing to the focal point.

If you can place your subject so these “lines” are pointing to them, your viewer will be drawn into your photo, and your simple shot may become a show-stopping image. I was extra pleased when I reviewed this shot and realized even the diagonal line of nails in the deck railing pointed to my endearing feathered subject.

My daughter moved around the basket and piled and re-piled the apples to get everything exactly the way she wanted it before she was happy with one of her shots of the golden delicious apples our family picked at a local orchard last week.

The lines of our porch bench are perfectly placed leading lines that draw the viewer’s eye toward the two piles of three (one in front of the basket and one inside the basket). I also like that the third bench line, to the right, is drawing you right to the most luscious apple of all, the one with the warm russet tint.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera here and purchase your own here.

You should consider helping your child start a blog if they love learning photography and want to show off their amazing new pictures. Seriously. I explain all you need to know and why you might wanna consider it, in this post.

And be sure to check out these other two fun photo challenges, If you haven’t already: first this one, and then this one too.

{{Negative Space}}

Negative space is, simply put, all the empty area in your photograph. You can use negative space to draw very dramatic attention to your subject. Here the negative space is our deck. My Young Blogger added an angle to her camera for even more drama with her beloved Minion Head flower pot. (Everyone should have one; with a full head of grass hair, it is most definitely worthy of drama.)

She also has some nice leading lines there. Negative space also combines nicely with the rule of thirds, like in my two examples below.

Absentmindedly, I was tossing in a load of laundry one morning (actually, I’m doing that MOST mornings) when I noticed a visitor on the glass. Between adding detergent and cleaning out the lint filter, I had a brief photo shoot with a Gray Tree Frog. Needless to say, he stuck around patiently.

My baby chicks on the other hand, didn’t stay anywhere for long, ever. So even though I prefer to not take pictures in direct sunlight (diffused natural lighting is always the best), I had to capture this shot of her first found delicacy where the chick happened to situate herself on her first free-ranging expedition. This also turned out to be a great experiment in layered focus (read on for more about that one).

{{A Layered Focus}}

We both had fun experimenting with this one. We tried to have blurry foreground and background images with a striking focal point in crisp focus. We had to play around with our cameras, placing the focal point in our view finder on just the right spot and carefully scanning the full canvas of the picture to make sure there were some things, but not too many, in the foreground, to give the picture a very three-dimensional feel.

While I was diving into fruit salad and long conversations with cousins, my daughter widdled away some family-reunion moments behind her lens. This one is my favorites of her efforts:

One morning meandering around the homestead, I discovered a dragonfly drying its new wings, having just completed his final molt into adulthood. Not able to test fly his new appendages until they are completely dry, he gave me lots of time to run and grab my camera and experiment with a layered focus of him saying goodbye to his old self.

{{A Slow Shutter Speed}}

We had the boat out later than usual recently, on the serene water as the sky turned deep blue and the sun rested her head below the far mountains. So we tried delayed exposure, intentionally moving the camera while the shutter was open.  We captured far away lights on the shore and other boats to create distorted images. She loved it, and we got a few neat shots.

No matter what technique we try, I love seeing the world through a daughter’s lens. And I’m thankful for any excuse to slow down and notice a few details, in new ways, together. The frame-worthy photos are a bonus.

So we’re already working on our next mini photo challenge, which we’ll share in a few weeks. (And it includes the beautiful New England foliage!) If you and your child try some of the techniques highlighted in this post, please share your favorite results in the comments!

“Well done work has its own reward.” Proverbs 12:14

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera here and purchase your own here.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pin this for later!

Just hover over this image for the Pinterest logo.–>

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from photography to gardening, to homeschool, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password.

The post Photography Tips to Try With Your Child first appeared on Souly Rested.

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I thought it might be a little boring for her, since she already seems to incorporate the standard techniques into her photography, but I was shocked that these concepts were new to her. She had done many of them naturally, but didn’t know she was doing them. I’m expecting her photography to blossom, now that she knows what she’s doing right.

I picked a few techniques we’d start with. Once we each had a few shots we liked with the first technique, we discussed a new one.  Sometimes this was just a day later; other times we took a week or longer.

This round was so successful, we loved our next two rounds of new challenges as well, if you want more inspiration after this post, you may want to read about more Photography Tips to Try with Your Child and 5 Simple Photography Tips for Amazing Fall Photos. 

{{Rule of Thirds}}

This is my favorite photography technique. Once you hear it, you start to see it everywhere. The simple fact is, our eyes are drawn to the top, bottom, right, or left third of an image. Think of the Mona Lisa. Her eyes fall right along the top third of the painting. Mary Cassat’s Little Girl in a Blue Armchair highlights the bored lass by placing her along the right third of the painting. (Looks like she’d love a fun photo challenge to work on with mom!)

And have you ever noticed in documentaries when someone is being interviewed they are always off to one side of the screen?

A lot of photo editing programs have a 9-panel grid that you can place over your pictures when you’re cropping them, so it’s easy to see the picture divided into thirds and make sure your main subject falls along a thirds line. Ideally, you want to place the main focus where the lines cross. (Cassat placed her imp’s sweet expression at the top right intersection of the grid.)

My 12-year-old photographer loved hearing this explanation. She knew she liked placing her subjects off center, she just never knew why before.

So when her friend came to the farm to pick out a bunny, my photographer got this shot that captures the sweetness of the moment. I call it “SomeBUNNY’S in Love.”

She snapped this beautiful shot from our boat, showing just a sliver of moon, when we cuddled under blankets and watched the sunset.

But this is my all-time favorite from her rule of thirds challenge. It happens to be of her current favorite subject: our Black Star hens.

And a few that I took using the rule of thirds:

Wanna learn about special effects when you change your shutter speed? You’ll wanna check out this photography challenge too.

{{Fill the Frame}}

This technique is as simple as it sounds, it just doesn’t come naturally to most people, because it usually requires cutting some of the subject’s edges off, but it can be very dramatic. I like how she photographed the lily right after the rain, and the drops of water are still glistening on it:

Dandelions were my grandmother’s favorite flower (true story), so I love it that this image my young photographer captured makes me look at the winged achenes (seeds) anew:

While my daughter tends to gravitate towards plants and hens for her subjects, I’m a sucker for intriguing insects. I long to someday capture an image that shows the honey-comb nature of their amazing compound eyes, but I’ll settle for the detailed setae (bristled hairs) on this guy’s forelegs:

After we were happy with our rule of thirds pictures and those that filled the frame, we turned our lenses to a lighting technique.

Would you like to know how to use negative space and a layered look for amazing photos? This post tells you all about those techniques and more.

Or maybe you’d like to know how to tell a story with a photo? Read this post.

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera here and purchase your own here.

You should consider helping your child start a blog if they love learning photography and want to show off their amazing new pictures. Seriously. I explain all you need to know and why you might wanna consider it, in this post.

{{Backlighting}}

We love the lake almost as much as our farm that it borders, so we usher in many evenings by finishing  chores early then watching the sun tuck itself in beyond the glistening waters. A sunset is a perfect opportunity to frame a subject in backlighting:

When my in laws and daughters were sitting around chitchatting in front of the barn, I had to run inside for my camera:

On that same occasion, I zoomed in on my photographer then changed the settings to black and white:

Cupping your hand around your lens will help shield out some of the light and might make it easier for you to focus. If you don’t like the look in your viewfinder, move around to change the way the light falls on your subject. Moving one way will increase the hazy appearance; moving another way will make the image more crisp. You can even just crouch down in the same spot to achieve different results.

So far, our challenge has been a little more, well, challenging than I expected. But I’ve had fun trying these techniques with her, comparing our photography, and learning together. And, hey, if it wasn’t a little challenging, we wouldn’t be learning, now would we?

We have a few more framing techniques we’ll be learning and another lighting tactic we’ll tackle, then I’ll share again.

“Well done work has its own reward.” Proverbs 12:14

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Many readers often ask what camera I use to take the images you find here on SoulyRested. I love my Nikon; you can read more about my camera here and purchase your own here.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Pin this for later!

Just hover over this image for the Pinterest logo.–>

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from photography to gardening, to homeschool, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) icon below:

If you already ARE a subscriber, just hop over to the Resource Library here and enter your personal password.

The post Encouraging a Passion for Photography first appeared on Souly Rested.

It’s not easy being a parent.

My biggest parenting challenge

One of my biggest parenting challenges has been to redefine what’s absolutely necessary in any given afternoon and what responsibilities and chores can be done later in exchange for delving into a current, exciting passion.

I’ve been homeschooling my daughters for 16 years now, and the most worthwhile, deeply challenging learning they’ve ever pursued has been the things that seemed “frivolous” or “extracurricular.” I can guarantee you that those moments of deeply challenging learning were never when they were reading from a page they were forced to read in a textbook or when they were sitting at the table hunched over a workbook page.

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When my kids learn the most

They’ve learned the most when I let them abandon workbooks and assignments for something that seemed earth-shattering and very important to their young-child or teen minds on any given afternoon. Seemingly “extra” pursuits have often gone on to define who they are.

Over the past decade and a half of homeschooling my children I’ve learned that today’s small child with “silly” questions is tomorrow’s colorful promise, and if I encourage her to fill today’s minutes with passion, together we impact the hours of her future.

Today was one of those days that it all hit home for me. The sun rose earlier than I this morning, as she has for many weeks now, dancing through my open window in calm, warm snipets of promise, blowing between the poplar branches.

Everything’s changing

Realizing I had missed watching the sun yawn over the tree tops outside my window, I wished I could hold every fleeting minute of the morning’s promise that I had missed. Cradle them like delicate, warm, farm-fresh eggs in my hands.

These spring days offer pledges, after all, of numerous, irresistible possibilities that beg to be noticed.

I was so thankful that this morning was our last day of formal book work for the school year. We would have more time for clearing future pastures, kayaking on the lake, building up a daughter’s business, refinishing more floors, playing in the dirt, assembling ATC (Artist Trading Card) art kits for a local children’s hospital, and watching the day’s clouds change shapes.

My youngest was eager for summer as well. The minute after she finished her science test, but before diving into the long list of all she had to complete today, she grabbed her Nikon, plopped herself right in front of me on the sun-streaked wide-planked pine floors, and announced, “Everything’s changing. It won’t be the same tomorrow! Please?”

I’d already noticed how yesterday’s green lilac buds were today’s purple spheres of assurance.

Yesterday’s small-budded trees of the woods were today’s dotted light-green tent encircling the yard.

So sometimes I say “yes”

Yesterday’s curly-haired kindergartener who loved kittens and ballet was today’s rising-sophmore Mechanical Engineering student who graduated 12 years of homeschooling and went on to thrive at college. She is returning home tonight for a few weeks. Then she’s heading off to an internship in Boston, to build prototypes of nuclear weapon detectors, and reminding me that even when I fail my children can most definitely succeed. Her internship would certainly not include kittens or a ballet, but maybe mallards and Fenway.

So I said “yes” to the photographer. And in less than another handful of fleeting, spring minutes, she produced an abundance of beauty.

She documented details I had not seen until she showed me, through her lens.

And there are always surprises

Turned out there were other surprises in our day… a stray dog, a neighbor’s call, an inspiration for her next blog post that had to be typed up while the muse struck, and unexpected stable time for her sister, my entrepreneur…

And soon softball beaconed the photographer, who is also a lover of a twelve-inch, yellow ball of joy.

So our last day of formal book work didn’t wind up entailing much book work at all. But there’ll be time to finish her History project next week.

So I choose to motivate my kids by encouraging them

Today’s minutes will soon be memories dancing through my open window. I will try to hold these delicate, warm snipets of moments with gratitude. But I will not count them before they hatch, because I am well aware that I have an overflowing basketful.

For now–as my slipper-clad 12-year-old announced this morning, on our pine plank floors–“Everything’s changing.” Today’s camera-carrying, bat-wielding young lady is tomorrow’s colorful promise, and if I encourage her to fill today’s minutes with passion, together we impact the hours of her future.

Glance at these posts for simple photography challenges to encourage your young photographer.

Many of the photos in this post are Hayley’s handiwork. If you’d like to see what my Nikon-carrying, fast-pitch softball pitcher is photographing and blogging about today, she’d love it if you stop by her little corner of the internet at Flourishing By Restful Falls. Specifically, you may like to read the 20 Reasons Why She Loves Homeschooling.

My daughter and I both love our Nikons; you can read more about our favorite camera here and even purchase your own here. 

I’d love to connect!

To find me in some other neck of the woods, just click any (or every!) box below:

Read more…

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Please take a second to follow along here on SoulyRested to catch up on a few of my memorable mishaps, enjoy musings about my centuries-old farmhouse, or glean a little parenting/homeschooling insight from this momma who’s been failing at the effort for almost 2 decades. I hope my focus always helps you Keep it Simple while being Souly Rested on Christ.

As soon as you subscribe, you’ll have immediate access to my subscriber library of resources, which I’m continually adding to. You’ll enjoy lots of printables, from can’t-resist real-food recipes (like Whoopie Pie Cookies that always motivate ) to popular e-books, like 5 Things You Should Know About Nature Study.

The post Filling Today’s Minutes with Passion first appeared on Souly Rested.

Her 11-year-old perspective is fascinating.

The angles she uses. The backgrounds she chooses.

And the subjects she gravitates towards.

Love seeing the world through a daughter’s eyes. Just need to stop and do it more often. And not only through images on a camera card. I need to allow time in the day when I’m not counting minutes, just moments. Those are the beautiful snapshots of a fulfilled life that we cherish for a lifetime. But her perspective on life, her background, her angles, they’re always changing. Sitting and talking for a few minutes about whatever is on her mind… without a computer or TV screen in front of us… without household distractions vying for my attention… surely that’s more important than updating my friends on Facebook or cleaning out the fridge.

This sweet girl in front of me, who loves crafting rainbow loom bracelets and befriending amphibians, she’s only here for an indiscernibly short time. I need to pay attention or our relationship, much more worthy of my attention than the wilting veggies in the fridge, will surely start to wither.

“Help me to number my days aright, that I may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 39:4

The post Not counting minutes, just moments first appeared on Souly Rested.