It’s a sunny day, in fact it’s a bit humid and makes it feel like summer a couple weeks early. Each season comes with its blessings, but also things to work with. Whether we grump over the heat or fuss over all the extra clothes it takes to keep five little ones warm during the winter month, I’m finding that happiness is not as much about my surroundings as my attitudes.

It’s almost scary how fast children pick up a parent’s cognition and set their own temperature accordingly. If mama fails to have a positive outlook, before long she has a houseful of negative attitudes to deal with! I’ve had a lot to learn the past couple years, and have a lots more to grow in. I just find life to be a constant process of learning in my corner of the world. In fact just today Julia gently pointed out an area that I have had a less than ideal attitude about. Gulp. Yes, I needed it and I thank God for the reminder and praise him for forgiveness and new beginnings.

We’re not all mothers, but I do not expect any of you to have a life full of forever smooth sailing.

Right now we are trying to wait patiently on the upcoming adoption. Our hope is to have things finalized by the time my sister gets married in July. Sometimes I wonder why we can’t just learn once and for all to trust God and his ways. But then, it keeps us drawing just closer than ever as he brings us through storms in life and eventually allows us to see rainbows.

When Daniel and I were dating he gave me a pretty stone with a picture of a rainbow etched into it, with the words, “The rainbows of life follow the storm,” on it. It was super special to me, simply because he gave it to me and also because of an incident that had occurred some time before that.

As a teenager I had some complications with my health; I desperately wanted to just be like everyone else with boundless energy, but I was not. To a large degree I could function like an average youth, but I did have complications to work with. Anyway, one night while our youth group was having a game of volleyball, I was again having a bout of dizziness; finally I had to give up the idea of playing at all.

Discouraged, I took shelter at my friend’s house close by and went into her bedroom. Shutting the door behind me I sank to the floor on my knees and just let the tears come. After a bit I got up and took a seat by her desk. Through my tears I spied a sticky note right on top of her desk that said, “In the tears of his saints, God sees a rainbow.” It couldn’t have gotten any more fitting than just that. You guessed it, there were more tears- only this time, tears of awe and wonder at my Creator who knew precisely what I needed.

Regardless where you may be in the middle of trauma or difficulty, it really does matter to us. We care; and amazingly enough, there is also One who knows exactly how you feel and understands all the ins and outs of it all. As we all keep taking one baby step in faith at a time, things will eventually smooth out; many times in ways we never imagined possible.

Now, wrapping up with a recipe for you all. I just opened an envelope from a dear friend and reader, Norma, from London, Ohio. She inquired whether we have a church building or meet in our homes. Yes, we take turns hosting services in our homes. Last Sunday was Daniel’s brother, John and his wife’s turn. They served lunch afterward. I made a few fruit pizza crusts with cream filling then she made fresh strawberry filling to go over the top. It was super refreshing on a warm day. If you do go ahead and make it, be sure to have serve it nice and chilled. It will be a hit where ever you go!

HOMEMADE FRUIT PIZZA DELUXE

CRUST

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon lemon flavoring

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 cup flour

Press into a greased 9-inch by 13-inch inch pan; bake at 300 degrees for 20 minutes. Do not over-bake, it should not be brown at all.

CREAM CHEESE MIXTURE

1/2 cup powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

8 ounces whipped topping

4 cups fruit of your choice: bananas, kiwis, grapes, berries, sliced or diced.

Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. If desired, add a dash of lemon juice. Spread on top of cooled crust and then pile and spread fruit over the whole cream cheese mixture-covered crust.

GLAZE

3/4 cup sugar

5 heaping tablespoons clear jel

3 cups pineapple juice or water

3 tablespoons lemon or pineapple jello

1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix together in a saucepan and boil a few minutes. Cool and spread on top of fruit.