{"id":852,"date":"2015-03-13T10:45:33","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T15:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/?p=852"},"modified":"2019-05-17T13:51:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T18:51:41","slug":"savoring-a-taste-of-heaven-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2015\/03\/13\/savoring-a-taste-of-heaven-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Savoring A Taste of Heaven. Joy Lives In Contentment."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/31316Title.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-853 \" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/31316Title-e1426259597638.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"601\" height=\"243\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/todotobesunrayblog.jpg\">by <\/a><a title=\"About Lydia and Belovedlove\" href=\"http:\/\/www.belovedlove.org\/about.html\">Lydia Floren<\/a><\/p>\n<p>One Saturday last August, Andrew and I blasted ourselves out of our rut and spent the day boating on nearby <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lake_Wissota\">Lake Wissota<\/a>. It was a perfect Wisconsin summer day. The water, hemmed by lush green, shimmered in the quiet morning light. The sun was warm, not hot, and a gentle breeze was rustling the trees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture1.1-e1426260727295.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-861\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture1.1-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Picture1.1\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture5-e1426260764291.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-859\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture5-e1426260764291.jpg\" alt=\"Picture5\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the first half of the day, we puttered from one end of the lake to the other. I was preoccupied. My thoughts kept drifting away from this beauty to the restlessness of \u201cI wants.\u201d I want to live on the water. How could we find a way to do it? Where would be the best place to live? Wonder what the property values and taxes are? Is it feasible? Wonder how much that property costs? I was distracted by what I didn\u2019t have, instead of focusing on what I had been given:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A gorgeous day.<\/li>\n<li>The company of my wonderful husband.<\/li>\n<li>A panorama of natural beauty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>About midway through the day, I pulled out my camera and started snapping pictures. My attention was captured by lily pads and weeping willows, craggy cliffs, wild flowers, and of course the water&#8211;rippling, reflecting, shimmering, and sparkling. An awareness of my surroundings remained long after I stowed my camera. I noticed the quiet sounds of crickets buzzing and water lapping. I felt the tangled senses of sun-warmth and cool breeze. I experienced the gentle rock of the boat lulling me to sleep. I was content.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-856\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture2.jpg\" alt=\"Picture2\" width=\"601\" height=\"451\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture2.jpg 1003w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture2-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture3-e1426260864227.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-857\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture3-e1426260864227.jpg\" alt=\"Picture3\" width=\"603\" height=\"452\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-860\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture6.jpg\" alt=\"Picture6\" width=\"601\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture6.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture6-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Picture6-624x415.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>God offers me tastes of heaven every day&#8211;and every day I choose. Do I strain to look beyond the amazing gifts in front of me? Or, do I savor the blessings I have already been given?<\/p>\n<p>Joy lives in contentment.<\/p>\n<p>(BTW, I didn\u2019t photograph a single house.)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Share with us: How do you remain content? We would love to hear from you.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-854\" src=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/31315JoyLivesFB.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"601\" height=\"601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/31315JoyLivesFB.jpg 500w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/31315JoyLivesFB-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/31315JoyLivesFB-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 601px) 100vw, 601px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Recent posts: <a title=\"Circling Back\" href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2015\/03\/06\/circling-back\/\">Circling Back<\/a>, <a title=\"Sharing a sunset. Enjoying the presence of God.\" href=\"http:\/\/belovedlove.org\/reflections\/2015\/02\/20\/sharing-sunset-enjoying-gods-company\/\">Sharing a Sunset, Enjoying God&#8217;s Presence<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Lydia Floren One Saturday last August, Andrew and I blasted ourselves out of our rut and spent the day boating on nearby Lake Wissota. It was a perfect Wisconsin summer day. The water, hemmed by lush green, shimmered in the quiet morning light. The sun was warm, not hot, and a gentle breeze was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[466],"tags":[6,8,10,47,24],"class_list":["post-852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finding-gods-love","tag-gods-love","tag-hope-and-encouragement","tag-joy","tag-relationships","tag-thankfulness"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Savoring A Taste of Heaven. Joy Lives In Contentment. - Belovedlove<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"God offers me tastes of heaven every day. Do I strain to look beyond the amazing gifts? Or, do I savor the blessings? 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