This past month or so has been CRAZY!  With Thanksgiving, Christmas, 3 birthdays (including mine) and 5 kids sick, it has been enough to make my head spin.  It has all been {maybe not all} good, but it will still wear you out with all the needs and responsibilities.

This past week, I have had 4 kids home with HIGH fevers, I have also been sick, and sometime during the week, my husband {self-employed} told me that we had no more work coming in....it had all dried up and blown away..... YUK!

One of my needs for sanity is solitude.  I have not had, really to speak of, any since the Holidays began.  I have been craving it.  I have been angry for not having it :( .  I have had to get to the place of finding joy in the midst of the storms....I am still looking.  But I am looking.  I am {most of the time} not swallowed up in self pity.  I am learning to make my own solitude.

Actually, I think that was a survival trait I learned when I was a little girl.  It comes second nature to me to shut everyone and thing out for a bit and recharge.  But there is still something about being completely, COMPLETELY alone for me.

It has been a long time, with most everyone home, but this morning....I let the pooch out--early--and saw this picture.  It immediately brought a calm to my heart.

Lately, I have been missing the sunrises {which I LOVE} as they are at the same time we are doing our morning Bible reading.  Sometimes, I can see one out of the corner of my eye (when I am supposed to be reading) and I will run out to take a picture.  I haven't been able to catch them lately....but this morning, in the midst of the storms swirling around me....ahhhhh......beauty.  A breath of fresh air.  It brought joy to my soul.