There are things that are just good for the soul
An old dog that comes to greet you when you get home after a long day, looking for a scratch behind the ears… or maybe a puppy’s breath as he gives you a kiss.
The smell of coffee and bacon frying before daylight.
The feel of a cool summer morning at daybreak, or a glass of ice cold tea while sitting on the porch swing admiring another sunset after a hot day’s work. Or the smell of the plum trees in bloom. Or the hoot of a barn owl on a dead still summer night.
The smell of a baby’s head as they sleep peacefully in your arms. Watching your grandchildren grow and play… and praying they grow up to be good people.
The smell of a freshly cut alfalfa field.
When a Sunday morning sermon is short and to the point and didn’t seem like a hostage situation.
The sounds of nearby quail fussing in the brush… or a coyote howling off in the distance. Watching mulberry leaves fall like rain after the first frost. Or the moss roses when they turn full of yellow blooms in spring.
A good Sunday afternoon nap after eating a steak and a baked potato straight from the grill.
The fragrant smell of a summer rain that gives a temporary reprieve from the summer heat. A lawnmower that starts on the first pull.
A still summer day without gnats or a summer night without mosquitoes.
Old pickups and tractors that just seem to live on forever.
Holding hands with your wife while walking down a dirt road. Or seeing her eyes light up after giving her unexpected flowers.
Remembering the smell of Grandpa’s apple flavored pipe tobacco leftover from when he gave his pipe to me.
Or remembering the taste of that stick of gum dug from the bottom of Momma’s purse that the foil was stuck to… and how it tasted more like perfume and dirt than spearmint.
The excitement in your dad’s eyes and the smile he had when you help load his wore out crippled body into the pickup just to go for a ride around the farm.
There are so many things to be thankful for that distract us from all the every day disappointments of this life.
Thank goodness for those things that are good for the soul because they help us heal from the hardness of this world.
