Yes, just when I was sure I had missed spring with temps reaching into the high 80's and low 90's in only the middle of April; it's now snowing only 24 hours later.

For those of you dying to know how red hot my sun experience left me, I'm glad to announce that the SPF facial protection I put on worked great - just a bit of color - not red or even pink for that matter. As for my legs - I don't understand it, as I used to sunburn so badly in such a short amount of time. However, now days my legs take a bit more exposure to get any color at all. Therefore the outcome is that they are fine as well.

My arms felt warm last night but today they are untainted. Then again, it was not all day but only about an hour when I was relaxing and then maybe 45 minutes when I was cleaning out the flower bed and such. So, the good news is the only thing sore is my back from bending over in the garden area. The bad news is the base tan still does not exist. LOL Oh well - at my age should it matter? Probably not, but for some reason it still does. <>

So, today I have reflected a great deal... I'm not all together sure why, but I have. I have thought about the way things seem in life versus the way they actually are. How the gravel meets the pavement so to speak.

I know I have addressed this issue before about not presuming to know about other life’s until you have actually walked in their shoes. And in 9 out of 10 of those situations we will never walk in those shoes... Maybe that is why the Bible is so clear on the judgment issue and strongly favors forgiveness for all, of all, in all.

Just thought I'd throw that out there today for all of you to mull around a bit. What each of us does with such thoughts is probably a very personal matter and between our creator and self.

Then the other matter I was drawn toward is the fact that I have had little to say on the whole Secret subject of late. Since the title of my blog is directly in correlation to such matters, I thought perhaps I may be a bit behind in bringing it up again.

It isn't that some days I choose to live by it, believe in it or apply it to my life and other days I simply blow it off. No, I do believe it as it is, as I have said many times before, "Biblically based". I apply it whenever, however and in any way I can, as often as I can remember to do so.

Do I see the impact of these principles taking root in my life? Most certainly! I am still awaiting the movie offer and believe it will come! <> However, there is another point in check that really needs to be addressed or perhaps re-addressed. It has been brought to my attention that there may actually be people out there who believe that magically, by positive thinking, they are going to have the desires of their hearts dropped in their laps.

Let me use a past example of God's grace and goodness and how this all applies, even at times when we don't have a name for it. A little over ten years ago we were given notice that the acreage and 13 plus stall horse barn and large home we had lived in for six years was no longer going to be permitted to house more than two horses. I don't recall just how many we had at the time, but I can assure you it was far more than two! We had a very small window of time to move or eliminate a large number of horses from our property.

We not only had the problem of finding a place where we could move to with all of our critters, but the bigger problem was finding somewhere that was suitable for foster care regulations, the critters and affordable as we were on a fairly limited monthly budget.

Sure, there were farms and acreages out there but most of them were three times more than we had been paying per month to lease our previous home. I had horses farmed out across half the county with friends from church and beyond. God provided a temporary solution and I was dreadfully fretful that the temporary would wear out before we found an option that provided something more permanent. After all, we couldn't expect to take advantage of the good nature of these individuals for too long!

It was the holiday season and nothing was coming together. We looked at so many places and one that I thought would be good for Ron, as it was much closer to where he was working at the time. However, the house was too small and the rent was much higher. Ron adamantly didn't want to move to the mountains and left me looking for more possibilities with my hopefulness growing dim. I finally went with the holiday season and quit worrying for the time. There was no point in fretting over it until after the first of the year and no one was indicating a problem with housing the horses at that point.

We went to Cheyenne for the day after the first of the year - in fact it was the New Years Eve weekend as I recall. On our way home we stopped by an all you can eat buffet in the Greeley area and picked up a Thrify Nickle in the free publications as we exited that night. The very next day was a Sunday…Ron read an ad for a farm for rent in that Thrifty Nickle. It seemed impossible and the distance Ron would have to drive was unbelievable, but we went to drive by and take a look out of curiosity more than anything else..

The long and the short of it, we moved in and have been here ever since. And the place we had moved from before that one had a similar story that left me a believer that God would not forsake us in our living situation.

I know there are many people who frown on renting and see it as a waste of money... But I have to tell you this situation has been the biggest blessing time and time again. So much so that I couldn't even began to share all of them here. The fact of the matter is that none of us, no not even one of us will live forever on this earth as it is now. Nope! And we surely can't take it with us... Shoot, for that matter we can't even be buried on our own property! So, with this much said, I have no regrets.

Sure, we are looking to buy "The Big House on the Hill" and I'm fine with it if it goes through and we end up moving there. However, on the other hand, I know with the right mind set being that of "The Secret", strong faith, and a thankful heart, we will be right where we are meant to be. It won't matter if it's here for some time longer, or in the house on the hill. I know in any event we will be looked after and loved just as much now as we ever have been. I know that I know that the perfect will of God has its best chance of playing out in our lives with the right mind set.

My point in all of this is simply, had we not been aware and looking, we would have or could have missed the opportunity. We could have not been willing to move in the direction that seemed to take us where God was leading. You can't just sit back and wait, you have to move forward, be willing to put yourself out there to be sure you're going where your destiny is calling you too.

"The Big House on the Hill" won't just fall into our laps! Really, rather we end up there or not, we had to begin a process and follow through with it until we knew for sure one way or the other.... We're still in the process... And we all know who's in the process with us by now - right?

What does this all mean? It means that I need to believe as if I have already received the blessing because I have. It means that I have to believe in the desires of my heart as if God put them there himself, for in most instances he did. It means that with the right mind set I am much more apt to be in a position to draw positive and positively impacting situations to my life and to the lives of those around me. It means that I am drawing on the good, positive and pure elements of the Universe as God has called them into play in all areas of my life.

What it doesn't mean is that I won't experience difficulties, tough days or moments of hopelessness when the stopper comes out of my whirlpool of life. It doesn't mean that I am immune from failure or experiencing life’s let downs... But I remind you that failure is only stepping stones to success!

Life is what it is, full of ups and downs, in and outs and situations that we simply can't predict. We know we are not going to live in this life as it is forever and that we will sooner or later lose loved ones or they will lose us. Will there be pain? Will there be grief? Will there be loss? Of course there will, but that is part of being alive, a part of the bigger picture. It makes me ponder “what if” we could only view death as graduation. We are quick to gather for graduation, wedding, awards and any number of other ceremonies; but the reality is that death is the greatest graduation of all! Our concern here should be to share the good news and the promise of this graduation... And then to be able to embrace the potential and happiness of those we love who have gone ahead of us knowing the Lord as their Savior.

So, how is life after the secret today you ask? Simply stated... "Very Well, Thank You!"

Be blessed and begin today in creating your own legacy of hope and fulfillment!!!!