Bountiful in Boise

We’re back writing! The past couple weeks have been quite busy. My computer time these past two weeks have been planning the next five months of our travels. I think you all will enjoy what lies ahead. As we have said before, thank you for coming along on this journey with us. I think of you often and we are so blessed to have each of you in some way a part of our lives.

Celebrating our blessings in life and those around us are very important. Haha, saying that, reminds me of our precious Curacaoan’s. They loved to use the phrase “….is very important.”

These past couple weeks we have done just that…celebrated those around us. We have celebrated birthdays and guests visiting.

Since the last blog, our Lilly girl turned 15! Oh my, I remember where I was and who I was with, Leslie Stone, when the call came saying this precious baby girl had arrived into this world. What a joy she is with her fun-loving personality.

We celebrated Papa Jay’s birthday as well. A group of us participated in an escape room. Unbeknownst to us there were records to hold! We managed to escape in the rankings of eighth place since this escape room opened three years ago. Had we known, I think we could have done even better.

After the escape room we had a poke’ dinner and cake, which was really key-lime pie, to celebrate 68 years of Jay Harris.

We had the honor of our dear friends, Tommy and Judy, with us for a few days. I use the term friends, however they are family to me. God gave them to me 30 years ago. And I am blessed to call them a part of my God-Family. We ate well, hiked many miles, and discovered some beautiful places in Idaho.

This is Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. This is also known as the Niagara of the West. Evel Knievel attempted a jump over a part of the Snake River near the falls.

Jay flew us to McCall, Idaho to walk around and have lunch one day. Another beautiful area of Idaho.

Our dear friend, Glenda Harr’s daughter, is a singer/songwriter. During the summer, Shannon and her husband, Jamie, tour the United States performing in homes. They call them “house concerts”. This year she performed in a home just ten minutes from us. So, I asked for an invitation to at least give her a big hug. It had been so long since we have seen Shannon. If you haven’t ever heard her beautiful voice, look her up on YouTube, Shannon Curtis. You will want to host a concert in your own home one day.

By the way, one of her wonderful gifts is she can write a special song for you and the love of your life if you want.

Her tour this year is called “Revolutionary Acts of Optimism”. She said, “Some revolutions are small and personal. Some are big and structural. They all begin with eyes set on the horizon toward what is possible. What if….there is more.”

When I think of a revolution in optimism I think of Psalms 118:24, This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Wow!

What if….that verse was the first sentence out of everyone’s mouth everyday. Now that would be a revolution of optimism, I think.

After writing this last night, I woke up this morning saying that particular verse first. It was amazing how big my smile became with every word. Try it!

As we continue to work on our travel plans we use different websites such as TripAdvisor or Yelp to try and find places without a “psycho condo-owner”. As we read reviews I began to wonder… The statistics of negative reviews verses positive. Are you ready? Statistics show it takes 40 positive reviews to cancel out one negative review. Why do we focus on the negative?

Daniel, our grandson, and I had a conversation one morning this week regarding all the planets and all the different galaxies, why is earth, one of the smaller planets, so special to have living creatures? Are we really the only ones?

I love these kinds of questions and I love this quest of optimism and what if’s. Most of you know, I am a wonderer. I love the “what if” or “I wonder” questions.

We summarized our conversation talking about how special each of us are to God. He placed us on this special planet. God said in Isaiah43:4, “Because you are so precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you…”.

There it is, He said it all in one sentence. He proved it all one day on the cross for us.

So, if today is the day the Lord, who thinks you are the most precious thing on Earth and loves you with an everlasting love, has made; let’s go celebrate all the wonderful wonders He has given us. Forgive, respect and honor those around you today.

Thank you, Shannon, for that inspiring phrase, “Revolutionary Act of Optimism”. Let’s go do it.

Find the bounty in continued wondering and blessing.

Kelly