Old Hat

I have this hat.
It's a ball cap with a half a daisy on the front and a blue bill.

I still remember buying that hat; we were living on an Air Force base in Oklahoma and a neighborhood kid was selling stuff for a school fundraiser. When I saw that hat I knew it was made for me.

12 years have passed and I still have that old hat.
It sits on a self in my closet and I can't remember when it made it's last debut.
The shirt I once had that matched it perfectly has long since been gone and the freshness of the hat has long since worn off.

This last week the space shuttle launched from it's pad here in central Florida.
Anyone who has ever been in the area when the shuttle goes off knows what an incredible moment it is.
The power.
The beauty.
The sound.
How we send such a large craft full of people into the atmosphere surrounding planet earth still baffles me to this day.

When it took off this last week I happened to be in my home with my whole family.
I had forgotten it was taking off and when the rumble of the jets began to shake my house I first asked myself "is that a tornado?", then I realized what we'd missed.

I peaked out my front window and saw the spiral trail of smoke already left behind.
I was the only one who even peaked out the window.
I was the only one who even stood up.

Apparently the space shuttle and all it's glory is old hat around here.

Got me thinking.
What else in my life do I treat as an old hat.
What glorious, wonderful, amazing things surround me. What things are in my life that don't even get me out of my chair to glance at?
To be thankful for?
To marvel at?

God clothes the flowers so beautifully and gives unique chirps to each bird in the air.
He blesses me with a loving, hard-working husband, two children who still rock my world and friends that love me despit me.
But do I see them for what they are?
Is my perspective tweaked?
Am I sitting in a chair as the marvelous happens and not even take a peak to see the glory let alone marvel at it?

Have I taken the everyday wonders and reduced them to a self in my closet?
O' how I do not desire to be that way.
I want to see the glory that surrounds me, near and far, and marvel in it.
I want to be in a constant state of thankfulness and graciousness for the wonders God has blessed me with.

That is the perspective change my heart desires.
How about you? Any old hats sitting in your closet?
-Michelle

Endeavor's Night Launch

Another reason I enjoy living near the east coast beach in Florida, I get to drive 3 miles and watch the space shuttle take off.

Night launches are my favorite. It's a long video, 5 1/2 minutes, but the first 2 1/2 are probably the best. Right before 2 minutes you can see both the shuttle and the almost full moon, shortly after that the shuttle is hard to see although live we could see it and we could see the full tanks (I htik I caleed them boosters in the video) drop. It's at 2 1/2 minutes that we finally hear the sound from take-off.

Enjoy. Only 9 left.




-Michelle