On Facebook and Instagram, I started tagging different posts with the tag #straygifts. A few weeks ago, I posted this quote, “Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.” -William Wordsworth, 1806. While a great quote, I questioned if anything was really a ‘stray gift’. These gifts throughout my day are things I notice that “just-so-happened” to be within arm’s reach. Something that stops me in my tracks to look a little closer at the details.  Are they there by accident or by Divine design? I’d like to think the latter. Here is a collage of just a few this week that caused me to stop and say, “I know that was you, God. Thanks.” For instance, out of a bag of wildflower seeds, only a few have done well. This collage is of the same plant within a week. I was stunned to see the flowers! I was curious to see what in the world this was going to look like. I felt as if God was drawing me outside whispering, “Look what I made for you!”. A friend of mine thought they might be four o’clock flowers.

Here is another collage I made with just some of the stray gifts in the last week. From left to right:

Top Row: (left to right) 1) Raindrops on roses (It rained!!), 2) Morning Glory vines winding their way up and around, 3) Puppy paws stepping through puddles (Did I mention it rained? It’s a big deal around here.)

Middle Row: 1) An ‘organized’ spider web which belongs to an orb weaver spider. An organized spider web, I was told, means that ‘a friendly spider lives here’. 2) Surprises in wildflowers

Bottom Row: 1) Something new growing with my marigolds. I have no idea what it is. A weed? A flower? I don’t know..but I like it. 2) Crepe Myrtles doing well in the heat 3) Sunbeams shining bright through front windows