Finding special time with God....:)

Like my pictures?? Made them today!!!It's Thursday at 5:30 and it's so dark out that it makes me yearn for longer days and warmer ones, too! However, I did walk today because it was about 62 degrees and that's not bad, really! Anyway, I soooo enjoy our neighborhood walking trail! I'm usually alone on it so it's great b/c nobody can HEAR me sing along with my Praise and Worship music! HAHA! I have THE best time walking and talking with God. I have been trying to LISTEN to Him more and not talking so much. It's amazing how He speaks to me. Through His Word (obviously), through others, through nature! Today, for me, it was through nature. The birds are getting used to me there now and sometimes even walk in front of me without fear!  The trees are gently swaying and the sky sooo blue. I saw a hawk and his wingspan took my breath away. I saw the shadows the trees branches made on the trail in front of me , such beauty. I tried to really IMPRINT what I saw today. How we take God's world so for granted! The trees are amazing in their height and strength and the roots that I stepped over as I walked were strong and sounds, weird, but looked fierce in the ground. I was reminded that I have deep roots of faith but they need to be tended/watered/cared for. Some roots I noticed were above the ground and they looked stringy and frail. I am hoping my roots are deep and not above ground.
Yes, today I felt so much WARMTH as I walked. As if I could truly FEEL His arms holding me close. And I swear, I could almost hear Him say, "thank you for coming to be with me today". THANK YOU?? I wanted to scream, Thank YOU! That's how God is. He doesn't beg you, He just wants you to come to Him. Dirty/tired/distressed/happy/excited/tearful/questioning/upset---it doesn't matter. He wants to be WITH you. With ME.....Yes, I feel SO close to God there, I can't even begin to explain. In the woods, on the trail! It's the only place I feel I can get away, feel His Presence so strongly. Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I weep , sometimes I've overwhelmed by His grace and His mercy. An ALWAYS I am blessed by being in His Presence. Yes, I love to go to church in Corporate worship and I need that. But I also need so much that TIME ALONE with Him , that it overwhelms me when I'm in the moment. I had tears pouring down my face today, I was so desperate for Him and , I didn't even realize it.....
If you need to have time with God, please, make that time! Go somewhere you can be ALONE with Him and I promise you  He will find you. And bless you........Here are a few pictures , that remind me of His great Love and Grace---some from the The Vatican in Rome (our trip in Oct.) and some here, at home. That's the beauty of God---He meets you anywhere you would like to meet!