"How Many Cups of Sugar Does It Take To Get To The Moon?"

 

I just love this painting of this woman enjoying her morning coffee, it's like me-the colors are so vibrant and rich, and I can just see me in this painting....yummy!



So today, I went walking through Descanso Gardens in Montrose, while here in L.A.  It was breathtaking, and I will share about that after I get home, as I have no way of getting the pics on here til I get home :)
But while I was walking, I noticed more than several people walking, and sitting on wooden benches drinking their coffee, and most of them were actually in personal coffee mugs/cups. 

      And I personally love coffee mugs, I am a collector, and will probably always be.  But something crossed my mind this morning, and that was the Cup I have been given, of my life.

         

    What goes inside of my cup?...Many things:

1. All the joys in my life, the things that make my heart leap, things that make me smile, things that make me love life, and my life in particular!!!!!

2.  All the things that make Danielle...well, Danielle!  All my quirky-ness, those little things that make me unique, unlike any one else who has ever been born, or ever will be!!!!

3.  My pain, my hurts, my sorrows, the things in my life that cause my heart to

ache or even break, cause me to frown on occasion, or cause me to cry.

4.  My worries...things ever present in my mind, or on my heart, that make me stress out, constantly worry about things in my life, or others', and causes my heart to beat a little faster.  

5.  My questions and my fears throughout my life, however big, medium, small or silly they may seem...either to myself or to others.

6.  My hopes and dreams, even though some may never have the ability to be accomplished, and although they seem to change as I get older, grow and learn, my dreams are amazing!



These are most of the things that make up my cup...and you know what?  Sometimes, I just don't like what's in my cup.  Sometimes, I just don't want What's been put in my cup...But there's a secret, that only some people know: 
That God doesn't waste experiences.

                                           

There are as many cups in this world as there are people, we each have one, and its design is indicative of us, our personality. 
And our cups are full of a mixture of wonderful, painful, amazing,sad, beautiful, tearful and joyous things...Life is not meant for the meek, and we so many times wonder, what am I supposed to do with THIS?  Sometimes we never get an outright answer, other times we do. 


Sometimes, we are forced onto a path we ought to have found for ourselves...and how our path turns out, largely depends on how we choose to see it. 

Am I grateful for the little things, along the steep and rocky roads?

Do I take the time to notice the small details that might change my whole mood, or a decision I must make?

I raise my hands to believe again...I raise my cup, in its entirety to The One who entrusted it to me.  And in the times when I smash my cup and shatter it to thousands of little shards, I can raise it again and again, in praise, because He lifts me.  Every single time. 

 If I raise my cup, in grattitude instead of degredation, how much more will my life be sweet?  How much more happiness can I glean? 

So much more than before...and because I raise my cup faithfully, no matter what I get in my cup, I can find blessings within it.

Wherever my cup takes me, I do not go alone; and I choose to be grateful for the cup that I have been given.