Clouds that "speak"

I woke up this November morning and out our open bedroom door, I saw a huge cloud formation.
Every morning, I wake up to our open bedroom door that we keep open all night (thanks Maui).
This morning was different.

Something struck me about the clouds and their beauty, their starkness, and the dramatic display of thick clouds. 

The clarity of sky around those clouds somehow said to me, "I have just been getting by."

Those clouds revealed to me there is more.  They stopped me.  My blinders were take off and I saw sky, beauty, and thus... my living less.

I have just been working to get to the next thing.  Then the next thing.  I can make a lifetime out of just getting to the next thing.  The problem is that is all life will be, until the focus isn't just on those things I am working on or working through.

I don't want my life to be a series of "To do's" that I derive enough satisfaction to keep me going for the next 10 years. 

I have a life right now that involves loss and anticipation.  My parents have been going through a lot, I bear some of that burden.  There is uncertainty for both of them in the future.  I also have a full time job of homeschooling and tending a home which requires so much of me. Will I allow Him to be my strength?

A reoccurring theme in my life is at times knowing there is a spirit of joy lacking. With the fullness of God and the choice on my part, I get to choose joy....and be stopped by "talking" clouds that remind me there is more.