“Show me a day when the world wasn’t new.” -Sister Barbara Hance

Hope arrives in all different kinds of packages. Today, Hope has taken my hand in the form of dear, dear friends.

In the last week, I have felt God whispering in my ear, “It is no accident that I brought you back to San Diego. It is no accident that I have you living within 4 miles of three of your closest friends. It is no accident that you can share so much day-to-day life with these dear three and their precious families. It is no accident, Leeana, that I have surrounded you with this nourishing, companioning, healing love.”

These three warrior sisters infuse my world with hope and fun and grace. With them, each day is new. And the gratitude I feel makes me think of a tree I drive out of my way to see every day.

The route I prefer to take in and out of my neighborhood isn’t the most direct. It’s the most beautiful. I like driving through the rolling hills and seeing all the green. My eyes still don’t know what to do with all the trees after so much beige. I just soak it in. Especially the trees with fruit, like ornaments on a Christmas tree. It’s as if I’ve never seen an orange tree before. Never seen a lemon tree before. I feel like my soul is gawking at the gorgeous.

I pass groves of citrus. And then, the lipstick red of a single pomegranate tree heavy with fruit. That’s my tree. That’s me. Dripping with abundance.

It is no accident, “. . . and my soul wells up with an hallelujah.”

What has God brought to you that is no accident? Something that is helping you to see your world with hope, joy, gratitude?