Stop and smell the roses

Greetings:
God reminded me on this day that I need to “stop to smell the roses.”
It's a shortcoming of mine, but I'm working on it.
How many of you know when God reminds you of something, it's sometimes a reprimand?
I, like many others, fail to stop, look around and enjoy what we've been blessed with on this place we call planet Earth.
Stop and smell the roses' is a cliché reminder for each of us, to stop rushing, stop working late and stop being too busy, even in church work.
Our time granted on this Earth passes too quickly. We are urged to stop and enjoy the day, the moment and the minute that we are blessed with.
Each minute that we miss, is time lost and it will not return to us again.
Psalm 8 (NIV) is a humble reminder to me to look around outdoors this morning and just soak in the goodness of God. It also reminds me of God's love for each and every one of us.
It reads: “Lord, our Lord,  how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea,  all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
As I look into the calmness of the darkened pre-dawn sky, I see the moon just above the tree line looking east. The sky is still filled with stars. There is a stillness in the air except for a chorus of cicadas and crickets.
 Evening is the time to really immerse oneself in the sound sensations of the summer sky.  It is the combination of the cicadas being more vocal and active in the evening and the hearing sense being heightened as the darkness unfolds and the visual senses are less engaged.  Nothing is more peaceful than sitting outside in the evening, eyes closed, quietly letting the cicada sounds envelop me with pure peace and happiness.
Looking at the night sky is a welcome contrast for me as a photographer who is constantly peering the countryside looking for an image to capture during the light of day.
I look to the heavens and I feel the smallness that David alludes to in Psalm 8.  We are so infinitely small, but all big compared to the vastness of God's creation.
God wants to know us and include us in his earthly and heavenly plans. The glory of his infinite creation is seen in his particular care for David in Psalm 8.
It's just another reminder of how majestic Our Lord really is.
Be blessed.