Sunshine Soup

If you live in an area where the snow covers the ground during the better part of the winter you can perhaps appreciate those first flowers of spring a bit more than those of us who live in the south and still manage to see some color throughout the coldest part of the year.
There is just nothing like seeing that first glorious yellow of daffodils, or purple of crocus after all of the hues of gray thrust upon us by the winters pleasure.

Maybe it is because I am an artist and tend to catalog images for later reference that I am so sensitive to color. I think color has a way of making you hopeful when you have lost hope. It can revive you when you are on your last reserves of energy. It is a little spark of wonder in a life of doubt.
Well, I think it can be those things if you allow it to be. And, actually it is not the color itself, but appreciating God's work in delivering color as a precious gift that has the power to lift you when you are needing it.
Here is an example. As I was rinsing my beans last week at the end of a long and tiring day, the sunshine through my front window caught them and I was so taken aback by the unexpected purple. Fantastic!
Or check this out...Colors of spring flowers and warm sunshine right there in my kitchen despite the cold outside. It made me want to lift my face and feel the comforting warmth settle on my cheeks.
Instead I decided to make soup!
We have here 1/2 a butternut squash
1 small sweet potato
1/2 orange bell pepper
2 carrots.
I drizzled them with a bit of grapeseed oil and added garlic, salt and pepper then tucked them into the oven for the heat to work it's magic in turning them into sweet tidbits. They roasted in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes, turning once for more even browning.

I then put them into my soup pot and added a box of chicken stock (my favorite is Kitchen Basics, it gave me a little thrill that the box is a wonderful school bus yellow and therefore fit into the color scheme of this soup!) and a few sprigs of thyme.
I let this simmer down for awhile, then used my immersion blender to puree the soup into a whirled sunset of wonder. I should have taken a picture I know, but I was hungry!
A little addition of salt, pepper and cream and it was ready to go.

It was so sweet, I almost felt guilty for eating it as the main course!!

Perhaps we should take more time to acknowledge that Christ with his hand in the creation delivers daily visual gifts of colorful wonder to us.
John 1:3 All things came into being through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
You may be surprised at how His well thought out design can thrill and amaze you, I always am!