Fun with Friends

Yesterday I met my two girlfriends for a full day of fun. We began by getting Dark Chocolate Mochas at Whole Foods; I've never had a Mocha with dark chocolate and I think this will be something I treat myself to on a regular basis. Yummmm. Then my friend drove us, in a mini-Cooper which I've never been in before, to an open space area so we could all hike. These friends are a tad bit younger than I am and in better shape so I had to really hustle to keep up with them. We did take a nice break though and one of the gals, previously a missionary in Africa and also in France, told us stories of her family's time abroad. The other friend is from South Africa and I love to just listen to her talk. She has an accent, probably British, and reminded me so much of my Kiwi friends.
After we were finished hiking we drove to Loveland and went to an art gallery called "The Master's" fine art of Loveland. This was an incredible collection of photos, bronze sculptors, weavings, paintings etc. The owner Linda King is a master story teller as well as artist and she had us captivated by the stories she wove about the works. In fact, as she showed us a collection of photos(exquisite in themselves) she pointed to a sunset and remarked how the Master's Hand was there in this masterpiece. Then she pointed to an open book with glasses, and again said here His Hand is apparent in His written Word; lastly she pointed to a picture of a newborns' feet and exclaimed His Hand was here too in the creation of His Son. Her eloquence and descriptions almost had the visitors in the audience in tears and then she pointed to each of us and proclaimed that we were each His Masterpiece, created in His Love and image and that He had gifted us all with artist abilities. Linda spent the next hour or so taking us through each room of the gallery pointing out various bits of info about the works displayed. There were so many wonderful pieces of art that I would have purchased, if I had the resources, but I plan to go back and visit again. If you are ever in the Loveland area, make sure you get to the gallery~you won't be sorry.
My friends and I called it a day after our visit there and I can honestly say they tired me out. But what a fun way to spend an afternoon.