Buzzzzzz II

Why the interest in photographing bees? Well, I don't think it actually has anything to do with bees per say, just capturing nature. It is challenging to get close enough (with an everyday camera) and persistent enough to wait it out for a good shot. I do this with squirrels too. I guess it is more the challenge than the subjects. I do love nature though. Perhaps it is both the challenge and being in the great outdoors. One just never knows what images they may be able to capture. I love that. As amateur as I may be, I love it. Thanks for humoring me.

And He Walks With Me....

Thank you God for gracing me with these gorgeous flowers, and for our new newest place to walk and talk together in Your amazing creation.

Thank you God for the ever-changing clouds. They have always been a favorite of mine within which to see Your beauty, creativity and artwork.

Thank you God for a simple yellow flower whose colors bursts off the green background from which it comes forth. I rejoice in this beautiful new garden in which we walk together.

The cool water dancing up and about from this lovely fount reminds me of You and how You rejoice when we are together in this place. You are cool and refreshing to my soul.

Even as You and I seem to walk together, just the two of us, we are not alone. You send a curious little creature along our path just to delight me with his chattering acrobatics in the cool treetops.

Thank you God for the beauty You delight me with in this place. Walking with you in the quiet of this garden in Your breathtaking creation and splendor thrills my soul. I won't be long to come and walk with You here again. It is our secret retreat away from the world, where You surround me and walk and talk with me. Thank you for this place and for Your time spent captivating my soul here. I love you my God, more deeply and more wholly than ever before. You restore my soul and fill my homesick heart with joy more and more each day. I can hardly wait to look upon Your face. Until then, I rejoice in walking with You, looking upon the beauty You so graciously present to me until that glorious time.

Love/Hate

Labor Day.

Geared up for a 3 day weekend!! Is there anyone else who loves AND hates them? I love them for the extra day off of work. I hate them for the added craziness workload they create from having less days to get way too much done.

I hope you enjoy the holiday. Like me, try to spend it focused on the day off...not the mountain of work it creates when you return to work. ;)

Grace to all.

He loves me...

I snapped this little beauty's picture today during lunch at my new favorite lunch getaway. Isn't she gorgeous?

I love that God sprinkles these amazing and delicate works of art along my path. He loves me so much. He constantly woos me with His creation. He delights in surprising me with His creativity and splendor. He leaves nothing unillustrated. His love is evident everywhere I look. No one else comes close to possessing the outrageous uncontainable love He has for me. It is and always will be beautifully unmatched.

I love you my God. You are my heart's desire and the song on my lips. You are my source of joy and purpose. Thank you for all of the big and little joys you give me all throughout my day to show me your love and favor. You are all that I need...and more! My cup overflows.

What courage IS...

Courage is NOT the absence of fear. Courage is KNOWING what God has called you to…and then DOING it…not knowing the outcome…but KNOWING who is in control of the outcome!

Joyful Blur

This is another photo taken earlier this summer. I couldn't tell you what happened or if I even meant to snap the shutter at that moment. At first glance, the pic is a bust...but the more I look at it, the more depth I really see. It is beautiful. It reflects the joy, in such a unique way, that my daughter and I find in one another. You may just see another goofed up picture, but I see joy...sometimes the way it most likely hits me...in a blur.

Buzzzzzzzzz

I took this photo earlier this summer. I can't tell you how long it took me to get this little guy to be still long enough to capture his protrait. Likely because of that, it is one of my favorite pics. I have nothing profound to say and there isn't any spectacular photography going on here--I just like the picture. Thought I'd share. :)

Sweetly Broken

Yes, I am really into music lately. Here's another of my latest favorites:

"Sweetly Broken"--Jeremy Riddle

To the cross I look, to the cross I cling

Of its suffering I do drink

Of its work I do sing

For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed

Showed that God is love And God is just

Chorus:

At the cross You beckon me

You draw me gently to my knees, and I am

Lost for words, so lost in love,

I'm sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life

Have I been given

Through Christ crucified

You've called me out of death

You've called me into life

And I was under Your wrath

Now through the cross I'm reconciled

Chorus:

In awe of the cross I must confess

How wondrous Your redeeming love and

How great is Your faithfulness

Chorus: (2x)

Divine Romance

Again, I have found deep meaning in song. Some people are very touched by music. I am one of them. More so than the "normal" person I think. Certain songs, lyrics, melodies, etc...move me beyond my ability to express. I have songs tied tightly to certain times, people, and circumstances in my life. Many things in my life are bound to certain songs. I have never been able to unbind them. It interesting to me how music can do that.

The lyrics below are to a song by Phil Wickham, called Divine Romance. I love the verse that says "In Your presence God, I'm completely satisfied." There is never an earthly romance in which we can be COMPLETELY satisfied. Boy, it took me a long time to let go of that. I unwittingly even attempted to be fully satisfied by an earthly love. How foolish. How WRONG. Unsurprisingly, it failed. How cruel to place such pressure on another human being. No one could carry such a load. At the time, I didn't realize that that is what I was doing. But alas, I recognize it in hindsight, yet at the time of this writing it is no longer a new realization, but a valuable lesson learned.

In this song, I find words and a tune to the romance of my life. This romance is amazing. It is able to fill me up and even at times it overflows out of me. I am loved and wooed by the only One who can completely satisfy me. For Him, I sing, I dance. I rejoice in this divine romance. Please forgive me, one whom I misplaced my deepest needs upon. Lord, forgive me for looking elsewhere for that which only You can give. Earthly love is sweet and has its own wonderful purpose, but it is never meant to completely satisfy. That is Your place alone Lord. Thank You for wooing me daily in ways only I know and see. This is a truly divine romance.


The richness of Your beauty’s all I see
The brightness of Your glory has arrived
In Your presence God, I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love

A deep deep flood, an Ocean flows from You
Of deep deep love, yeah it’s filling up the room
Your innocent blood, has washed my guilty life
In Your presence God I’m completely satisfied

For You I sing I dance
Rejoice in this divine romance
Lift my heart and my hands
To show my love, to show my love

Come Thou Fount

I hadn't heard this old hymn in a very long time. To be honest, I hadn't really listened to the lyrics deeply since I've been old enough to really understand them. I heard them this week and was SO moved. Old hymns like this one are hard for a young person to understand, especially in the wording used in so many old hymns. When I was young, they were as hard to grasp as reading the King James version of the Bible. I just struggled with the old language. But this song really says how I feel in such a powerful yet beautiful way.


"Come Thou Fount"

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;

O that day when freed from sinning,

I shall see Thy lovely face;

Clothed then in blood washed linen

How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,

Take my ransomed soul away;

Send thine angels now to carry

Me to realms of endless day.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

http://www.last.fm/music/Chris+Rice/_/Come+Thou+Fount+Of+Every+Blessing

Another Little Gem

"Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread."

-D.T. Niles

Quotable

"No one overcomes the corruptions of his heart except by the enabling strength of the Spirit of God"
--Jerry Bridges