Day 11 Something Close Up

I have been blessed with so much. I think however, that one of the nicest blessings came in the package of all my sweet grandchildren. They are all so unique and special, each one so different. When we got together for Thanksgiving the other day, I took a lot of random photos just to remember the fun of the whole day. I only took one that would really qualify as a close up but I think it is pretty cute. Those big eyes are beautiful.

Perusing My Poetry Late at Night

I was up late tonight making rolls for our Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. While I waited for them to bake, I looked through some old poetry files. Thought I'd share this one I wrote a few years ago. Bears repeating.

I've held the walls together

With tacks and safety pins,

Sometimes I've called on you Lord,

When things started caving in.

I've leaned against the falling,

And felt so very small,

A lost and broken sinner

Who couldn't do it all.

You let me struggle at my task

But helped me all along

Once I let go and trusted you

I suddenly felt strong.

Day 10 of the Great Photo Challenge - Emotion

Life is complicated. Job 14:1 says, "Man is few of days and full of trouble." Sometimes the trouble comes whether we like it or not. Sometimes we wail. Emotions overtake us.

Other days the sun shines and we feel wonderful. We laugh and we smile. Emotions overtake us then too.
 You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.  Psalm 16:11

Our faces are where emotions usually show up the most. We cry tears and our mouth turns down at the corners. Eyebrows furrow. Or our eyes light up and we smile wide enough to crack our faces were it possible.

Its common. It is how we show emotion.

When I think of expressing emotion though, there is more to it by far than just my facial expression. My best way of expressing emotion is through my fingers. I love to write and whether I am full of woes or full of joy, I like to write it down. I don't always keep what I write but it seems to bubble up out of me looking for a place to land.

So for the photo challenge, 'emotion', I'm posting a picture of my hand...and a pen.

Day 9 Photo Challenge....RED!

RED!   It was hard to decide what 'red' photo to use. I took pictures of apples and cardinal knick knacks. I took a picture of red paint on paper. I took a picture of a red leaf. Then late in the evening we went to pick up a movie. I saw red. I didn't have my camera with me so my son Rob pulled out his ipod and thus this slightly grainy, rather blurred photo. Technically I didn't take it but I did orchestrate it. See the word, red? And the box is red. There you go!

Day 8 of the Photo Challenge - Angle

There you have it! A picture of an angle...or maybe it was me that was at an angle, and a pretty weird one too, to get this shot! I got thinking how life is like this. If something doesn't look quite right or a little 'off' it may be because we aren't looking at it from the proper angle. 

I am reading a book called, 'Trusting God In a Twisted World' by Elisabeth Elliot. She points out that a lot of our sorrows and disappointments come about when we try to do things our way instead of Gods. Having problems? Try changing the angle that you look at them. Perhaps by turning them around you can make them a time of growth and spiritual strengthening instead of a time of discouragement. 

Day 7 Clouds

I just went out the back door to see if I had left anything in the back yard that needed to be brought in. Somewhere in the dark a horse was whinnying. A raccoon or squirrel rattled the branches of the hickory tree. I shivered despite the fact that it is not that cold tonight. As I was hurrying back to my warm bright house, I chanced to look up and saw the perfect photo op for today's challenge. I went back in and got my camera to take this shot of the moon.

Day 6...I Am Thankful For...

 I am thankful for the everyday things...the things that feed my life and shape it. I'm thankful that every morning when I wake up, my Bible is there waiting, that a warm cup of tea and my journal help set the pace for my day. I'm thankful for raisin bread toast and kids and grandkids coming to visit, I'm thankful for the crows that call long and loud in the fields behind our house these wet fall mornings, I'm thankful for the tidiness of rooms in my home that are finally coming together, neighbors that wave and say hello. Thankful for blogs that lift my spirits and Pinterest that fuels my creative mind even if I don't make the things I look up. I'm thankful for friends of all kinds, old ones, new ones, family ones. I am clothed and fed and loved. And I feel joyful.