Month: August 2019

Fun Night Out

Sometimes you need a real distraction of fun to help rejuvenate your mindset. Last night was on of those. I was asked to come participate and face paint in the annual family night out at a small community south of where I live. It just so happened that the event was the same night that the local fire and rescue did their training so they combined the two to the children’s utter delight. And I even got caught in the spray accidentally(??) hmmm?? But it was a lot of fun. It was setup on a playground with a large pavilion where mountains of food were brought out by everyone. They played kickball on the ball field with other games, chalk drawings on the tennis court, me face painting and of course the highlight was the fire & rescue guys.

The camaraderie of small town life was very evident and it reminded me of the love we should always share with our fellow man. Everyone was kind, nurturing of all the little ones there. I had to laugh at one dad as he handled his daughter’s teasing whine. After the water “fight” some of the parents had remembered to bring towels and one dad wrapped his shivering 5 year old daughter in a towel as she stood in my line for face painting. Her older sister told  him “I am cold too”. He didn’t miss a beat and remarked “Yea, and your 11 and know where they are.” Awesome. I just laughed at him. The loving banter in families is such a gift that does not get used as much as it should. It shows caring and nurturing while also showing training of responsibility and self sufficiency.

As this country, even this entire world, is in a defined battle of good versus evil, this family closeness needs to be strong. There needs to be the strong family bond around a central theme – love. May we all pray for that in all of our families. Enjoy the photos I have enclosed and remember to always be kind. There are over 40 versus in the bible that speak of God showing the importance of kindness and how kindness ripples our through the world spreading goodness as it goes.

kind ripples

 

I tag in with Granny Shot it and her new challenge of Water Water Everywhere. That certainly was the issue last night.

Vinca, Resilient Little Flower, FOTD

What a weather roller coaster this area has ridden this year.  Record snow fall, record cold, 90+ day flood, and now record heat and back to drought after all that water. And still nature shows her beauty. This is my first year planting Vinca’s but they are so hearty I will make sure to plant them next year.

I have enclosed all three colors – don’t want any flower’s feeling hurt at not being included – yes they have feeling too. Just ask the shrimp test, another post for another day.

Let’s enjoy the beauty of Vincas.

Cee’s fun prompt that allows us to share our flower pictures is Flower of the Day. Come join in and see the beauty all around. And as always, remember to be kind.

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How Do You Value Your Worth?

Everyone who reads my posts knows I always try to encourage and show kindness and try to remind others to do the same.  The message below is a strong message of encouragement and hope to prove your worth to God.

I believe those of us in the Christian faith, even though we may go to different churches and may have different ideas of how to worship, we understand  that we all serve and worship the same God, the same Jesus Christ. The message below is a wonderful message wrapped around the story of the lost coin and how God values every single lost coin, every single lost person. It was he who created us and he does not want to lose a single coin to the father of lies.

If you have the time and interest take a listen and realize just how valuable you are in God’s eyes. If you have limited time, fast forward to about 10:30 on the timer and listen to the last 9 minutes. I think it will do a lot of good to those of us who struggle with self worth due to the negative world around us.

Always remember the value you have in God’s eyes, and remember the value of those around you in God’s eye and try to reflect his love and kindness.

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Today’s Flower of the Day, FOTD

This summer has been exceptional for lilies. Those in my yard are just about gone but they are still beautiful around the church so I am posting one of the normal color I knew growing up.

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Day Lily

Cee has given us such a fun prompt for summer with FOTD. What ever are we going to do when it snows, oh yea, the bottom have of the globe gets to play.  Enjoy the flowers as you have them, then go to the inside botanical gardens when it gets cold so you can still smile and enjoy their beauty.

Flowers for me inspire hope. Hope inspires encouragement. Encouragement inspires kindness. Kindness in spires Joy. Joy = beauty in flowers. A never ending cycle.

May we all share hope, encouragement, kindness and joy in all that we do. Spread it thick like jelly on toast so that all can taste it.

toast

 

More Fun with Macro, SMM-3

In refilling the bird feeder at the church this morning, I took several pictures for FOTD but latched onto the one below for Irene’s Sunshine’s Monday Macro. I call it “Flower and Friend”.

Flower and friend

I think the flower is a type of Coreopsis but not sure about his friend, maybe some type of stick bug?

Friendship is how we survive this world, so remember to be a friend and be kind….but gentle….

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Sorry, in kind of a silly mood today…actually got some sleep last night. Have a great week.

A Little Humor for Your Evening

I am a firm believer in the healing powers of laughter. It changes our current mindset so that we can “reboot”. A dear friend sent this to me and while you may have seen it before, read them again, smile, reboot and sing a long.

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The highway hymns are more truth than humor….

Try to be lighthearted and kind. It may the spark you need to brighten your day as well as others.

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Word Power, Good and Bad

Time to be serious. The blogging world is a wonderful place for friendships, creativity, sharing amazing photographs and…expressing opinions. I am a Christian and those who read my words know that my main platform is kindness. In December of last year I wrote a post about taming the tongue vs being kind. I have linked it in case someone wants  to read or reread it. Words have power whether they are spoken or written and that power should never be misused to hurt any living being. Animals may not understand your words but they KNOW your tone and can tell if you are being mean or kind. And way too often we wound instead of bless.

“Words have such great power to bless or wound.” Sarah Young

(Pictures courtesy of Google Photos)

I was reminded this morning with my morning devotion of the importance of watching what we say.

“The ability to verbalize is an awesome privilege.” Sarah Young

Ephesians 4:29 tells us – “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Now as I read that I also realized that those who listen could also be bystanders. People all around us everyday are watching to see what we do in any given situation and will use it accordingly. God gave us two ears but 1 mouth for a reason. James 1:19 tells us – “be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. 

Being in control of our mouths helps gain control of any situation but we must always control with love. In this way, your speaking becomes more positive than negative and the response you receive in return will be more positive than negative. With more positive energy in the air, more joy will be allowed to infuse the area.

So I encourage you to be mindful of your words, spoken and written to allow for a more positive world that we live in and let the joy of our hearts fill the earth.

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Kindness, joy, peace, happiness…..

(Pictures courtesy Google Pictures)

Always try to end with kindness…and here is one of my most favorite pictures to date to help you smile.

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Dogs DO smile!

Flower of the Day

Wow, this summer is really zooming by. My flowers have been amazing and I will miss them while they sleep. My Gerber daisies have really been nice and are my feature for today’s FOTD of Cee’s daily challenge for flower beauty.

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After a good drink of water

In honorable mention of a most “un-wow-moment” flower I give you the…

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tomato blossom

Tomato blossom may nit be especially beautiful but it does give us a marvelous fruit to enjoy through the summer. Thought I would give them a high five. Remember that the little guys of life need encouragement, so remember to always be kind.

kind8

 

Fun With August Colors & Letters

Today is August 3rd, a beautiful Saturday, and a new feeder has been added to the yard. CitySonnet’s challenge for today is the letter F so I have a House Finch be the first visitor to the new feeder.

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House Finch

I had heard that saffron seeds were a favorite of some birds and not a favorite of squirrels, so we are giving a new food a try.

Come join in all month to see the wide variety of pictures that come from our camera’s eye.

I also tie in with Granny Shot It and her prompt of Bird of the Day. I enjoy the several types of Finches that graze at my feeders.

It has been great to tie in with Cee’s Challenge list so that you can add in other people’s fun with prompts and photography. 

As you enjoy everyone’s view on natures beauty, remember to share that beauty with a smile and the kindness of its beauty.

kind smiles