So I knew it was going to be rough on my flowers without the care I usually give them while I have been recovering from surgery. But mums are resilient, right?? There was sufficient rain except the last 2 weeks but with that being said – why did the tomato plant that was thrown away before surgery due to mostly being dead is now looking great. Really? Gardening can really be a challenge in various levels, especially for those of us who are doing it just for fun and are not real experienced.

Just like the challenges of blogging, we are exploring it many facets and learning as we go. Shelley of Quaint Revival 30 Day Challenge for newbies concentrates today on blogging challenges. Challenges and ping back opportunities are great ways to help you learn about blogging but I was easily trapped periodically by the many rabbit holes that would take you into the many directions making me forget my original search.

But what I have discovered about blogging and myself is there is an entire world out there to remind me of some of the things I use to love but had to lock away due to raising 3 children by myself and being in a high stress profession demanding more than the 8-5 requirements. A balancing act required for my life at the time.

That rolls us into the challenges of life. They can be daunting, scary, wonderful and always amazing in  more ways imaginable. We must always face those challenges with honesty and encouragement that the outcome will be worth the challenge. Always remember if God lead you to it, it will see you through it. If we stay positive in all that we do, surrounding all of those we meet along the way with gentleness, compassion and understanding think how much good energy we can spread across the world.

Always be Kind, regardless of any challenge that may slap you in the face.

Have you ever though about the difference between a father and a daddy. In my thought process they are worlds apart. One is formal, one is casual, once is authoritarian one is involving. I made a drawing as a youth once for my father that puts that thought process in a nutshell. Anyone can father a child but it take someone special to be a daddy. There are daddy’s in families that did not father the children in the family but they are the father role models for the family.

But there is another father I want to speak of. Our Heavenly Father. The ultimate father authoritative figure. That  figure sometimes scares people away because they do not understand it. As with the earthly fathers, he only wants whats is best for us and is not happy sometimes when  we repeatedly say no or do things he has repeatedly told us not to do. Does he strike out in that anger, no but he does hold us accountable. It is Jesus that steps in to buffer for us. We are the given children. But remember – Jesus is a part of God but that is for another day’s discussion.

A daily devotion group I study is Girlfriends in God and they shared the most wonderful devotion breaking down of the names for God and the importance of having a relationship with God. And it is very hard to have that relationship with out knowing the name of the person with whom you are trying to have a relations with. I will hit a few of the highlights but do go by and read the entire article. It made me feel warm inside. Mary Southerland did a fantastic job to assure me in my thinking.

While the Israelite’s were wandering the desert, they were still unsure of leaving Egypt but Moses assure them of all that God was and that he did for them. God told Moses he want him to be on a first name basis with him. He told him my name is Yahweh Jehovah. Yahweh mean ‘I am’ so when the people needed him they would call him and he would provide their needs. In Exodus the people were always fearful and God would meet those needs changing his last name as the needs implied. Jehovah Jireh meaning provider as he gave then quail and manna to eat while in the desert. Later he was Jehovah Shalom meaning peace.

The name that resonates with me the most and the reason for this post is when Jesus himself  cried out to God, Abba Father – Dearest Daddy.  Wow what an encouraging name for us to hold onto. As life may beat us up and we fall to our knees, we can cry out to Him and like our daddy’s would wrap us in his arms when we were young, imagine what our Dearest Daddy will do the same as His comforting arms wrap us in peace and love. Don’t ever forget how much you are loved. You are a creation of purpose because in a child’s own words – ‘God don’t make no junk’.

Think on the wonderful relationship you had with your dad growing up. That is what God wants for you to have with Him. If you relationship was not that great with you dad, then how marvelous a relationship you can have with God just for the asking.

Just reach out to Him…   

Sometimes reality is pure fantasy since perceiving reality can be assessed on an individual basis making it seem, to others who may not share you perception, as surreal.

According to Webster – Surreal is a mixture of fact and fantasy. That also can be assessed on an individual basis depending on who is doing the perceiving. I think that a lot of my days may need a reality check.

In the mid 1900 a new movement for art and literature sprouted called surrealism. According to Webster – Surrealism sought to release the creative potential of an unconscious mind.  WHAT?

I loved art growing up and decided to be an art major until I got to college and became somewhat disillusioned by the modern art era of the 70s. I could not get my head around it so leaned back on my second love of building things – still creating but with computers instead of paint. Now that I am grown and understand my thought process better, what I should have studied is photography. Photography is a medium of reality that makes sense to my individual self. You can photograph the beauty of the skies, the mountains, fields of flowers or tiny reflective dew drops on the grass.

There is also the photography of surrealism but as I stated earlier, my brain can’t really go there without turning my head to the side like a dog when  he is totally curious as to what he is seeing.

When we talk about things being surreal in life I think it leans more on not fully understanding what was trying to be conveyed. It doesn’t makes sense to an individual person so they perceive it to be surreal.

OK, enough confusion for me for one day. In Shelley’s 30 Day Challenge she asked us to describe what about blogging we felt was surreal. I guess I am too knew at to know as a lot of things are still missing. But I will get there.

A shout out to the Carolina’s who are still in the hot seat of Florence. Both of my son’s families are in mid and west NC, so I am staying in close contact with them.

An encouraging note to all of us who are doing this part time, or for fun or for connecting with those on the other side of these computers, enjoy yourselves. Enjoy the experience and the sights unseen by us but shared by those who share what they see. In this cyber age, we can use this as a means to communicate and create new friends.

Regardless of the college sport you may be interested in, it’s the mascot the ties the the team and the fans together. Today’s mascots have a much athletic ability as the cheerleaders and cheerleaders are in a league of their, literally. And all of it ties in to the college team experience and the excitement and energy of the game makes memories you will not forget.

The colleges also use the mascots as ways to make money by creating toys that gans by to show their support.

Mascots are also wonderful inspiration off of the field doing many humanitarian efforts at hospitals that help encourage healing of those who are sick. So today’s post has a different type of encouragement for all of us as we love our football, whether it be college or pro, remember not just the players but all those who help increase our enjoyment of watching the game.

I tie this post into Shelley’s Quaint Revival 30 Day Challenge, Debbie Smyth’s Traveling with Intent Six Word Saturday and Linda G Hills Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

Come join in on the fun and find ways to inspire others.

When we normally think of loneliness we combine it with sadness and the weight bearing of not being loved. But I think we are totally missing the opportunity to be loved. When we are at our lowest point is when God can show up and bring us an immeasurable amount of peace. John 14:27 tells us of Jesus’ comforting words with “Peace I leave with you; My Peace I give you.”

God shows us in many way His love for us and sometimes in the quiet of the moment. I like to use these quiet moments to focus on my situation, my path or my next step.  Am I following my true self; am I still following the path Christ has led me to; am I being a light to someone who may be drowning in the darkness of what loneliness can explode itself to be.

It is my firm opinion that life is teamwork with numerous relationships created between you and God, you and your family and you and your neighbors and those neighbors may be across the world. There are 12 listed fruits of the spirit but the 6 I listed are my favorites and using these gifts, we can pull the most lonely person out of the pit of hurtfulness and despair.

With all the GOODNESS that is gifted to us by our God, it is imperative we share it with the whole team(and that means everyone, everywhere) especially when one of us needs that moment of encouragement, love and joy. Maybe just a big ole hug.

Today’s post is part of Shelley’s Quaint Revival 30 Day Challenge for new bloggers to help us get better at this type of communication. Come join in on the fun.

What a fun things to do…blogging. It is such a fun way to say HI across the entire globe and when you add pictures you are showing your new friends what you see as beautiful, what scares you, what inspires you and so on. As the old saying goes “A picture is worth a thousand words” and its true. Pictures take you on a journey of imagination and tie the photographer and the viewer together in shared companionship. With this particular post I am going to share some of my liked photos(can’t really have a favorite) and some of the photographers. The photographers that are tied in on Word Press I will include their link. Go visit their work and enjoy the photography.

First lets think on the beauty of nature with majestic mountains, exquisite sunrise, or the delicateness of flowers. These were either mine or from friends on Facebook.

This challenge prompt was tied to Shelley’s Quaint Revival 30 Day Challenge and her photos for todays challenge were nice. Especially the cloud which I reposted.

Another cloud formation I though remarkable is actually a satellite photo from Dave in the path of Florence. For those in this storms path, know there are many praying for you and wish you to be safe.

Other pictures from here in Iowa from the combination of major summer storms combines with Gordon tropical depression on the rivers in the area. Water can be devastating and its power needs to be respected.

With storms in our life we need to understand we all have to learn to help each other and in todays post by Paul he showed the importance of protecting pets in the way of storms by reposting an article by Mary Jo DiLonardo.

On a lighter side of our animals are the fun pictures we post showing the love and silliness of our pets and what they do to make us smile. My dog Mimi is exceptionally…umm…gifted?

All in all pictures are a medium to our soul. They make us feel what the photographers are seeing and feeling which enhances our blogs and make people more interested in what we are trying to say.

I love the photos of Debbie Smyth of Traveling with Intent. Check out her blog as she has wonderful photographs from around the world.

Then closer to home there is Dan Antion of No Facilities as he shares his walks with Maddie and better yet on Thursdays does a challenge on Doors  and this amazing challenge is tied to Norm’s challenge. Challenges are fun as they help you to grow, laugh and see the world from a different angle. Plus there are many other bloggers who I enjoy that  have no listed.

So as you continue on with blogging add some soul so that we can tie closer to your heart. May you have a great weekend and those in the path of Florence I pray for your safety.

Tomorrow is a big day. I have hopeful anticipation…but what if the answer is no…oh the agony of it all. It has been 5 weeks since surgery on my foot to correct some bone alignment which was causing bunions. Simple surgery, only 1 1/2  hour but the balancing on 1 foot has gotten old real fast. Yes, I have this little cart but I am home bound due to stairs. The Dr. told me I would be able to drive since it was my left foot, yay, but that requires me being able to get to my car. Oh yea, steps again. That’s a negative ghost rider.

Have you ever tried balancing on 1 foot to get on and off the toilet. Its rather comical to watch the gyrations of spastic movement. Stitches came out last week and if x-rays are good then I can do some minimal “heel” walking.

I fuss at myself for being whinny as I watched a boxer on TV the other day walking and running around on his front legs with no issues whatsoever.  Due to a deformity at birth he lost both back legs. And loving people understood the importance of his life and gave him a home and a chance to be loved and to love. There is nothing like the love of a dog when  he has been given a second chance at life. They know it.

We get so use to being able to do the things we can do that we get frustrated when  we no longer can do our normal routine. It gives you a real wake-up call if you consider the permanently disabled. So I am hoping to learn from this experience and be more aware of those with physical issues for others and help in any way that I can.

As we go through this life remember what is really important – Love. And that can be done with no limbs at all if need be. Always remember how very blessed you are and what a wonderful blessing you can be to someone else. God always has a plan and He uses all of our situations to open our eyes to something he is trying to tell us. Let us not miss the lesson.

One Liner Wednesdays is Linda Hill’s fun way to share each other ideas. Come join the fun.