Author: anitashope

Retired Quality Manager but still have the "Why" curiosity drive so I am turning my love for Christ and nature into my new why chase and am trying to discover more of His word as it relates to His love for His creation.

The Escapist Coloring Club

Linda G Hill challenges us to participate in adult color attempts and a lot of you are quite good. So even it if is just refrigerator art, come join along for the April fun. We all need positive viewings and happy thoughts for now.

Now that we are having more “down” time, more coloring is done. I keep forgetting to do a before picture, sorry. I know it is spring but I felt this picture needed woodsy fall colors.

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As we all go through this scary time, my prayers and well wishes shout out to everyone across the world. Hopefully we will soon see a decline in cases and we can all come together with real hugs.

During this time know the utmost need for kindness and share it distantly but often. Even a kind smile and wave across the street can be uplifting.

76 Adorable Kindness Quotes and Sayings | Distance relationship quotes

 

Reflections of Love

Hello everyone, I hope you are all safe and well.  I copied this from my daily devotion to my church family. I though it would be a good reminders while we are stuck on our homes to remember God is still holding us in love.

Today is a day of pranksters and tom foolery but I challenge us to make it a day of love with smiles. 1 John to me is a nuts and bolts of God. First off – God is Light – 1:5: –God is light: in him there is not darkness at all.  Second – God is Love – Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Third – God is Life – 5:11-12 – God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the son has life. Lastly,  but not in 1 John – He is King – Rev 19-16 – On his robe and across his thigh he has his name written KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

If he is my King, which he is, and I am his child, which I am, then that makes me a princess. I can  live with that and even though my crown is seldom straight and sometimes not even showing, he will loving turn me around and fix it  then remind me of who I am and what I am supposed to be doing.
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For those who know me, know that I am a major lover of animals and believe nature can sometimes teach us the very nature of God, for God created them as well and God is love. So I leave you with some pictures of other things God creates and how they in turn reflect his very nature of love.
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Always remember the PROFOUND love he has for you and let it encourage your heart today.  And as always remember to be kind. It is the very essence of God.
kind Eph

Encouragement and Hope in the Storm

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In a world surrounded by the same pandemic attacking countries with no reason of sanity with over 720 thousand cases across more than 150 countries, we are scared. We are all in this together praying for the same cure. In our state today we lost an infant. An infant who had not had enough time to grow any type of immune system. A virus that shows no apathy to the young, the old, the sick or the weak and carried by loved ones who mean no harm.

But I believe in our God. A God that loves every single person on this planet regardless of their religion because he did not create a religion for us to follow. He created us to follow him. He wants a true relationship with you and you with him. He loves you.

Musicians are wonderful tools God uses to remind us that he is always there for us to come to. They write songs of courage, remembrance of his love, remembrance of our love for him and we lean on those songs in hard times.

Casting Crowns wrote a song that I think fits well with the situation this world is finding itself in and how we just need to lean on him and Praise Him in the Storm.  And while  God sometimes can calm a storm, sometimes he allows the storm to rage while calming us with reassurance that he is in control. Allow your heart to praise God in this current storm and feel his calmness reassurance for you.

Sometime when the storms seem out of control, kindness can come in forms to help settle your heart. Be that calmness for others who so desperately need it.

kind storm

Proof is in … the Picture?

When you have one of those mild winters you automatically expect spring to be quicker, at least I do. I know it is still March, and today is 44 degrees but I am ready. Yesterday I saw my first Gold Finch to my feeder, one male and one female.

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I do apologize for what looks to be a bag of garbage in my yard. That is actually home brewed mulch for a raised bed I am adding in front of those firs this spring. Didn’t want to have to carry it to the back and bring it back to the front.

So with the sights of birds and flowers coming up, I am getting more ready, especially since we are home-bond for who knows how long. Hopefully the curve will soon start to flatten and we can begin to relax. I do lift prayers daily for world as so many countries are being taken by storm of this pandemic with the US being the highest number of cases.

Once this storm is passed I hope to get my front fenced in so that I can be outside in the yard with the puppies at the same time without a leash being involved. We both then can be free to move and play. So I shine out hope for quick recovery for all of us and the warmth of spring to come soon. May you all be safe and as always, remember to be kind, especially while this storm is unleashing upon us.

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Monday Windows, Even in the Restroom

Ludwig has a fun post for showing off windows you see. Since we are “sheltered in place” I am going through archives and found this one that I don’t think I have ever shared. To help understand the history of this window, in 1985 a storm came through our town and crashed the steeple through the roof of the church taking out the pipe organ and nursery among other things. So in the repairs, they also decided to make some much needed renovations to the areas of damage. One was to add restrooms to the sanctuary floor. Now while you are thinking this is odd, this building is over 100 years old and with a couple of renovation already under its belt, it was now  4 floors for people to meander about and get lost in if you have never been there. So the majority of the plumbing was downstairs, except for the fellowship where other restrooms were available. But nothing much for the main sanctuary floor. And of course this building being over 100 years old was filled with beautiful stained glass windows. Now we have restroom on the main sanctuary level…with stained glass windows. Something you don’t find in  every church.

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I am also sharing my favorite window which I know I have shared. Yes it is crooked because I didn’t take into account I was standing on a slanted floor.

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I have hopes you are all staying safe and sheltering as much as you can. Remember in all that you do to always be kind, especially now as our lives seem more stressed that at other times.

Kind fire

 

Beauty In Life, SMM

Irene of Heaven’s Sunshine has a Monday post of macro photography, and while I only have my cell phone, it does a pretty decent job. Since my state is “shelter in place” we are not out and about but after the spring snow from last night, about 2 inches, I just had to walk around the block. It was early and no one much was out but the distinct sound of the wood peckers tat-tat-tat could be heard as it echoed through the quiet morning. The first couple of pictures follow the “macro” theme but I am also including the beauty I saw this morning of the naked trees draped in the graceful beauty of white as they stretch their limbs toward heaven, something we need to do as well in this time of challenge and sadness. May you all be safe during this time.

Hope you enjoy a few of the 40+ pictures I took from this best kind of snow – beauty with clear streets – not that I am going anywhere…

 

 

 

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And as always, remember the beauty of life, even in dark times. There is always a silver lining even though it may be too small to see – it can be felt.

Isaiah encouragement

CFFC, Fun With the Past

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge allows us to bring fun from our archives or new pictures that reflect ideas from the picture above : Mural, covered bridge, car, green, grass, vintage car, people, trees, road, flowers, landscape, sidewalk, or come up with your own topic.

So below are some of my pictures of the past. Since we are venturing out less right now, I felt this was a fun way to deal with the self quarantine.

Mural, one of several from my town, Rock Island Illinois:

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Centennial Bridge between Iowa and Illinois and blue sky:

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Flowers, can’t wait until spring:

Landscape & trees around town:

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Old cars:

We are now in a time of more fear and resentment and the need for kindness and patience is drastically needed more than ever. Remember to always be kind especially when others are not. Be the light they need.

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The Fun We Expect & Beauty Too, SoCS

Linda G Hill challenged us to write something for Stream of Consciousness Saturday with words including ect, so here we go….

The exceptional subject matter photographers use here on WordPress are an amazing way to enjoy the perfect beauty of this world we live in – even with all of it disrespectful ugliness.  So today I post some respectful beauty from bloggers here, one I respectfully downloaded. I expect you to at least enjoy the picture if not the short notes.

Foggy Sunrise
Photo by  Irene Tron of Heaven’s Sunshine

Fog

Like smoke

Fills the forest

In the eerie morning

Quiet

 

Jez Sunrise
Photo By Jez Braithwaite of Jez Photos

Dawn

Brightly emerges

On open sea

To start a new

Day

Altoona
From FaceBook of Lake Altoona in Georgia

Beautiful

Orange sky

At day’s beginning

To help us enjoy

Life

And in all things remember the value of kindness and let it fall expectantly from you.

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Lent, Is it For You? Is it Biblical?

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The practice of lent goes back to the 4th century, 325 actually, so no, it is not mentioned in the bible…but…(don’t you just love(sarcastically) a but when someone seems to agree with you and then turns a corner)…the practices spoken of with lent are scriptural, just not called lent. Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter. Why 40 days? It symbolizes Jesus fasting in the desert to prepare him for saving us. So now people associate lent with fasting from food.

From what I can surmise, in 325, Emperor Constantine and the Nicaea Church held the first Church council and created the Nicene Christian Traditions which is based on Christian ideology. And Lent was part of those traditions. In the 5th century the church ideology split, then it split again in the 11th century with the catholic church, then again in the 16th century with the Protestant reformation. I say all that historical gibberish to show how different we all do God, Jesus and church. It doesn’t make us right or wrong in how we do it as long as we truly follow scripture. To me you can boil down religion into two questions – Who Is God & Jesus to you and what are you going to do with that belief and information. The way you prioritize that information is the reflection of your heart.

If you look at lent’s true purpose, it is an inward reflection of your Christian ways. What am I doing that has become 1st in my life instead of Christ being 1st in my life. The second chapter of Joel explains how desperate the Israelites were. They had turned from God (which is a repeat pattern even with us today) and God allowed them to suffer to try to get their attention. A plague of locust has destroyed everything and they were literally starving. Vs. 12-13 says Even now, declare the LORD, return to me with all of your heart…Rend your hearts and return to the Lord your God.

Lent is a 40 day true inward reflection with fasting to get you back on track with God and Jesus. It does not have to be a food fast. It can be anything that you do a lot and when you reach for that food, item of entertainment or whatever you chose to fast from and it is temporarily gone, your focus can then turn to God and why you chose that item to fast from for 40 days. And hard inward reflection. Me, I am choosing emotional fasting from the list below. I have tried food fasting but with health issues, its just not practical – I am watching the clock too much and missing the whole point of why I am fasting.

The biggest thing I need to turn from with inward reflection comes from my mouth. I found a list online from a pastor and I revised it to better fit me and what I want my goals to be so that I can be a better reflection of Christ.

Lent

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. Its official name is ‘Day of Ashes’ so called because of the practice of rubbing ashes on one’s forehead in the form of a cross.

Jesus prepared for his mission of saving us by spending 40 days of fasting in the desert. Let us honor Him by fasting for 40 days in preparation for Easter by giving up all forms of negativity and turn our hearts toward the love of Christ by reflecting His positive beauty of hope.

  • Fast from hurtful words and strive to always be Kind
  • Fast from sadness and be filled Gratitude and Joy
  • Fast from anger and be filled with Patience and Gentleness
  • Fast from pessimism and be filled with Optimism and Hope
  • Fast from worries and trust in God
  • Fast from speaking and focus on Listening
  • Fast from stress and be filled with Prayer
  • Fast from selfishness and be filled with Generosity

So even though my church does not practice lent, that does not mean I can not have an inward look at how I am showing my Christian beliefs and see if I need some fine tuning. We should always look for ways of improving our spiritual selves. The practice of ashes on the forehead in the form of a cross reflects of the bible speaking of from dust we are made and to dust we will return. That is a message of truth for our bodies…BUT..our hearts, our mind and our souls – that’s what we have to rend to God because that is what lives forever to those who love God.

And the first item on the list is Be Kind…

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