FOTD – Aug 13, Sad Day

Today we say goodbye to the beauty of my sunflowers. The tallest of the spiers was well over 12 feet high with over 15 huge blooms on one stalk. Some blooms were over 9 inches wide.

Then Wednesday a storm came through and all but one of my sunflowers hit the ground. The picture below was taken less than one minute before she snapped. The weight of even more blooms that the earlier picture proved she was no match for the wind.

The storm took out power as well as limbs and some trees. One year plus one day ago we had a derecho come through that caused massive damage to trees, crops and power. I am afraid that as our oceans warm due to human carelessness, that the collapse of that important system for the entire globe will only make our weather more erratic.

The weight of each of these blooms was almost too much to carry indoors but the are making my table beautiful for now. I had to use a heavy cut-glass vase to make sure the weight of the flowers did not pull the vase over.

But I enjoyed them so much that yes, I will plant them again next year. If you love flowers as a lot of us do, join in on Cee’s wonderful challenge of Flower of the Day. And as always I remind you of the beauty of kindness. It complements any flower of any garden.

Faith Hope & Love, Encouragement & FOTD

Faith, Hope and Love are to me the top attributes to the Christian faith. Today I want to tie that in with flowers and Cee’s Flower of the Day as I show off my sunflowers, again.

When my sunflowers started growing, because I am on the quirky side, I gave them names. Some got a name change due to how they bloomed and some remained true to their name. First we have the King and Queen. The King was the first on the scene, planted by the local bird population. King kept his name due to his flower being the largest of all at 9.5 inches (214.3mm) across. While his height was less impressive, King still stands 4.5 feet (1372mm) high. He looks to be on his way out but he actually is just about fully ripe. If you look at the top you can see the seeds starting to show their heads. Soon he will be a feast for the birds.

Queen is much more flamboyant and beautiful as any queen should be. While her blooms are much smaller at 6 in (152mm) she does showoff with14 blooms and she stands at 8.5 feet (2591mm).

As beautiful as these two are, the three that guard my gate as I go in and out have been named Faith, Hope & Love. Faith is closest to the gate to refresh me as I go in and out. Hope is furthest from the gate but like his namesake, he is strong, protective and holds the three together. Love is in the middle radiating his name by reflecting his beauty with leaves larger than my hands together.

These three have yet to show their flowers but their stature is quite impressive. Hope, on the far left, is 9.5 feet (2896 mm) tall showing 10 buds to share his smiles with those who see them. Faith, on the right, is a little taller at 10 feet (3048 mm) and seems to have only 1 colossal bud, which is fitting for our faith should be large and strong to carry us through any crisis we face. Love takes over the center position which is fitting as love should be centered in who we are and how we are. Love is also the tallest and the largest at 12.5 feet (3810mm) tall. Its stalk is so large that I can barely wrap my fingers around it. Love has more than 12 buds thus far and I still see buds forming because it is still growing. This is how our love should be – strong, with multiple buds and height to be seen from afar.

I am a firm believer that God shows His beauty of faith, hope and love in all things that he creates for us to enjoy and learn of His caring nature. So look at nature with a different eye and let the fullness of Christ fill you with its various forms of beauty.

And in closing, I always like to remind us all of the power of kindness. Kindness can calm, soothe, encourage and give hope for almost any situation. So remember to always be kind.

A Time for Laughter

There are many things that happen in our life that make us smile, bring us joy, make us chuckle and sometime make us laugh out loud. I think the current techno symbol is LOL – regardless I bring you some laughter. But to fully understand you must first understand the subject at hand.

In life, there is the purity of a child’s laughter that can make even the hardest old goof at least grin and for some of us, we laugh along with the child – even if we don’t know the child. A smile or chuckle will come from us at this simple form of purity.

Laughter is a medicine we all need from time to time which can sometimes get us out of our dulldromes. But some of us have 4-legged children that really make us laugh due to their antics. Last night my daughter was able to have her phone in hand when this happened and we both laughed about it. For those who don’t know much about basset hounds, they have a high energy spurt that lasts for about 5 minutes and then it is abruptly gone…sometimes for several hours. This is Max…

***That is King Max to my underlings…***

If you didn’t know better, his bark would sound like he was going to eat you alive. When I was growing up, my mother had one and her bark scared off a German shepherd that made the mistake of coming in our yard. But some will have to get up first, as many wont even bother as they lay there ferociously barking.

Last night Max was playing with his ball, bring it back to his mom for her to throw it again. We are not talking about a long distance throw but still…

***I’m playing,,,I’m playing…I’m done***

Even though he was done, he was not giving up the ball…plus there is no one that would want it’s wet slobbery thing anyway. I know that many of you have pets that make you laugh in much the same way, so share your pets with us as well. We all need as much laughter as possible. And as always I remind you to be kind, this too can make someone smile.

Some Morning Encouragement

Good morning friends. I hope you are all doing well. In reading my devotions this morning I remember my early teachings of what I need to do as a Christian and not understanding the rules at all. Now that I am much stronger in my faith I think back on those teachings and still somewhat disagree with how it was represented but totally understand what they were trying to say.

Being caught in an act or lifestyle of evil is a sin and makes you a slave to it. So change it and be a slave to Christ.

The word slave has such a negative feel about it that I think it turns away those who are seeking because they don’t want to be a slave again to something else, they want freedom.

If one rules another by saying, “You must do this,” and, “You will do that,” he breaks the human spirit, making it unfit for God. Oswald Chambers

But when we recognize the true attributes of Christianity – love joy peace kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self control – then being a “slave” to such things is really a freedom, a freedom from evil. When our slavery comes from obedience in recognizing who Jesus really is, then it is not slavery at all. Slavery is something you don’t want to do but loving our risen Lord is something we relish doing.

Let your soul find the fulfillment of its deepest longings in fellowship with God. Billy Graham

My hopes are that you find the beauty of joy of following Christ. He shows his love in the simplest ways and makes it easy to follow. For me, I find His presence in nature where he shows his beauty of creation. I decided to grow a few sunflowers this year and some are well over 12 feet tall. They make me laugh, especially when neighbors walk by and stop to stare. Share the love of Christ from your heart and it will always be right. Have a great week and remember to always be kind.

FOTD, July 18, Jacks Beanstalk

Spring and summer are such fun times for those of us who love playing in the dirt. Cee’s fun challenge of Flower of the Day, allows us to share this fun. I also love my birds and sometimes they help me by planting flowers with me. This year I wanted to plant a couple of sunflowers so then the birds can eat from those as we share in flowers together. So today we have “The Sunflower Collection” including one that reminds me of the story of Jack and his beanstalk. A few of these are easily 10-12 feet high but it has been so much fun watching them grow. People walking down the sidewalk always stop and enjoy them. The taller ones have not even budded out so I guess they are still growing. When fall comes and they die, I will measure them and let you know their full height.

Here is the group by my gate. My fence is 5 feet tall.

These are the ones the birds planted. Not quite as tall but lots of flowers, some not even open yet.

This one has a flower down low while it still reaches for the sky. It has a huge bud at the top.

This next one is the one I call Jack’s beanstalk. Look at the size of the stalk.

Getting under it, I was able to shoot for the sky. It gives us an idea of what Jack was seeing…sort of.

So much summer fun. I hope you enjoyed my sunflowers. I will drop off pictures as the giant ones bloom. In closing I remind us always the share the value of kindness. It does not have to be as large as a bean stalk but to the one receiving it, it may very well feel that big.

FOTD – July 5, Verbena

When watering my yard today, it was hard to pick a favorite. So many were showing their happy faces to the morning sun. But I settled on the verbena because of its varied color and multiple blooms. Some blooms even went through the fence to be seen inside the yard.

Remember to share the happiness of kindness wherever you go, it adds to the sunshine smiles of the day.

FOTD- July 1 and Last Pic for June

Good afternoon friends. I am combining two wonderful bloggers fun challenges into one since in fact a Hollyhock was the last picture on my card and its a flower. Which was not a far stretch would probably be a flower or my dog. Its a quiet life.

Cee’s Flower of the Day is always a favorite during spring and summer. But since I was cleaning off my card, it was a great time for Busyboy’s World Last on the Card for June.

I loved these when I was a kid so when I saw them at the store this spring, it was a must. The bugs really love them too but we are working on that.

Remember to share kindness wherever you go. It can create a lasting effect.

Puzzled

I am taking a course to help my writing. Today it focused on poetry, something I dabble in but am not great in. But I was taken back by the samples of poems we studied and how very sad they all were. Then the other people in the class also seemed a bit sad but loved the sadness of the poem. I was confused. The leader of the class wanted us to focus on gratitude and how we wrote about being grateful.

I understand that for some that may be difficult but for me, I just look up and around at all the beauty around us and am very grateful. Yes, there is ugliness all around as well but I think if we look more intently, we can see more beauty than ugly. I also understand that I am now safe and comfortable but I do know what it is to suffer, to be oppressed and to be the victim of abuse. I just chose to look past that and am blessed in being able to be at a point in my life where I can be grateful.

For homework, we had to write a poem about what draws us to write. So while we all have a life to live, I wrote about the beauty life can be. And thought I would share my poem with you.

Ode to Life

I step out the door, take in a breath and listen to the energy of life

The force of it comes wielding our way like a sharp unstoppable knife

I close my eyes, taking in the smells as they deftly assault my nose

Fresh mown grass and lavender compete with the sweet red rose

The tinkling of the wind chime is what I hear first

Then the hawk calls out with her shrill short burst

The bees hum softly while quenching their thirst

And birds at the feeder are fighting to be first

Life is shared on all of creation, a gift with love that is never easy

Some parts are harder than others and some parts can make us queasy

But each part has its own beauty, a beauty we find hard to see

For it is the creator intension that we should all live free

When life gets hard, we want to back away

Confrontation, not something we want to stay

But confrontations now will make us strong

Giving us wisdom to survive the throng

So come let us step outdoors, breathing in this beautiful life

Understanding some days are good and some are fully strife

If we focus more on the good, our faces will begin to smile

And the beauty of life around us will help us conquer this trial.

Anita Neal

In all of life remember the power and beauty of being kind. That in itself is a gift.

Weekend Writing Prompt #214, Unkown

Sammi Cox tells us with her challenge that Weekend Writing prompt is a word prompt to get your creativity flowing. How you use the prompt is up to you. Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise. If you want to share what you come up with, please leave a link to it in the comments. Word Prompt is:

Unknown

The hawk’s next meal is unknown to him as he soars effortlessly on the summer breeze. He sends out his shrill call to his mate or fellow hawks as they all float in the upper air drafts of the sky while scanning the earth floor below in search of an unknown victim that will be their next meal.

While all life is precious, the rules of nature are always at play. So it is always important to share kindness wherever you can, for some are victims and some are just plain lost.

Always Be Kind.

Encouragement for the Weekend

Good evening friends. Hope your week has been good. Have you ever questioned if you were doing things as God needed you to. I think we all have from time to time and after I read my Thursday’s devotion, I questioned myself enough that I had to run it by Pastor Rob. I think it’s normal to ask those questions for when we get so comfortable never to ask, then that may be a troublesome sign. And it’s funny to me how God usually finds a way to answer those questions, either through someone, a song you may hear or something that you read. When I read last night’s devotion before going to bed in Jesus Calling’s Evening edition, I had to smile at God. In paraphrase…

He is pleased when we ask questions of concern of our walk, for asking is a collaborative way of living that he had in mind for us when we were created. The more we collaborate with the Spirit, the freer we become. Freer to live in and love extravagantly and to know Him with increasing intimacy. Sarah Young

I love the comparison of a Christian to a caterpillar as we change and grow to become a beautiful butterfly in His eyes. I had this short piece below published in an anthology last year, The Sound of Brilliance, that reminds me of our struggle sometimes as a Christian being somewhat bound in a dark harsh world.

A Monarch Task

The warmth awakens me but I am tightly bound. I can’t move. My life blood is pulsing through my veins, waiting to explode. My head is pounding and screaming to break free of this dungeon. Yet, I can’t move. As cracks appear at the top of this cell, bright light is filtering in. I push with my might against the wall, as the crack begins to grow. I feel the closeness of freedom. I can taste it in the air, and feel it in the warm light. Pushing again, the binding splits. I roll out of the slit, stretching, feeling the ecstatic of freedom. The warmth strengthens me for my mission, my colors furl out refracting the light on the leaves. Time is wasting, I must hurry, only six weeks of life at best.

And while we have longer than 6 weeks to live, the struggle is the same. We push against the hardness of this world and when we begin to feel the warmth of God’s love, the stronghold of the world breaks and we have freedom of life with the Spirit inside us. The Spirit then stands beside us and guides us as we go to face the challenges we run into.

God always knows our hearts and guides us according to His will.

So I encourage you tonight to not get concerned if you have questions about where you are in your walk, for we are at different places of our walk. But feel the peace of Christ in knowing you are not doing any of this alone. Be safe and have a blessed weekend. And as always, remember to be Kind.