I enjoy flower pictures and Cee’s FOTD is always fun. This picture I took was of a vase of flowers I had received. There is just something magical about a rose.
Be part of the beauty around you and have fun sharing the flowers you see. In closing I remind you to be kind. Kindness has a beauty all its own. You might be surprised the benefits it brings.
For Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge, I am combining close ups and macros. I took two photos of each flower, a close up and a macro, then decided which I liked best. Some I liked both. For starters, I can finally reach the bloom of one of my sunflowers because the weight of the massive bloom filled with seeds is causing the stalk to bend over. This is actually a close and a closer. The closer one you can seed the seeds.
Some of my flowers have gotten real leggy but their blooms are still beautiful.
Two variations of marigolds. You can see that the inner part has tiny blooms that open as well.
Some of the mums are hitting a second wave of blooming.
In closing we have the light pink center of a dark pink geranium.
A reminder that we don’t have to be in the center to be beautiful. Beauty, like kindness, comes from within. So, be beautifully kind.
The first of September is always a busy time. First and foremost…football starts. For those of us who loved American football, it generally breaks down into two separate categories – College and Professional – and there are fanatic fans in both categories. Usually people follow either college or pro – seldom do they follow both. For me, its college and this year we are defending the National Title.
It’s true, those of us from Georgia spell ‘dog’ as dawg…its meaner that way, Junk Yard Dawgs. And unless you are familiar with the meanness of a dog that guards a junk yard, you won’t understand the term. Our first game of this season looked real good but we will see how the entire season goes.
The second reason for it being busy is the first Monday of September is Labor Day. Labor day is a government holiday for all people who work – labor. I also find it an amusing day as my mother was in labor on labor day. Yes, it was my birthday.
My dear friends at church gave me my own birthday cake with a sunflower on it in celebration of the day and the gi-normous sunflowers I planted in the community garden of the church.
Now we can get ready for fall for two months then its my favorite season to prepare for…Christmas. It take me two weeks just to get the village up, there are 5 trees to get up and this year we are playing outside…so who know what all that will be. I will post lots of pictures.
In the mean time, enjoy fall. The colors will be changing soon and hopefully this year we will actually get a fall. Last year it was 2 weeks, then it snowed. Oh well, life in the midwest.
I encourage you all the be kind. All created beings thrive on kindness, so allow all to thrive.
Cee’s challenge this week is a favorite – Nature.
There are so many directions to go in….
Nature is a gift from God for us to enjoy each day as we open our eyes to see the beauty that is in front of us, regardless of the season. We people have a nature and the strongest component is kindness.
I recently bought a new humming bird feeder because the others kept leaking. I was using my phone camera for these, but they did come out kind of neat. Hope you enjoy them. I need to buy a lens for my camera that do closeups better.
They are such cool little creatures. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. remember to be kind.
Again we are faced with the question from Cee…is it flower or weed…and what really is the difference. I figure its a person perspective whether the gardening gurus of the world recognize the beauty enough to place it in his garden. But to the Creator above, I think He loves them all.
This lovely four petaled beauty has deep purple veins against a lavender petal. A small flower but striking in my mind. And the leaf eating critters loves it leaves as they are filled with holes. So I give you little purple flower with yellow stamens.
As you go about you day, remember all things love kindness, even flowers. So be kind to all things.
Devereaux Frazier and Beth Amanda are currently hosting the Tuesday Writing Prompt Challenge which was started by our star writer Christine Ray. We hope to offer all of you something that will spark your creativity and willingness to participate.
I thought I would accept this challenge as I needed something to do but as I finished it…it was an 8 page short story instead of a poem…so we are backing up and punting. Hope you enjoy.
Beauty Within
The beauty concealed that is within
A reflection of what has always been
It is not a hopeful of what could be
But a timeless picture of what we see
A yellow rose concealed in joy
Is a timeless flower for us to enjoy
And in closing, I remind us as always to be kind. Kindness shows a beauty beyond time.
I have many devotions I read each morning. Some are here in WordPress, some are other online devotions and some are purchased books. I find them a good jump start to my day to help me focus on the Lord and not the circumstances I face that day. Today’s devotion in My Utmost for His Highest spoke exactly about that.
Oswald Chambers reminded us “If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour ‘rivers of living water’”.
That’s kind of an odd saying if you are not familiar with its meaning. For me it means that regardless of how desperate I may feel, the love of God is flowing in me, through me and out of me. Rivers of living water come from the attributes we receive when we follow God and are then filled by the Fruit of the Spirit.
Whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light”. Oswald Chambers
So I encourage you today, regardless of the difficulty you may be facing, let Christ’s living waters flow through you so that you can feel the peace of His love. Then let the fruit of the spirit attributes become part of you as now He is part of you. And remember in all that you do to always be kind.
Even though the yard is slowly changing seasons, it still has much to say about its beauty. The Flower of the Day challenge by Cee always brings smiles to all of us across the world as we share what we see.
Today my begonias are beginning to show some fall leaf color as the nights are cooling down but days are still warm.
As the season changes, let us not change in showing the beauty of kindness.
Since I have been bird watching, I see that all creatures have slight variations even in the same specie. We humans are short, tall, fat, skinny and various shades of skin tone but…we are created by the same creator, in His image…according to how I believe.
And variation concept is true for the animal kingdom and it is how those who work with wildlife can tell the different individual animals apart, like zebra’s stripe patterns are individual. Again, same creator.
I always thought the one exception to the rule was birds. Yes you can always recognize the bird type but if you look close, there are variations. Case in point, our beloved cardinals…
This is a beautiful red cardinal from early this spring. Rich red body, red top crest and black face and neck area, large triangle beak. We are all familiar with this bird in the US. However…
Today, this cardinal stopped at the feeder.
Same size bird, the beak seems slightly larger but his color is the most striking. He is not a bright red so I don’t know if that is a seasonal change but the biggest difference is his entire head is black. And there seems to be more black than usual mixed in his tail feathers. He is still beautiful. A difference in creation I guess. I think it is a reminder to us that in God’s eye we are perfectly beautiful, even though we may look different. Even identical twins are different in subtle ways.
So I send this out to all who may read it to remind each of us that we are all special in our own creation from God for a purpose only fully known by Him. So listen to His voice as he guides you for the purposes He has just for you, so that you can enrich His kingdom and those around you. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us…
Have a safe and blessed weekend and remember to be kind in all that you do.
