Tuesday Photo Challenge, Stone

Yes, I am way behind but I still want to play with the TPC challenge as I actually went hunting for ideas for this prompt. Then I took pictures of lots of things and forgot to post my pictures of stone. Some of us are more challenged than others in remembering what side of the street we need to be on. Thanks jansenphoto for the weekly fun. This week we are playing with stone and since I am late, I have already read a lot of the post and they are great.

IMG_20190924_123351 — Quad-Cities Timer Capsule

What a fun thing for a city to do to measure its growth, good or bad. Probably wont be around another 30 years to see whats in it.

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Below is another stone depicting the German immigration into the area back in the late 1800’s.

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There are several statues around town for the different peoples who fled their oppressed country to come here to start over. I will post those one day.

And remember, all of us are sometimes hurting, some a little, some a lot. Reach out with kindness and help them get through the day.

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Remember the Love

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of God. Eph. 3:17-19

First day

In my devotion today, it reminded me just how much God loves us and just how much the father of lies deceives us in making us forget that love or not believing we deserve that love.

Resist the devil in My Name, and he will slink away from you. Draw near to Me and My presence will envelop you in Love.

Always remember God is Love and that he has a hand of love reaching down to you at all times. For while you may feel like you are drowning, reach up to His loving hand and hold on.

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As you soak up this Love, remember to share it with others as He asks us to and to always be kind.

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Sunshine’s Monday Macro, Babies

Irene Tron of Heaven’s Sunshine has a marvelous challenge to play with macros on Mondays, so come play along.

My entry for today is a baby spider plant. A friend was giving a bunch away so I took a couple. We will see how it goes. My variegated ones do not make babies for some reason although they they multiply thickly in the pot.

IMG_20190921_230537 — New spider plant baby

Interesting that the leaf foliage has started but yet the white bloom is still a tiny tiny bud. new life is always exciting even in plants. I just hope my banana tree revives. I will post pictures if new leaves appear.

Remember how precious all of life is and treat all living creations with tenderness and care…and some with caution. Try to reflect the love and grace given you by God, to reach out to others to help them feel the love only God can give and try to always be kind.

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Jekyll and Hyde

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, while they are fictional characters by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a phrase we use for people having multiple ways of behaving. I think I can now use that phrase for my new puppy. Precious as she can be but coming from a large litter I think she may have been the alpha pup.

This afternoon, she had her supper, played with Mimi a bit went outside and did all her business so I though it would be safe to go downstairs to discuss supper options. Five minutes. Yea, wrong idea…

Last week a storm came through and I didn’t get the banana tree in before the wind did some damage to the two lower leaves and I had not trimmed them as I should have. Now they were hanging within reach for tug-a-war. The tree obviously lost the battle but maybe not the war. The main stem was not damaged and the ball was okay so we will see.

Reminder to self…puppies can become Mr. Hyde in a heartbeat. Prepare. She spent some time in timeout to settle down and now the vacuum has become public enemy #1. Well, it was noisy, so OK.

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And that can be a reminder to us all, that while we can sometime feel like Mr. Hyde we need to remember the damage it can cause. So let us always focus on being kind.

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I Don’t Get It but…

Going to church today, I bumped into the marathon. A 26+ mile run for fun? In the rain?As those who read my blog know I live on the Mississippi river within a 4 city metropolis called the Quad cities, with 2 cities either side of the river. This is the runningest place I have ever lived in, or maybe because of the size and layout of the land here, I see them more. This particular marathon hits all 4 cities. It takes major amounts of commitment, courage, perseverance and love of running. Some run for a cause, some for themselves to beat the last run time and some just run for the fun and enjoyment or it, regardless of the weather. I don’t get it but I admire it.

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I realize these picture are not clear, I was driving at the time, but that folds into what my true purpose of this post is about.

Runners train endless hours to be able to preform the endurance that is required for any given race. They train their bodies to withstand the pressure they may encounter, they revise their diets to help strengthen their endurance and they gear their minds into the proper mindset to be able to finish the race. Sometimes it not about a clear manor in running but that clearly you finish.

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For me, walking .2 miles can be a challenge on some days depending on what the weather is doing to my arthritic knees. But I admire the training of the runner and this morning I thought of a different thought pattern for running a race, which includes all the training mentioned above in different forms.

What if we turned our life into a race of…Running TO Jesus. What if we put a marathon’s passion of running to run toward the one who loves us more than we can imagine. I look at it as a child being lost and then being found like the prodigal some spoken of in scripture. The father running with love toward the some. Our heavenly father is forever running to us, and if we will just turn toward Him…of course it is easier to say than to do.

Or for animal loves, tears come to my eyes as soldiers are reunited with their canine loves upon their return from service. They RUN to each other with love overflowing.

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That really is what God wants from us…to run to Him with His overflowing love for us. Scripture talks about running the race of life and to run it with Christ as our goal, while in fact He is running beside us to make sure we finish with Him.

So when you see runners cheer them own and remember to run your own race to God. He never said it would be easy but it did say it would be worth it.

And while you are running, remember to reflect the love he is showing you and share it with for other to see His love.

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Kindness

An anxious heart weighs down a man,

but a kind word cheers him up.

Prov. 12:25

Come join in on Linda Hill’s One Liner Wednesday.

If you must use one line, then remember to always be kind.

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Frown to Smiles

Our attitudes toward all our of trials in this life is what helps us get through them, as long as they don’t own us. So I challenge you this day to keep your spirits bright and to not let the “Negative Nancy” get the opportunity to fill your thoughts.

Trails of Life

We start out eager and young on this wide trail of life,

In hopes of receiving great fortune and very little strife.

Curvy paths seem smooth, with beauty brightening the day

No concerns considered of what may happen on the way.

Bridge to Sunshine — Courtesy Irene Tron, Heaven’s Sunshine

But not all paths are rosy along this narrow way

And trials of life can happen causing you deep dismay

Don’t let that sadness take hold of you, creating a deep frown

But rise above that sad trial and turn it upside down.

Anita Neal

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And as always when you can smile, you can be kind so try always to be kind.

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Sunshine’s Macro Monday – Fly

I have no clue what this critter is. He is a good three inches long. His coloration of army colors is very interesting and his wings as you can see are translucent. The end of his body is weird, like he has a tail. If anyone knows, give me a shout.

Come join in on Heaven’s Sunshine Monday challenge of Monday macro.

And just a friendly reminder to let you light shine through and brighten someone else day by being kind.

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BOTD, 9/13/19, Fan of…

I am a big fan of my bird feeders. It has been fun watching them feed, fuss, fight and rest. The majority of the birds I currently see are Goldfinch. But the House finch and Purple finch are also constants at the feeders. Its interesting as the Goldfinch like the Niger(thistle seeds) better where the House and Purple like the mix with the safflower seed and black oil sun flowers. The cardinals and woodpeckers prefer the cakes of sunflower seed with the peanuts…as do the squirrels.

The Goldfinch and the Woodpecker watch each other but will guardedly share.

When the squirrel arrives, he has split second time to grab and run before Mimi goes into action. She does not approve of the squirrel in the feeder, nor does the female House finch. Then in the feeder goes empty, we have the neighborhood watch bird pecking at the window to make sure I am aware.

I know that some of these pictures I have posted in the past but it all fit for Fan of… presented by Jez Braithwaite.

And for BOTD by Granny Shot It, , we have the Mourning Dove. All my life, I thought these were Morning Doves until I got a bird book and saw they are Mourning Doves, maybe for the sad sound they make. We have two pairs around and supposedly that is supposed to be good luck for the home. All I know is I am enjoying my birds.

Hopefully we will not be mourning this day but joyous and happy sharing kindness when we can.

Our Amazing Mind, #SoCS-Blue

Our minds are an amazing gift from God that in some instances is phenomenal and in others its…Whaat??!?? I have heard it said that as long as you have the first and last letters correct and a general understanding of what is being said, your brain will make it right. On one hand that is great but on the other hand, its why writers had editors. It struck close to home when we purchased T-shirts for an community outreach program at church. We ordered shirts to let anyone know that we would pray for them right then, whatever was on their heart. What a great concept. The shirts came in, we loved them, several of us took one. I even posted one to show how excited we were about this. The next day we excitedly showed the pastor and he said “What? Did anyone proof read that before ordering?” “Well yea, we said…whats the problem…oh crap.” Three of us missed it.

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Okay I said. I can fix this so we can at least wear them, plus it will be another conversation starter. “Whatever” he said …”order new ones.”

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It just shows how our brains work for us when we don’t seem to be able to do it correctly ourselves. But it emphasizes how we all really need to care for each other and find unique ways to show we care…as in praying for each other. Those of us in the Christian religion like to say we are all brothers and sisters in Christ but it really goes deeper than that. We are all brothers and sisters period. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve…if you believe the bible is true.

I know for me, the idea of me coming from a one cell organism and developing into an ape and then into a human….yea, no. If that were true we would still be seeing that today. Now I will clarify that as there are some people who periodically act like apes and would probably get smack around by an ape if the ape saw that behavior. They don’t tolerate nonsense either.

The new shirts came in today so now we won’t embarrass the church. Funny how many people took one of those shirts with a “4” painted on it…hmmm.

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That being said, if ever I can pray for you about a specific situation or just an unspoken request just reply on any given post P4me and I will do just that.

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday by Linda Hill is blue and these shirts are blue although the coloring from house lights really change the color. Come join in and have fun and remember to always be kind. Let the ripples of kindness flow from you to the world.

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