My flowers have been exceptional this year. Don’t know if it was because of the wet spring we had or what but I have enjoyed them.
Flowers make me smile. Smiling makes me feel happy. Happiness creates ability to share kindness. May we always have flowers somewhere so that we can always be kind.
I love Cee’s challenge of Flower of the Day. Come join in.
I enjoy doors and windows. That is where the character and soul of a building reside. Norm’s weekly challenge of doors shows so may beautiful doors. You catch yourself as you drive around town – “Oh look at that door’, where before you may never have noticed. Come join in on Norm’s Thursday Doors and see the beauty and creativity of builders and other bloggers photographs.
Mine this week jumps from churches, to homes, to businesses…ending with a cemetery.
Church doors…
A couple of businesses….as you can tell, I am a fan of stonework
Homes…
And last but not least the forgotten door of too many years gone by…with a tree growing in the mausoleum’s roof…
As you see the interesting doors around you, remember when you go through one, you enter into the world and life of that building. Respect its story to be told and share it if possible. Just like people, they all have a story, so share its story of beauty and remembrance and always be kind.
Doors and windows are the very breath of a building. They either let people go in and out or they let light and air in and out. Old architecture has always fascinated me with the intricate details they used with masonry and stone. Below are a few from around town that I thought were interesting.
Ludwig has invited us to join his challenge Monday Windows to post your “Monday Window” photos on your blog. Tag your post Monday Window and add #MondayWindow in your text. See other window post here.
Norm has always let us show amazing doors so I am glad someone came up with windows as both show the beauty and heart of a building.
Windows let in the light of day and shine out the light of man at night. Always let your light shine though your window and be kind.
This is a post of many mixed emotions and possibly a thought just for the black hole of the universe with each person having their own opinion with most of us have a leaning one way or the other. I took a walk the other day for quiet reflective thinking and left being sad and upset. Why was this not fixed? How can this remain this way? Does no one care?
Life is a cycle, I think everyone agrees with that. Babies are born, become young children, grow into crazy teen, then young adults, and so on until we die. We as living beings don’t like talking about death as it seems a scary thing. But in reality, its just a part of life. We don’t know what to expect so we fear it, or we lean on our faith with hope and strength. My faith tells me that with my very last breath, I die. Only to take my next breath with Jesus. It is that fast.
Scripture tells us that when God made Adam, he was made from the dust of the earth. Gen 2:7, the Lord formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being. Gen 3:19, tells us that from dust we came and into dust we will go. In my opinion of how I understand the scriptures, and my knowledge is small, I think people get concerned about not having a body to rise from the grave. Ezekiel 37, in speaking about the valley of dry bones and how God will give them knew life to be with him. 37:12 says ‘I will open the graves and bring you up’. I Thessalonians 16 tells us that at Jesus’ second coming, the dead will rise first from the grave and join Jesus in the air. But I think what people forget is at that split moment in time, we will receive new bodies, the earthly body is no longer useful. So it doesn’t matter if its dust, ashes, from the ground, from the ocean, wherever the remains are lying, they will be raised to new life in Christ.
Now that the philosophical and Christian avenue has been spoken, lets go back to the original shock of mixed feelings for cemeteries. When you think of all cemeteries over the centuries that are no longer in existence, yet the graves are still in the ground, then the pictures I took may make it more understandable. It still makes me very sad of the apparent apathy as this is a final resting place. I, myself, am choosing cremation as my family is scattered and in 200 years, who will care. Some of these tombstones are over 200 years old now and only because perpetual care of the grounds is done does it seem mostly cared for. You could tell they just mowed around fallen head pieces. So sad.
This is all the more reason I push in all of my post for the show of kindness to all living creatures while we are still on this side of the dirt. Once we are in heaven, we are in the middle of all the love of Christ but can not get it that kindness back down to earth where it is so badly needed. So remember to always be kind.
As fall is coming upon is our beautiful outdoor gardens are beginning to fade. I am enjoying the last few flowers but see the chilly nights are starting to take their toll.
With the change of the seasons, enjoy each beauty they bring. Let the beauty you find reflect the love of the season, the love of the color change, the love of Christ and always be kind.
Cee’s wonderful challenge of Flower of the Day has been fun for me as my yard this year was really good. The first full summer of retirement so I got to play a lot in the dirt. The flower below I can not remember its name but in the spring it was full and hanging off all sides of the hanging basket. The blooms are about the size of my pinky nail but they cover the hanging basket. The summer heat was a detriment for it but now that the early touches of fall are in the air, it is making a come back.
Take this flower’s determination to survive to heart and don’t let the heat of life drain you. Jesus never promised it would be easy, he just said it would be worth it, so hang on. And share that desire with others to hang on and it will bring smiles and light back into their world. And as always, be kind.
And watch the kindness you share spread…like ripples in a pond.
Today is August 31, last Saturday of August, week 1 of college football. The predictions are in, the hopes are high but who will last, who will not get hurt and who will be the top DAWG.
Yes I am a fan of the Dawgs, the University of Georgia Bulldogs.
When Jez first started the Fan of…series, this was the first thing I thought of, well that and Christmas decorating but it way to early for that. So for now we show our college colors and watch the games as they unfold. Best luck to all teams but in reality…Go Dawgs, hopefully this will be our year.
So cheer for your teams, hope for the win but always be kind…even if you lose. Remember, its a game.
Nancy Merrill has challenged us with a wonderful word of textures. We normally think of textures as material, like the difference between silk and wool but textures have many forms from the visual sense, touching sense and even the emotional sense.
Visual senses can also tie in with the touching sense like in the texture of a painted wall or the texture of sculptured carpet, which can also show textures of color patterns.
In the plant world you have many textures of leaf types which also are visual and feel totally different, like the thin ribbed look and feel of a banana tree leaf or the thick rubbery pointed leaf of the Christmas cactus. What about the thick fuzzy leaf of a African violet? All leaves are designed to serve the environment and the plant that they support.
Let’s go a little different direction with the scratchy roughness of your best friends paw, verses the soft velvety feel of their ears. Each designed with a purpose.
All textures have a purpose in their design, whether they were created by God above or by an ingenious man who proved the reason for the creation.
Let’s go one step over and talk about a non-touchable textures. A texture that you can feel but not with your hands. The texture of emotions. These are textures you can chose to use and temper for good or let them run wild into the wind.
Jesus is a contrast of textures as strength in the Lion of Judah and gentleness as the lamb of salvation. A complicated and difficult texture to be. Gentle to all but strong enough to stand against evil.
As you study all the textures of life that surround you, remember to be strong and safe but always be kind as it reflects God’s love that shines down on us all.
May you all have a great holiday weekend, and if it is not a holiday weekend for you where you are, still have a great weekend.
Since I have retired from a 45 hour week job, I have began enjoying the birds in my area more. I still work to keep from being bored but its a 20 hour job of enjoyment. Makes all the difference in the world.
Coming from the south and used to the gulls and pelicans of Florida, you get the mindset of pelicans being a sea/gulf bird, well at least I did. But according to the bird book, they only go to Florida in the winter. Guess that’s where the term snow bird comes from??!?
The ones we see here along the Mississippi are beautiful. They are the American White Pelican.
While they winter in Florida and South America, they then head to the Dakota’s, Montana and Canada for spring breeding, then to the midwest and southwest for summer and autumn. The ones that are not of breeding age can be seen most anywhere or anytime including east to northeast. The interesting things you learn when you don’t have to always concentrate on an 8-5 job.
As you enjoy the birds around you look to see what interesting things you can learn about them and from them. They understand kindness as well so try to always be kind to all kinds, not only mankind.
Join in with Granny Shot It on her explorations of Birds of the Day and see the beauty of flight.
This beauty was found none other than…Lowes. Worse than the candy store to me. But what an awesome shot.
I am still amazed at what my phone camera can do for closeups but I miss a lot of distant shots, just not enough detail.
Heaven’s Sunshine created a fun new post for us all to see the details of this world close up with Sunshine’s Macro Monday. Come join in on the fun.
And as always, remember to be kind…we can always be kind.
For the Love of 