Saturday, January 30, 2016

WORDS FOR THE WEEKEND


"He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.
16 
With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.
Psalm 91:16


Friday, January 29, 2016

WEEK FOUR - PORTRAIT - HEAD SHOT

"You shot a selfie, now shoot a "selfie" of someone else!"

I had a few opportunities to take pictures of other people. It's one of my favorite past-times.


My sweet great niece celebrating her first birthday


My "sweetness" - the icing on the cake!




A friend came and spent the weekend. Saturday afternoon was photo-shoot time, of course!






Saturday, January 23, 2016

Friday, January 22, 2016

WEEK THREE - ARTISTIC - RED

Red is my favorite colour. How do you choose just one thing in your favorite colour? I couldn't. So here is my collection!

My beautiful new winter coat.



I love the red berries of winter.


Every Canadian can identify with the red warmth of Timmies.


So Red is red. This just made me happy. 


A red building with Edison bulbs draped in the window. Smile.


One of my most favorite accessories. 
A gift from a beautiful friend from her travels abroad. 
I wear it and am reminded that I was remembered and loved.


Red. 
The colour of love. 
of passion. of warmth. 
It draws me like a moth to a flame. 

Saturday, January 16, 2016

WORDS FOR THE WEEKEND

The eyes of all look to you,
    and you give them their food at the proper time.
 
You open your hand
    and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
    and faithful in all he does.

Psalm 145:15-17

WORDS FOR THE WEEKEND


Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Psalm 90:14

Friday, January 15, 2016

Week Two - Traditional Landscape

I never get tired of taking pictures at the riverfront. Inspired by some shots posted on facebook by some dear friends, I was inspired to head down there myself, late last night, with my eldest son as my "body guard".

Similar to one I took for last year's photo challenge:


We then headed to the other side of the bridge, to a walkway that juts out into the river. When the water is like glass the reflection of the Detroit skyline is breathtaking.



I am often so taken with that view, and since I am not usually in a position to see the beauty of our side of the river, I miss out on this:


The longest, friendliest, unprotected border in the world.


The view from under "The Bridge".




Thursday, January 14, 2016

Choose Love




This is truth.

When you get past the “falling in love” feeling.  When one of you has morning breath bad enough to knock out your favourite pet.  When fever and vomiting hit hard.  When the bathroom smells like a rodent died in there. When the sense of humour you thought was hilarious when you dated is just plain old…..and annoying. When the sarcasm and wit hit too close to home and cut to the core.  When liking each other seems impossible.

Choose to love.
To continue reading, please join me over here for Marriage Week.

Monday, January 11, 2016

Gratitude

I am reading The Quiet Place, by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, for my morning devotions. Earlier this month I considered these words:

"Try, for example, to sustain persevering faith - without gratitude - and your faith will eventually forget the whole point of its faithfulness, hardening into a practice of religion that's hollow and ineffective.

Try being a person who exudes and exhibits Christian love - without gratitude - and over time your love will crash hard on the sharp rocks of disappointment and disillusionment.

Try being a person who sacrificially gives of yourself - without the offering being accompanied by gratitude - and you'll find every ounce of joy drained by a martyr complex.

True gratitude is not an incidental ingredient.....

It is one of the chief ways that God infuses joy and resilience into the daily struggle of life."

I often find my gratitude fleeting, if it is there at all. (I don't mean that I am ungrateful, just that I don't always think about all for which I have to be thankful.)

I recently picked up a book by Bill Hybels - "Too Busy Not to Pray" and though I have been too busy to crack it open, the title hasn't left my mind. I think this is similar. I go about my days filling my time with activity and find I am too busy for many things. Prayer and thankfulness on the run or worse, as an afterthought.

If gratitude is so crucial to joy, love and service - my relationship not religion- then I am too busy NOT to be thankful.

Years ago I read Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts but before that, I had joined Ann in numbering gifts. I admittedly was not very good at documenting my thankfulness though I did have a journal to do so. There were moments that I would think - "oh I should at that to my list" but I would forget to do it (or just be too busy to do so - I sense a theme here).

I am challenged that I need to pick this back up and will once again share my additions to my gratitude list (in the pattern Ann set on her Gratitude Mondays with her Gratitude Community).

151. The prompting to share encouraging meaningful words with a stranger.
152. Warm little arms that wrap themselves around me to snuggle.
153. A sweet little voice that responds to my endearment "I love you SO much"
154. A new chair that I love for its uniqueness.
155. A great deal on a new cabinet for my living room - finishing the look perfectly.
156. A renovation that increases my storage space with a fresh and clean look.
157. A husband that uses his time off to complete the renovations to that my year can continue with less stress.
158. Morning time with God. Peaceful time before anyone else awakens.
159. Great conversation around our Sunday lunchtime table sharing what we learned at church.
160. A very attentive and thoughtful waiter during a dinner date with my beloved.



Sunday, January 10, 2016

Sunday Reflection

Two thoughts from Don Graham's sermon this morning (the second part of a two-part series on considering the Christian mind) had me pondering deeper:

The first was the etymology of words:

muse - to think

amuse- not to think


The second were some observations

1. The world is concerned with the now not the then.

2. The world rejects the notion of sin and judgement.

3. The world believes that truth is relative not absolute.

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Words for the Weekend


"The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail."
Isaiah 58:11

Friday, January 8, 2016

Week One - Self Portrait

Okay, like many photographers, I despise pictures of myself. I prefer to be on the other side of the camera. I did realize, this year, that I am not in many of our pictures so it often looks like I am not a part of our family's adventures or celebrations.

Over the past two years, my eldest daughter has taken to taking selfies with me. Though I am not often happy with the outcome, I began to participate willingly, because it means something to her. She is very sensitive to how I feel about the shots she takes, I am beginning to be less camera shy and more likely to lean in for a photo with her.

I tried taking the selfies for the challenge in the evening while the family were wandering in and out of the room. It felt awkward and I was VERY uncomfortable. I quickly put the camera away and opted to waken before everyone the next morning to try again. This was definitely more relaxed and I felt freer to experiment.

Here are a few of my favorites




Thursday, January 7, 2016

TBT- My Prayer

I have loved writing since I was in my teens but never really took the time to journal. I would jot my thoughts on any paper that was available.

I am sure I have lost most of what I wrote but some things ended up in books and files and boxes awaiting discovery on some future date.

I recently found some of my writing from "way back" and thought I would share.

This prayer I wrote in a journal on July 12, 1993:

"Heavenly Father,

Help me to never lose sight of my "young, idealistic beliefs":

The desire to see unity in the Body of Christ surpassing the boundaries of "religious sects".

Believing literally what you say in your Word and living it.

Separating scriptural truth from legalism and tradition.

Willing to stand and say I am a follower of Christ alone.

To be humble enough to allow God to use what He wants for His purpose, 
not expecting Him to follow in the boundaries I've set for Him. 
It's His program not mine.

To be understanding and kind in conflict.

To love unconditionally.

To be joyful in the face of adversity knowing that 
my life, my future, my all 
are in the hands of the One who created me, 
who loves me infinitely and unconditionally."


Sunday, January 3, 2016

Sunday Reflection

"We need to be motivated by God's mercy.
[We need the right reason to do the right thing]
Not in view of His judgement or power 
but in view of His mercy."
Don Graham

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Photo Challenge 2016

So once again, I am going to join a photo challenge.

Last year, the host of the challenge I joined abandoned the challenge at the beginning of March. Part way through 2013, I ran my own photo challenge and stopped posting after week 13.

Hopefully this one will stick and I will stick with it.

Usually I take the challenge and use it to document our life. I worry less about the quality of the photo and learning new techniques and focus more on the composition and content. Capturing moments and memories.

This challenge over at Dogwood photography will be more about improving my photography as the description reads:

"Unlike most photography challenges which are just a simple list of ideas, this 52 week challenge is designed to push your photography to the next level. This list is going to be more challenging to complete than a simple 52 week photography challenge list. But stick with it to the end and I guarantee you will be a better photographer for it."

In reading through the 52 challenges, I am looking forward to growing and stretching myself a little more each week.

I plan on posting my challenge photos each Friday. (and also posting on Dogwood's page for feedback - a big step for me).

Here's to starting fresh with something I love and taking leaps into a bit of the unknown!

Friday, January 1, 2016

What Follows "REST"?

2015. The year of REST.

I imagined much relaxing and reading. quality time spent with my children and my beloved and my Lord.

I never imagined my year would end with a rest from work. Eleven years of serving an MP and his constituents came to an end and for the first time in my career, I found myself with no where to go. No purpose for each day. At least not the purpose I was used to.

E-Day, October 19th completed my call to serve. I continued to work through November 18th when I watched the moving company pack up my work-home and take it away. The last month has been filled with appointments and Christmas prep and rest.

So what follows REST?

Well, Proverbs 19:23 says

"The fear of the Lord leads to life;

    then one rests content, 
untouched by trouble."

Content.

That is what follows REST. Contentment

This reminds me of Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, sharing that he has "learned to be content whatever the circumstances." This is good but if you know me, you know the nuance of a word, the oh so subtle difference, means the world to me.

One definition of content reads " happy enough with".  This doesn't quite fit with what I perceive the verse to mean. 

In reading the ESV, I found, 
"The fear of the Lord leads to life,    
and whoever has it rests satisfied;    
he will not be visited by harm."

SATISFIED!

There it is! Following the year of REST is 2016 the Year of Satisfied.

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About Me

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I am the very blessed wife of my best friend. The humble mother of five precious children. Walking a life-road that is more amazing than I could ever imagine.