Pretty Poison

A few weeks ago, I had to go to court about something, and I was not feeling too well and having a bad day. But I didn't know what was in store for me. A beautiful jungle of delights. Right in front of the courthouse on a busy street were these stunning red veined and red branched plants, amazing to look at. My eyes nearly popped out of my head while my camera popped out of my purse. Inside the court I found Nicole, a wonderful lady who has helped us so much through more than one hard time, she is one of God's angels. And she knew what this plant was, but did not know it's danger. It is a Castor Bean plant, the source of Ricin, which in 2007 was ranked as the most poisonous plant in the world. The lethal dose is only four to six seeds, or beans. Seven will kill a pig, eleven a dog, but eighty a duck, go figure. In 1978, Georgi Markov, a communist defector working for the BBC, was jabbed in the thigh with an umbrella that had only two tenths of a milligram of Ricin in the tip. Four days later he was dead, and his assassin was never caught. The Ricin from Castor plant seeds is one of the most feared substances that could be used for a bio-terror agent or weapon of mass destruction, because it is widely available and takes only a tiny amount to kill someone. But we already have something very small in our body that has the same potential to be poison, and the book of James tells us about it.

"Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts...the tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body...it is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

James 3

Seekers

Every five years or so, our church updates it's directory, and we all get our pictures in it. Shortly after our last one was done, I walked into the fellowship hall and found this picture hanging on the wall. It's a picture of Jesus, with a magnifying glass hanging beside it. The sign says "Find Yourself In Christ". If you look closely, you will see that the entire picture is made up of tiny pictures of our church members, taken from the directory. What a wonderful idea to actually show Jesus in our church family! So I grabbed the magnifying glass and tried to find us. If you look through the glass, you will see that we are exactly halfway down it, second from the right. My last picture shows us in full size.

"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:26,28

Unfading Beauty

"All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things wise and wonderful

The Lord God made them all

He gave us eyes to see them

And lips that we might tell

How great is God almighty

Who has made all things well

I took these pictures of a Tiger Swallowtail this past spring when our lilac bush was in bloom. He flitted around from bloom to bloom for quite some time. So very beautiful, but here is something that is even more beautiful to God.

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment...Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3

The Bucket

To my longsuffering guys, who have patiently had to look at three posts about purses, this one's for you! Yesterday, after we annoyed the sleepy geese, we headed to our local soft serve ice-cream stand, and this is what we found showing off and driving around in the parking lot. This is called a T-Bucket, and it is a special type of hot rod. It is built with replica parts to resemble a Model T car. It was so cute as it zipped around. The owner was very nice to pose for me. And take a good look at the tire, what is that red thing on it? The proud owner used dice to cap the the tire's air stems! I could have kicked the tires of the Bucket, but I didn't. Here's something that the book of Revelation says about kicking the bucket.


"They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever...Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." Rev. 22

Cross

We have many geese and ducks around here, because the river is almost in our backyard. We frequently see them crossing the streets, sometimes with their babies following them. This is the reason for the crossing sign a couple blocks away. This evening we were passing by, and saw a large group of Canada Geese settling down in the grassy field to sleep. I was intrigued by the patterns they made with the stripes on their necks, so we pulled over and I took lots of pictures from the car window. Pretty soon they began to get agitated, and started standing up, honking, and flaping their wings. I looked all around, and couldn't figure out what had stirred them from their rest. I soon discovered it was me and my camera. They were very cross at me for disturbing their bedtime. But if they could read, they'd know that the book of Ephesians tells us not to go to bed so riled up. Sorry, guys, guess we shouldn't have crossed your path.

"Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold."

Ephesians 4:26

Have A Heart

This tree is in a yard on the corner of our street, and this picture is exactly how it looks.

"Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."

Psalm 62:8

Blinded By The Light

Don't you just hate driving straight into the sun? I actually enjoyed it tonight, because it was sunset and I was in the passenger seat with my camera. As my husband drove, I snapped. Like the title of my blog says, I am all about the light.

"I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them" Isaiah 42:16

Annie, this one's for you.