A Chorus Of Color

This past weekend we travelled to a couple nearby cities to do some Christmas shopping. It was a beautiful weekend, almost like summer. We had to go over the mountains, and the trees had just changed color, a beautiful sight every year. These are some of the pictures I snapped along the way. It was a powerful beauty.

"God made the heavens-royal splendor radiates from him, a powerful beauty sets him apart...let wilderness turn cartwheels, animals, come dance, put every tree of the forest in the choir..." The Message: Psalm 96

Chambray Blue, if you are reading this, I have not been commenting to you because I lost your link and your blog is now private, so there is no way I can get ahold of you. Send me an e-mail or something!

Separated At Birth

My sister and I went shopping last week and got matching T-shirts for Christmas, aren't we festive looking? Betcha didn't know I had a sister, did you? Well, I do, even though we happened to be separated at birth for about the first 60 years...and I'll tell you a little secret, my sister is quite mad. Well, she's Sandra over at MADSNAPPER, where you'll find her post about me today, we both timed our posts about each other! Stop by and take a look, her blog is joyful and friendly, just like she is. We are both Madsnappers because we take pictures of everything and are quite obsessed with it! I first met Sandra a little over a year ago when she visited my blog and commented. Since then we have never shut up. We continue to discover that we have so much in common that it's just plain scary, not just common things, but unusual things. O.K., she is not my REAL sister (though I sometimes wonder - we even look alike) but we are soul sisters, understanding everything each other goes through and knowing how we feel about it without having to even tell each other. We just KNOW. Even our mothers have striking similarities! And here's the surprise, we have never even met! Sandra is a photo editing wiz and put this picture together with her talents. We have only talked on the phone and through computer. But now here we are together for the first time in our Christmas picture, so she is not only in my heart, but right beside me in this neat picture!! Way to go, sis!!

"...make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." Philippeans 2:2

""Two are better than one...if one falls down, his friend can help him up." Ecc. 4:9

Half A Moon Is Better Than None

Driving home tonight, we saw that the moon was exactly a half moon. So pretty. And I thought it was even prettier after looking at these pictures, where you can actually see some of the craters and color variations. My header is a shot I took of the half moon in the daytime a few weeks ago. Good-night, moon.

"The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you. For the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end." Isaiah 60:19,20

I Gotta Crow!!!

A few days ago, I was comparing health problems with my friend Sandi over at CHATTY CRONE. We both have bad knees. I need full knee replacement, and have been putting it off various ways. One of the most helpful things has been the set of three injections I get in my knee every six months. These shots provide lubricant and cushioning to the knee when bone is rubbing against bone. Sandi informed me that the shots were made from rooster combs!!! Needless to say, I was dumbfounded!! I researched it, and of course she was right. The rooster combs contain a high amount of Hyaluronic Acid, a substance that is naturally occuring throughout the human body, but declines with age. The rooster crowns are actually cut up, purified, and made into the injectable drug. They now think that this stuff may be an anti-ageing remedy, as ABC News did a special on it "The Village Of Long Life:Could Hyaluronic Acid Be An Anti-Ageing Remedy?" This was about a village in Japan where lots of people live into their 90's with no flawed skin, cancer, or heart problems, even though they eat high fat foods and many smoke! When I took these pictures a couple months ago, I had no idea that those red combs were responbible for keeping me on my feet that day. The fountain of youth has made me just plain chicken!! BWAK BWAK!!

If I could bow my knees anymore, it would be to only one thing. And that would be here in Philippeans 2:9 "Therefore God exhaulted him to the higest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Just Passing Through

This world is not my home, I'm just passing through.

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

The angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore.

Albert E. Brumley

We were just passing through. It was a few days before Halloween and we were stopped at a light in a busy intersection. I looked out my window at the large cemetary on the side of the highway, and saw this. Out came my camera, and I managed to get a few shots before the light changed and traffic pulled us farther away. I was rather astounded, having never seen a grave actually decorated for Halloween. Once back home and looking at the pictures closely, I saw that the name Amanda is written in the Jack-0-lantern's mouth! So, my friends, this post leaves us all with many unanswered questions. How old was Amanda when she died, and was Halloween her favorite holiday? Did she just die recently? Did she ever go to church? One thing I do know is that the desires of this world are no longer of any interest to Amanda, and if we are a servant of God then this world is a place we only pass through on the way to our ultimate home, a glorious place indeed. And somehow, I don't think there will be any Jack-0-lanterns there. Rest in peace, Amanda.

"The world and it's desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

1 John 2:17

Exposed

This post is dedicated to my new follower KIM, whose blog is touching, funny, and frank. One thing we both have in common is arachnophobia, or fear of spiders. I have posted about my spider fear before, how it came to be, the problems it has caused me, and the ineffective way my mother used to try to kill spiders. To read that post, click HERE. You will also find out what kind of webs spiders weave on sleeping pills, LSD, and in space. This is the Garden Of Spiders at the Louis Ginter Botanical Garden. Some of my followers may remember I posted a few of of these pictures last year. But here is what struck me about these. I took the pictures without a flash and with a flash, experimenting to see which looked the best. Without the flash, they are truly scary spiders. But look what happens when my brighter light from above flashes them. It shows them for what they really are, and takes away all the fear! The bright flash shows that they are nothing more than many tiny lights inside a housing. One of the first things I thought of was how powerless things of the dark are when faced with the light of God. The light of God exposes things for what they really are, which is merely paltry in his great plan for us!

"He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light." Job 12:22

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant..." Psalm34:4

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Heart Of Gold

I want to live

I want to give

I've been a miner for a heart of gold

It's these expressions

I never give

That keep me searching for a heart of gold

And I'm gettin' old

Neil Young

Remember the heart shaped tree at the end of our street? Well, it is now a heart of gold! I believe that God wants us to develop a heart of gold. Full of kindness, love, and encouragement. It seems a bit easier now that I'm in my golden years. I already have a head start with three golden teeth! Four year old Anne and Ella want to see those teeth all the time! So I open wide and pull my cheek back for them to peer inside. They think it's totally cool, and I look like a pirate. The other day, Ella asked me how I came to get gold teeth. Not a pleasant story, and I had to tone it down considerably so as not to cause bad dreams. Similarly, I do think that developing a heart of gold can be a refining process. If we had no pain and angst in our lives, how could we ever truly sympathize with others? Here are some other things that give us a heart of gold.

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear." Proverbs 25:11