Sunday Scripture {sufficient grace}

 

"Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

 

(Another photo taken in Northern Michigan on a Fall camping trip with my husband - I have lots!)

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Linking up with Diedra's Sunday Community today:



Sunday Scripture {changes}

 

Matthew 28:20

"And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

 

 

(Photo taken in Northern Michigan on a Fall camping trip with my husband.)

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Linking up with Diedra's Sunday Community today:

It's Been a Month....

...since I posted last. Crazy. This summer has been flying by! So I decided to do a list of the highlights:

1. The garden: What a crazy weather summer we've been having here. We go from drought-like conditions with scorching heat, setting records, to torrential downpours the end of this previous week. So, that added to my dig a hole, put the plant in, water, approach to gardening again this year (I occasionally have used some organic methods of pest control)....my zucchinis have yet to produce anything besides beautiful, gigantic flowers. The leaves are not much bigger than when I planted them. I have never seen a zucchini plant do that! Weird. As for the pickling cukes, I bought a different brand this year and they are producing but the 4 plants are not producing as many as my 1 plant did last year! And they got pelted with the rain are are looking very sad right now. This brings me to my cherry tomatoes which are doing great! I had such good luck last year with them I wanted to try again. At least that makes me happy :) The plants are gigantic and the majority of tomatoes are golf ball size!

The garden about a month ago.



2.  The vacation: It was awesome! We went camping in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan). We went with my parents and stayed right on the Tahquamenon River. We did a lot of sightseeing and a bit of kayaking as we all have kayaks. Here are a few pictures:

Heading to the U.P. via the Mackinaw Bridge, looking at Mackinaw Island.

(The big white blob is the famous Grand Hotel.)

 The Mighty Mac

 The view out our back window!

 Sunset over the river, at our campsite.

On the shore of Whitefish Point. 17 miles from where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank in 1975.

(That is Canada off in the distance.) 

 Behind our campsite.

 The Lower Tahquamenon Falls

 The Upper Tahquamenon Falls

Me and my best friend ;-)

 At the black bear farm we visited.

 Adorable cub. 7 months old.

 Me and dh taking a break from kayaking out into Whitefish Bay.

 I love history. And I love the story behind this area. Literally it has become "beauty from ashes" (you may need to click on the picture to enlarge it so you can read what I mean).

 Me and my mom on our "Tour of Paradise". We did our own sightseeing one afternoon. Fun times :-)

 One of our favorite camp dinners. Hamburger/Veggies/Montreal Steak Seasoning in a foil packet, cooked over the fire.

The sun setting on the last night there.

3. The changes: There are some big changes happening right now (not children related) that are stretching us. Bittersweet changes I will share more about in the coming days. I often find myself asking why can't things JUST "just happen" for us, just once! Why can't we just be "normal"? To which dh will remind me by asking, "What's normal?". Good question!

But as we forge ahead, I am so thankful for such a great vacation behind us, and I am trying ever so hard to remind myself that God has an infinite storehouse to supply all our needs in the days to come, even when we aren't sure how it is going to happen sometimes. Just seeing the waterfalls up close on our vacation and feeling the power of them, and basking in the beauty of God's creation, it reminds me that we serve a very mighty God. He is powerful. And we have Him on our side as we face the many challenges in the coming days and months ahead.  “Some people think that going through the losses or crises of life are the exceptional times,” says Dr. H. Norman Wright.  “I see it differently. I see the times of calm as the exceptions.  Life is really going through one loss after another, one crisis after another.” And that is something I am beginning to think might not be so far off from the truth!

(A sign of Fall that we saw on our vacation! Our favorite season!)







Sunday Scripture {be still}

Whitefish Bay-Lake Superior

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Linking up with Diedra's Sunday Community today:

Eagles

Today as I was sitting in my Jeep after I got out of work, I was enjoying the sunshine and comfortable temperatures, eating some cool watermelon that was leftover from my lunch, and just generally basking in my freedom. It's the simple things that I find myself gravitating towards and appreciating so much more in the past few years as I alluded to when I began my Joy Journal page (I know, I know, it needs to be updated).

Anyways, where I park my vehicle in the lot most days (my unofficial parking spot as we all seem to have), I have a surprisingly good view for birdwatching, even though I don't work in the middle of a forest, there are many younger trees planted in our newish business park and birds that have decided to make their homes there. So, I love watching them when I am sitting outside on my break or after work when I'm not rushing off somewhere. They peck at the ground or chase bugs. They swoop low to the ground and back up in the air, or just hop along. I have found lately that it's amazing when you take a moment to slow down and observe the world around you, what you'll see.

But today there was a very large bird, probably just a big hawk, but it was so beautiful as it had outstretched wings and glided high above the buildings, the dark blue sky and sunshine as a picture perfect backdrop. I watched the large bird for several minutes as it flew in a circle, once in a while flapping its wings and then gliding again. Sometimes I think it would be so cool to be a bird and just fly away (Psalm 55:6), high above the cares and worries of this world. To just glide though the air enjoying the breeze, what a thrill that would be! The beauty of the moment brought a few tears to my eyes and I was reminded of how God used the Eagle as a metaphor in Isaiah 40:31:

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

source

So, until I can truly fly through the heavens, I will cling to that verse and thank God for the beautiful reminders of his love that he places in my path daily.

Sunday Scripture

(my photography & editing)

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Linking up with Diedra's Sunday Community today:

....Another Butterfly Day

Last Sunday I took my camera to my parent's house and went for a walk around their property, capturing some of the beautiful images that can be found within their 2 acres (where I grew up). I was lucky to get to add to my butterfly photo collection with a couple shots...

“I tell of hearts and souls and dances...
Butterflies and second chances;
Desperate ones and dreamers bound,
Seeking life from barren ground,
Who suffer on in earthly fate
The bitter pain of agony hate,
Might but they stop and here forgive
Would break the bonds to breathe and live
And find that God in goodness brings
A chance for change, the hope of wings
To rest in Him, and self to die
And so become a butterfly.”

Karen Kingsbury

(from Ocean's Apart)

Butterfly Days

I love butterflies. To me they symbolize so many things.

Second chances.
New life.
Hope.

They are such beautiful creatures with intricate designs. God's handiwork.

Given that I love butterflies so much, when I read Karen Kinsbury's book "Oceans Apart"  a while back, I fell in love with the scene in the book where a little boy names Max is sitting with his (unknown to him at the time) father, and they are fishing. Max has lost his mother in a tragic accident and is coming to terms with his loss as best a young child can when faced with such tragedy. A butterfly lands on his fishing pole and he shares with Mr. Evans (his father) the special meaning that butterflies had to him and his mom. They would often have "butterfly days" where he and his mom would sit and watch butterflies:

"She said that they prove that God gives second chances"

"Butterflies prove that?"

"Yeah, because a butterfly spends all those days as a callipillar, scooting on the ground. Did you know that?"

"I did." Mr. Evans eyes were serious. Max figured it was because he liked this story.

"Then one day"- Max stared at the butterfly- "one day he gets tired of scooting around, so he builds a little room and takes a nap there." Max made his voice quiet again because sometimes it would get loud when he told a good story. And the story of his special butterfly days was a very good one. "But know what the bestest part is, Mr. Evans?"

"What?" His face was closer now, because they both had shushed their words so the butterfly wouldn't leave.

"One day the callipillar wakes up and God has done an amazing thing. The callipillar shakes his shoulders a little, and what do you know? There's something on his back!" Max shook his back a very little to show Mr. Evans what he meant. The butterfly gave a big flap of his wings, but still he stayed on the fishing pole. "That thing is wings, Mr. Evans. And now the callipillar doesn't have to scoot around on the ground because-"

"Because he can fly." A smile came on Mr. Evans face. "And that's his second chance, right?"

"Yes." He blinked so he could see the butterfly better. "She said that one day soon we'd be together again and we'd never scoot around on the ground. Instead we would fly. Forever and ever we would fly."

I have had a couple "butterfly days" this week (my Joy Journal updated....check!). A flowering Crabapple tree at my work is home to a host of Red Admirals (and Bumble Bees!) right now, and I have seen many around our yard as well (but those ones seem to be faster fliers so no pics yet!). I also saw a Swallowtail butterfly on our house today, but that too alluded me just as I was about to snap a picture!! It was a beautiful day though as I just watched the butterflies and birds and thought how awesome is God to create such living things for our enjoyment!

I also read today that a warm winter like we had means more butterflies. Finally a silver-lining to not getting any snow (barely)!

I'm Still Here...

I've had several posts swirling around in my head and plan to flesh them out in the near future (food, faith, infertility, take your pick!). Stay tuned :)

Desktop Wallpaper Encouragement!

I have been wanting to do this for awhile, but Thelma over at Life As Two, inspired me yesterday with her beautiful photography to get going making some of my own Wallpaper Encouragement as I just thought to call it, because that's what it is to me! I love photos with Scripture on my desktop and what better than to put some of my favorite photos I have taken over the years to use! So I have started playing around on Picnik tonight with creating my first pieces.

This first one was actually using Thelma's photo, as she prompted readers to do in her post, and this is what I came up with (I can't figure out for the life of me how to get any of these to be larger than the largest setting on here, so I'm not sure if you will be able to save it or not properly- feel free to do so if you are able to. Maybe someone can let me know if it works. Please and thank you!). The verse I paired this one with seemed to fit for some reason. I think it's the lighting that makes it seem like morning to me and I love this verse:



The next two are my own photography and I have been wanting to do this to these photos for awhile now. They are two of my favorites, taken last summer on a camping trip: