Instructional Video For My Trip to France
PS. I'm not really going to France. That I know of. Serving God is a wild adventure however, and He could send me this year!
I'd so go. Armed with this instructional video, I feel prepared.
On This Cloudy Day
...the results of my second Photoshop class...playing with "adding" white, black, and neutral pixels to a picture.
This shot is a classic "through the window" snap of an antique wooden toolbox, a gift from my neighbor Earl. I planted pansies in it last November, for the holidays, hoping they last into spring.
Took this picture just yesterday - lighting was a challenge. We're having quite a stretch of gray days here in east Tennessee!
"One of These Things Is Not Like The Others..."
Guess which one is our son?
::sigh:: Yeah. The one covering the "Amb" and then the "adors" in the team name "Ambassadors".
I don't know where he gets it.
Help me, Rhonda. Jesus, take the wheel. God, grant me the serenity.
Another Grace-Song
Here is the sort of music a woman writes when the Gospel gets deep down into her bones...these lyrics resonate with me, so much. If you'll indulge me, please turn up your speakers, because it's the first song.
::smile::
These lyrics wonderfully describe the journey of my own heart out of law, and into grace - a choice I made deliberately and consistently and with abandon and not without alienating a few.
And I'd do it again. And again.
Because when lives are at stake, see, I can't play patty-cake or politics or pretend. And in many ways, the life at stake was...
...my own.
I truly have, in recent years, shown up for my own life. And I have to admit - as a result, a few more have shown up for their own. Once I have a key...any key...I will be found unlocking more prison doors than just my own. Be sure of it. That could be why the devil has it in for me.
Showed Up For My Own Life
~Sara Groves
Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright
I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive!
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive!
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright...
::smile::
These lyrics wonderfully describe the journey of my own heart out of law, and into grace - a choice I made deliberately and consistently and with abandon and not without alienating a few.
And I'd do it again. And again.
Because when lives are at stake, see, I can't play patty-cake or politics or pretend. And in many ways, the life at stake was...
...my own.
I truly have, in recent years, shown up for my own life. And I have to admit - as a result, a few more have shown up for their own. Once I have a key...any key...I will be found unlocking more prison doors than just my own. Be sure of it. That could be why the devil has it in for me.
Showed Up For My Own Life
~Sara Groves
Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright
I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive!
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive!
There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real
And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright...
2012 Focus - "Cultivate"
I'm taking a Photoshop class. Because, in this year of 2012, I have determined to cultivate the seeds planted in 2011.
...the results of my first class...
...the results of my first class...
Sweet Friend
I am so blessed to love and be loved by this beautiful lady...here she is, dancing with her husband. She is a fellow Jesus Freak, a lover of Jesus and a lover of children....and she has a definite flair for the dramatic. (She leads our church's drama team, along with her assistant Lisa Privetts.)
The Team...at the close of an incredible group-dance!
The Team...at the close of an incredible group-dance!
She and her husband and two daughters also minister to our school-aged children as children's pastors. Is there a higher calling? A more difficult, yet rewarding job?
...her daughter Kate...(these pictures were taken the night of our church's Christmas Play - which Cheryl wrote!)
...her other daughter Christina...
...Kate and Christina...
If children are the heritage of the Lord (and they are!) this sweet friend of mine has a fine, fine, fine inheritance, a great reward in heaven - she, and her husband and family. I'm privileged to call her friend.
Just wanted to give you a glimpse into what is my sweet friend, and even sweeter church life. People's lives in Harvest are so intertwined, and this family have touched each and every person in meaningful and sacrificial ways.
Precious!
"My" Baby...
It is with great pride and pleasure I introduce you to either baby girl Howe, or baby boy Howe - we don't know which one yet:
I'm already smitten. I warned you that these sorts of posts would be coming. There is no blessing like the blessing of grandbabies (as my friend Cyndy R. can also attest - her granddaughter Molly was born yesterday!) ...
...nothing compares. Go on! TRY to make me jealous of your Hummer/castle in Spain/baubles/seven figure income/vacation plans/Nubian goats/Arabian steeds/fill-in-the-blank. You'll see a flicker of interest, if you are an interesting person. But after too much of it...I yawn, and then I yawn. Then I yawn again. I mean, if it blows your skirt up, I get that. I will always track with you, up to a certain point.
I mean, I find a measure of whoopity-do in things that money can buy, too. I can enjoy your hobby with you, and my interests vary far and wide. And I love it when you share with me. But I can't bring myself to admire you for it...I'm impressed by the likes of Amy Carmichael and missionaries to Cambodia. I'm a Jesus Freak, what can I say?
Just sayin'. I like stuff, too...but you won't find me dedicating a whole blog to My Fabulous Estate, nor will you find me going out of my way to, through any means possible, oh-so-obviously make sure you hear about my latest purchases - even when I pay cash on the barrel for every bit of it! (...as opposed to leveraging assets for the tax break that gives me...)
I find it to be bad manners to flaunt stuff, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral. You can safely flaunt your man and you can always flaunt your grandbaby. That's really about all you can happily flaunt, and still be in good taste. Other than that, no one really cares or wants to hear about it, unless she's your Bestest Friend Forever. Certainly not if they haven't spoken to you in years. I can't tell you how often it happens, when someone (who imagines that I will be slightly impressed) will stretch to find any means possible to insure that I know what is their latest "thing"...their newest, non-human acquisition in which they find joy.
All the power-planning in the world can't insure you snuggle up tonight with a man you are crazy about. My hobbies don't give good backrubs and they sure as heck won't slow dance with me. Money can't buy you one single healthy relationship.
I can't take my Nikon out for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe and talk about its day. I've tried. My poodle is a decent snuggler, but he can't call and check in on me. My diamond ring never sends me one email telling me how much I've blessed it. But my girlfriends do, and I do the same for them.
And I can't take out a loan to finance a single kiss from a grandbaby. Those are priceless.
I know. I'm so old-school. I sound like a granny.
...nothing compares. Go on! TRY to make me jealous of your Hummer/castle in Spain/baubles/seven figure income/vacation plans/Nubian goats/Arabian steeds/fill-in-the-blank. You'll see a flicker of interest, if you are an interesting person. But after too much of it...I yawn, and then I yawn. Then I yawn again. I mean, if it blows your skirt up, I get that. I will always track with you, up to a certain point.
I mean, I find a measure of whoopity-do in things that money can buy, too. I can enjoy your hobby with you, and my interests vary far and wide. And I love it when you share with me. But I can't bring myself to admire you for it...I'm impressed by the likes of Amy Carmichael and missionaries to Cambodia. I'm a Jesus Freak, what can I say?
Just sayin'. I like stuff, too...but you won't find me dedicating a whole blog to My Fabulous Estate, nor will you find me going out of my way to, through any means possible, oh-so-obviously make sure you hear about my latest purchases - even when I pay cash on the barrel for every bit of it! (...as opposed to leveraging assets for the tax break that gives me...)
I find it to be bad manners to flaunt stuff, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral. You can safely flaunt your man and you can always flaunt your grandbaby. That's really about all you can happily flaunt, and still be in good taste. Other than that, no one really cares or wants to hear about it, unless she's your Bestest Friend Forever. Certainly not if they haven't spoken to you in years. I can't tell you how often it happens, when someone (who imagines that I will be slightly impressed) will stretch to find any means possible to insure that I know what is their latest "thing"...their newest, non-human acquisition in which they find joy.
All the power-planning in the world can't insure you snuggle up tonight with a man you are crazy about. My hobbies don't give good backrubs and they sure as heck won't slow dance with me. Money can't buy you one single healthy relationship.
I can't take my Nikon out for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe and talk about its day. I've tried. My poodle is a decent snuggler, but he can't call and check in on me. My diamond ring never sends me one email telling me how much I've blessed it. But my girlfriends do, and I do the same for them.
And I can't take out a loan to finance a single kiss from a grandbaby. Those are priceless.
I know. I'm so old-school. I sound like a granny.
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