Life Here and Spring Pictures!! :)

Today I got outside and took some pictures of the lovely flowers that are showing up around our house at last! They have just started coming out this week and I am past thrilled to see them!


Life here has been very crazy; I have been running around like the proverbial chicken trying to keep up with school, work, life here at home, getting ready for college, and preparing to leave on a mission trip to Arizona this Thursday.


So it's quite nice to get outside and see the flowers, hear the birds, and feel the warm spring breezes. Makes me happy I live a mile and a half from my job and get to walk home three days a week! :) But almost even better is getting pictures of spring!


Courage to everyone in more northerly climates...just hold on and this, too, will be yours in a few weeks or months! :D For now, it's off with me to northern Arizona, where the highs will be somewhere in the 50s and we might get snow...hmmm, I suppose it will make me appreciate this more when I get back!

And these pictures are all "un-Photoshopped" too. I think I begin to get the hang of this! ;)

Why?

(big old tree on a hike in the Appalachian mountains last fall)

Last fall we went up to a local apple orchard with some friends. What a beautiful fall day! Even though I hate being cold, I can't help but love fall! It's so cozy and warm and brings back such good memories.

On the way back home (with lots of apples and some "rainbow" popcorn) we passed a church with a little "saying" on its sign. I enjoy these aphorisms in general, but this one really caught my eye...and not exactly in a good way either. In bold black letters it proclaimed: SHARING THE GOSPEL BECAUSE OF GOD'S ANGER.

I admit to being a little shocked. Sharing the gospel...the "good news"...because of God's anger? Is that the best reason for witnessing!?! Is that even a good reason for sharing who we are--however we choose to share? If what we're sharing is innately "good news," do we even need another reason to share it?

But then I started thinking. To spread things out a little (because I don't go around all day consciously witnessing) why am I serving God and others in the ways that I am? Why are all of us? Some of us are homeschooled teens like myself, others stay-at-home daughters, others stay-at-home moms, others working at various jobs...I don't know who you all are. But why are we doing what we're doing? Is it because we're afraid, consciously or not, of what will happen if we don't do it? Or is it because we're in love with Jesus and convinced that His plan for our lives--and the lives of others--is beyond our wildest best dreams?

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Tim. 1:7) Just something to think on.

Photo--February Week 1

Little waterfall in the creek two ridges over from our house. I went out and took "water pictures" today and this was one of my favorites! :) By the way, this photo is entirely unedited. I'm working on creating more pictures that turn out without extensive Photoshop. ;)

Friday Night...

(fall leaves in our woods)

I love Friday nights. They're so quiet and peaceful, and I can sit here and relax finally, because the weekend is upon us again and I have nothing to prepare tonight. I listen to the same album every Friday night, write or do some sort of artwork, work on my Bible memorization, and just enjoy the quiet. :) I hope you all are enjoying it too!

I promise something more thought-provoking coming in a few days...I'm just not done with it yet and felt like a random post. :)

Photo--January Week 4

My adorable, wonderful, five-month-old Canine Companions for Independence puppy-in-training Beto! :) :) We took him to the library today and this is him in the periodicals racks.

Giving Encouragment

(clematis on our fence)
Disclaimer: This post will probably be rather less-than-structured. I don't like that, but right now it's either write the post unplanned, or don't write at all! :)

Last night I was reading about Barnabas in Acts 4. In case you haven't heard it a hundred times like I have, did you know that Barnabas's name means "Son of Encouragement" or "Son of Consolation"? It was given to him by the apostles after he joined the early church.

That's inspiring to me. I have always wanted to be like Barnabas. For one, of course, he ended up being a missionary with Paul...and that in itself is inspiring to me! But also, he was an encourager. A very prominent one, I'd say, to have his name--or "nickname"--reflect that trait.

Do you also feel called to be an encourager of others? How do we go about doing that? Barnabas's story shows us one way. Did you know that Barnabas was instrumental in encouraging the early Jerusalem church to accept Paul when he first tried to join them after his conversion experience? Look up Acts 9:26-28 to read that story. Barnabas encouraged Paul by standing up for him, showing him that at least one other person considered him worthy of trust.

Encouragement is all about relationships. There are more hurting people in this world than you could ever dream. We women are often particularly good at telling when someone's feeling "down" or discouraged. Instead of ignoring that intuition that tells us, "Miss A doesn't seem herself today," because it might feel awkward to ask her how she really is doing, why don't we take the time to talk, ask appropriate questions, and see if we can begin building a relationship that will eventually allow her to share her struggles with us? Then we could ask God for the words and timing to encourage her in His way.

When you have a trust relationship with someone and feel led to give them a little extra encouragement, how do you go about doing that? Here's some ways I enjoy:
* Send an email
* Give a handmade card
* Give a hug
* Comment on their blog, Facebook page, or MySpace account
* Call them on the phone
* Write a letter
* Tell them something they have done that inspires you or that you especially
appreciate.

Ask God for the right words. You don't have to include a Bible verse with everything, but there are so many encouraging texts that you can often find one that's quite applicable if the recipient is a Christian.

I'm not a very talkative person, so I tend to go for the writing/listening/little-bit-of-talking side of things and may be missing a lot of ways where I could improve! How do you encourage others?

Photo--January 16

Ice on a twig in the Appalachians. My motto: If the woods are too hard to photograph (which I usually find them to be), find the part that really stands out to me!

On Writing

(Florida beach)

Changing the title of this blog has me thinking about (what else?) writing. I love to write. I have been "writing," either on paper, on a computer, or with my voice (telling stories) for as long as I can remember. I discovered poetry sometime early in my high school career and it has been a lifesaver for me since then. I love stories, editing other people's work, and letters. I love e-mails and websites and Facebook. I enjoy articles, but only if I can write them semi-creatively!

But I need to write more. Like my Spanish language learning and my harp practice, I won't write decently if I don't write often.

So I am devising a scheme for keeping myself as accountable as I can be (which, sometimes, is not very accountable in areas like this!) in my hope to write more and write more often. I hope to unveil it in a few days. Until then, I am thinking about entering this challenge...posting one photo every week this year. I found out about it from Annie at Daughter of His Grace. I have some catching up to do, obviously, but I've been posting photos fairly regularly, so it shouldn't be too bad. At least, not till I start working this summer. So okay, it might not be 52 photos for 52 weeks. But I could try! :) I shall start this weekend.

Possible Title & a Poem

There. Yes? I like it better than the previous title, anyway...might still change it. :) Here is a somewhat-recent poem by Me. Yes, I like free-verse. At least, I like writing it. Sometimes I like reading other people's free-verse, and sometimes not...but that's a long topic!

AWAITING
I’m standing here
Waiting on the threshold
On a new horizon
Uncertain, alone
But trusting in the One
Who gave me this dream, and
Led me on to here

For others, dreams
are only dreams;
For me, they’re stars
so far away, and yet
He promised He
would make them all come near
If I would only
Give them up to Him

So I’m waiting
Hoping, watching
Wondering still
Just how He will
bring them back to me
In His way
in His time
More beautiful yet
Than those I left behind

Confession

I am not writing very much in here. Of course you probably already recognized that. But really, what I have been playing with is the design. And the name. I came up with the (rather lacking) name for this blog on a whim, and I want to change it. But I haven't come up with anything that really catches my ear yet. Any ideas, anyone??? And the design I still am not 100% sure on. Anyway that is my excuse. Hehe. :) I have great plans!...just not the organization to get them done yet. Maybe that's what I should've put in my New Year's resolutions. Ah well. Once I'm done with the design and the name and getting my life going somewhat smoothly, I shall write. Until then, I apologize if it's sporadic!