It is a Beautiful Day

I took this photo over the fence from my kitchen door yesterday morning.  Storms were predicted--which did come in the evening hours.  But what a lovely way to start the day.

I want you to know I am praying for you.  You know who you are--and God knows.  You are treasured and beloved by me and by the Almighty Creator, who sees you and knows your heart.  He knows what you face and He is with you right now.

You have searched me, Lord,

    and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

    you perceive my thoughts from afar.

 You discern my going out and my lying down;

    you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue

    you, Lord, know it completely.

 You hem me in behind and before,

    and you lay your hand upon me.

 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

    Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

    if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

    your right hand will hold me fast.

 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

    and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you;

    the night will shine like the day,

    for darkness is as light to you.

 For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

    when I was made in the secret place,

    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

    before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, Oh, God!

    How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

    they would outnumber the grains of sand—

    when I awake, I am still with you.

 ~ Psalm 139

Whatever you face today--please know the Creator God loves you--He is with you always. If you need strength--just ask Him.  He will answer those who seek for Him.

God bless you, dear Friends.  Our prayers are with you.  

Glory Light in the Morning

Early this morning I awoke to a luminous light.  The sun hadn't come up, yet the air was golden.  Grabbing my camera I ran outside.  I caught my breath at the beauty I saw.

I watch the news each morning and I find myself praying for folks I've never met.  They are going through things I can hardly think about.  I am in anguish for them.  I wonder how God could possibly work out these complicated and awful circumstances.

Then I see something like this--the glory of nature, spread across the sky by the hand of the Creator.  This reminds me that He--the One who created the universe, is infinitely capable to watch over those who turn to Him in their time of need.  He will hear their cry and He will answer.

Give ear to my words, O Lord,

 Consider my groaning,

Heed the sound of my cry for help,

My King and my God,

For unto Thee will I pray.

Oh, Lord in the morning,

Will I direct my prayer, unto You

And will look up.

~A Psalm of David

Psalm 5:1-3

God blesses the downtrodden and brokenhearted--look up and expect a miracle.

Unexpected Sunshine

This is a picture I took late last Fall in the early hours of day.  This morning the sunrise had the same golden rays beaming through my window.

What a lovely way to begin the New Year--with Sunshine!  We haven't seen much of it here.  It is the fourth rainiest winter of all time, in Oregon.

Even we who were born here and are used to the rain, are getting a bit tired of the gray, stormy, drippy, dark days.

Perhaps the fact the sun rose in all its glory this morning, is a sign this coming year will be filled with unexpectedly wonderful things.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sullen Sun - Weekend Reflections

Last week as I awakened, I knew something wasn't quite right.  I sat on the edge of the bed to glance outside.  I gasped at the peculiar red color of the Sullen Sun.  This photo actually doesn't do justice to how red the sun actually was.  My camera would not pick up the blood red color of the sun itself--but the reflections you see spattered here, are very close.

Oddly enough, even the sunlight itself was red.  I caught the vibrant color of it spilling down the stairs.  I've never seen anything like it.

At first I thought the sun was red because farmers here have been field burning.  However, on the news it was said the red color blurring the sunlight is because of a huge fire in Russia.  Incredibly, the smoke is being carried by the jet stream up over the North Pole.  The truth is, we are all tied together more closely than we could ever imagine.

For more wonderful reflections from around the world, be sure to visit James at Weekend Reflections.

Mountain Retreat

I was up early to watch the sun shyly blink over the mountain.  The silence was filled with bird song and the crashing waters of Silver Creek Falls plummeting over the rim of the canyon.

I could not resist the beauty of the woods and went for an early morning walk.  I discovered this cascade of leaves and Trilliums near a tiny babbling brook.  I stopped and filled my eyes for awhile.

I found a sparkle of dew resting amid some graciously folded miner's lettuce. 

The cheery smile of a dancing Trillium greeted me as I passed along the mossy path.

Above you see the lush greens of the mosses which drape everything in the forest.  I think it looks like a giant ameba--and it's smiling!

 A cluster of georgeous wild flowers caught my eye with their vivid pinks and greens.

It was amazing how quiet it was after everyone left.  My husband was a little late, so I read a book in a cozy little gazebo beneath the tall fir trees.  But I wasn't alone.  Here you see my sweet Guardian.  She was the most gentle of souls and everywhere I went, she was sure to be found close by.

What a wonderful weekend we had!  Some of you have asked what kind of a retreat it was, along with my subject--I had the privilege of speaking to a lovely group of woman about my life's Journey to Joy.  I felt  miracles happening all around us.  It was hard to leave my dear friends . . . it is gives me such JOY to know there are others who are now beginning their own Journey to Joy.

Opal Skies

It is to be another rainy day. But when I stepped outside this morning, a fragile beauty transformed the skies with shifting colors, which reminded me of the illusive glow of an opal.

These Opal Skies quite took my breath away.

Morning's Glory

I don't usually put up more than one photo on this blog. But this morning's splendor caught me by surprise . . . as did the news that our dear old friend Henry flew away to heaven last night.

He wasn't feeling too well--so to be free of the pain and weakness he had, must have been a revelation of glorious freedom.

His flight from this world into the next...

Must have been breathtaking.

Good bye, dear Henry. I will see you on the day I fly away to join you and so many others I love.
.

In the meantime, oh, I will miss you. And I will smile when I remember you.

Eye of Sun

Believe it or not, this is the sun as I saw it this morning. High clouds burned with faint color, as a layer of darker mist wafted across the skies...the resulting photo is this unexpectedly eerie picture -- Eye of Sun. Brrrrr. . .

Many of the pictures I post are those I take just outside my kitchen door in the skies above our neighbor's fence. This photo is no exception. Our neighbor's roofline is just below and between those two trees. This picture is the best of five I was able to click, before the mists completely covered the sun.

And yes, I practically wear my camera like a piece of jewelry. One just never knows what unexpected thing might pop into view.

Oregon Sunrise

I remember eight years ago, when my husband felt something had happened and turned on the television. In New York City, one tower was on fire and we watched as an airplane speared the second. We wept as the towers crumbled, knowing in that moment thousands had lost their lives. When we visited ground zero nine months later, our experience there shaped the rest of our lives. We must not forget our solidarity as Americans and the wonderful freedoms we have here in our country.

.

Taking Dad to the VA hospital is always an eye-opener. The waiting area is nearly always filled to capacity with men and woman who have served our country and now suffer. Over the doorway is the legend "The price of Freedom is Visible Here."

.

Now eight years later--A wonderful blessing on the day--this Oregon Sunrise. Shatters of joyful light bursting through night's dusky cloudcover.

.

Daddy Update: What a wonderful thing! The top of Dad's head has NO bone showing! The two surgeons who looked at it a little over a month ago said there was a one percent chance that terrible wound would heal over. Thank you for your prayers! It is truly a miracle!

.

Please continue to pray that Dad's neck bones will knit together. There's quite a gap between the bones--and Mom says, looking at the cat scan, that it looks impossible. But we've already seen one miracle! Let's pray for another.

.

We hope to have Dad and Mom's home ready for them by the 20th. Still so much yet to be done.