359/365

Banner in a Church

Today is CHRISTMAS. 

I attended the funeral of my friend's husband the other day.  He's with the Lord now. His death was quick, he didn't suffer much, but he was only about 70, which seems young to me.  The church sanctuary had 5 banners along the walls, but I just captured this one.  

It's so awesome that our salvation is not of our own doing, but is by God's choice.  Everyone has the information they need to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but not everyone will do it.

God is in control, Praise God.

21/366

South Side Baptist Church

It's a rainy,  cloudy day today but even though the sky is plain white, I thought this is a great church front.

My heart is grateful for:

all the rain we're having now

10/366

The Ark Encounter

A full-scale replica of Noah's Ark is located in Williamsburg, KY.  I've read about it but never thought I'd be able to visit in person.

I got there today.

It's truly amazing.  It took Noah 10 years to build the ark.  Only 8 people survived the flood, along with 7 of every clean animal and 2 of every unclean animal. (there are differing opinions about exactly how many animals were on the ark but the animals were smaller in those days, and it was a "kind" of each species, so not as many animals as we think there might have been) It's 2 football fields long.

There was one door on the ark and God closed the door from the outside.  

The structure was an engineering marvel.

I'm grateful that;

Some of God's people have been so obedient

4/365

Lunar Ring

As I was looking for the Northern Lights during my last night in a northern location I noticed this ring around the moon.  The sky seemed pretty cloudy and I didn't see any "lights", but this ring was very prominent.  I've never seen such a phenomena before.  

It was a perfect ring around the moon.  I took several photos, one being the complete ring, but I like this one where the moon and the ring are intercepted by the trees.  

This happens where there are ice crystals in the air that reflect the moon's light.  According to the little research I did, it's a pretty common sight.  Considering I've never seen it before, it must not be too common in the lower 48 since this is the first time in my life I've seen such a beautiful sight. 

It didn't last long and a short while later the sky looked

 clear and the ring was gone.

I was in the "right place at the right time" and was so glad I was.

Today Is...

3/365

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, 

"plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you

hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11

I LOVE this verse.  It's such a comfort to know that God is in control.  I have choices but He ultimately knows what's in store for my life, so when I'm floundering and wondering what to do, I can be comforted that it's already decided and that it will be for my good and God's glory.

Whew, that's a load of my mind.

I just finished month #1 of taking and posting a photo a day.  I feel like I've accomplished something. Several years ago a couple of friends and I decided to do a 365 photo-a-day challenge. 

 It sounded so overwhelming, and it was.  

Although I did it, I missed a few days (maybe 3) 

and even though there were no "photo police" to chastise me, I felt guilty.

At the start of this year I thought I'd try it for the month of Jan. 

Just one month. 

Now it's the first day of Feb and I think I'll try it for another month. 

One of the last assignments for January was "nature".  I'm not a big fan of outdoor winter photography, so I photographed my little house plant which I enjoy so much 

and which puts a smile on my face every time I look at it.

NATURE

The assignment for Feb 1 is "Today is...".  

Well today is a dreary, cloudy, snowy & cold day but spring is on the way.

I'm staying home A.G.A.I.N because I don't want to deal with the roads

and nastiness, but I think I'll choose to be productive and appreciate

the blessings I have and not dwell on the restrictions imposed by

the weather.

TODAY IS....

Another Test

76/365

The phone rang.  I don't usually answer it until I hear who's calling.

But the phone was right next to me, so I looked at the caller ID.  It was the hospital.  Uh oh !

I had a mammogram yesterday.  "This can't be good news",  I thought.  I heard the voice saying, "we see something and we want you to come in for another test".

I've already started planning how to get rid of my possessions so the kids won't have to do it.

I'm over-reacting.  I know it.

We made the appointment.  Next week.  Too long, but the soonest they could get me in.

God is in control.  I can rest in His Hands.  Thank God I can do that !

I had already planned on trying a new recipe for dinner and making cookies.

So I got busy doing that.

A good distraction??  Kind of.  Not good enough though.

But when I got to the cookies, and thinking about how I was going to photograph them, and then actually photographing them...yes !

God and photography, the cheapest anti-depressants I know.

the best gingersnap cookies ever

Some Small Miracles

This is not my photo post for today. I woke up this morning way too early, and in the process of not being able to fall back to sleep began thinking about what happened to me the other day. So now I share it with you. This might be long, but if you need a little reminder of how good God is, read on.

I went to the zoo the other day (see the post for April 2 if you're interested). It took me three months to finally get motivated to go. The guidebooks I have don't give the Honolulu Zoo a very good review, and neither did any of the people I spoke with who have been there. So I was torn as to whether I should bother or not. But the lure of possible photo ops overcame my hesitancy, and I made the trip. The zoo is in Waikiki, right across the street from the beach. Another two-for-one opportunity.

As I drove into the parking lot, I remembered that I needed quarters to feed the parking meters with. Sure enough, I forgot to get some before leaving home. I thought I might be able to find a meter with some time left on it so I could go to the store, get change and feed the meter before going into the zoo. Well, eureka, I found a meter with 1 hour and 15 minutes left! And as I put my keys into my pocket I found a quarter which then extended my time to 2 hrs 15 min. (miracle #1). Each quarter is good for 1 hour. That certainly wouldn't happen in NY. It was 3 pm and the zoo closed at 5 pm. Perfect timing.

So off to the zoo entrance, where I discovered that the kama 'aina fee was 1/2 the regular fee. (miracle #2) (kama 'aina is local resident and I have a local checking account) I also discovered that the zoo was open till 5:30 so I had some extra time.

The weather was great-anyone who knows me knows how I basically fall apart if it's too hot or muggy. That day was cool, brightly overcast, with a nice breeze. Wonderful! (miracle #3)

The animals were moving around. (miracle #4)

It wasn't crowded. (miracle #5)

My camera worked! In light of all the camera mishaps I've had this trip, it was refreshing to get through the entire zoo without a problem. (miracle #6)

On my way out of the zoo, I remembered to get some quarters because I wanted to spend some time at the beach before heading off to my friend's house. When I arrived at my car, with only minutes to spare (since I stayed inside the zoo longer than I originally intended to), I was ready to feed another quarter into the meter. However, I noticed that the meter in front of the empty space next to me had an hour and 15 minutes still left. (miracle #7) So being basically cheap (gotta save those quarters, dontcha know), I moved the car over and headed off to the beach.

When I finally looked at my watch, I disappointedly realized I needed to head back to the car and wished I had put that silly quarter in the meter. I arrived at the car with only 1 (one) minute left. (miracle #8)

I started driving to my friend's house and between my GPS and her directions I arrived there without getting lost! (BIG miracle #9)

Well, in light of all the tragedy and sorrow in our world, i.e. our new president, the economy, the mass shootings, the jobless rate, the high cost of everything, cancer, pollution, rude people, bail outs, wars, death, etc., you're probably wondering why I'm writing about parking meters and not getting lost in Honolulu, etc., as miracles.

It's just that I'm constantly reminded by my loving God that He is still in control--not just of the big things, but also of the little things. He reminds me that He can bless me big-time or in the myriad of the quiet, unseen, almost unnoticed details that make up my life. I hope I never lose my appreciation of these Small Miracles.

We will soon be celebrating the greatest miracle of all--Easter. Jesus died to atone for our sins and was resurrected. Praise God.

Global Warming???

One of the first things I heard on the car radio this morning is that the northeast was being plummeted with, suprise!!!, snow. Just now Kristine told me that there was a Global Warming Protest March in Washington, DC--it got snowed on!!!

How awesome is that? God's sense of humor ROCKS!!

Okay, on to Cholo's. Last Friday, Jackie and I obtained permission to go there (Cholo's) this morning before it opened to the public to get some photographs of the interior. As we were happily photograping away, the manager came over and gave us a different story. Luckily we had been there for a while and were just about done.

Cholo's is the North Shore's Best Mexican Restaurant, according to the advertising--and it seems according to the crowds that you find there at almost any time of the day or evening, 7/days/week. It has quite the personality and seems to be the hot spot in Haleiwa. Think about the commercials for Olive Garden, and then mentally insert a Mexican theme, and there you have it!

Then we stopped at several beaches to see what was going on. Sorry about the snow in the northeast, but this is what we were dealing with on the North Shore.

Is there anyone in blogdom who can help me with that stupid underline thing that happens randomly???
Posted at 4:30 pm on Monday, Mar 2, 2009

Just Look At This Face!!

1965. A new freshman class arrived at college. Young, eager, nervous, ready to take on the challenges of new experiences...

Michelle was one of those people who are perky, pretty, vivacious, outgoing, talented, smart, well-dressed, and, darn-it-all, sweet and likable at the same time. It was impossible not to like Michelle.

I was a sophomore. I knew my way around the small campus, I knew practically all the upperclassmen (very small college), and within weeks knew practically all the freshmen (if not personally, at least by their first names).

She had a twin brother attending too. His name was Michael. Yep, Michelle and Michael Morrison. Oh dear. So Michelle became Mickie. She got involved in campus life very quickly, and we remained, if not close friends, at least good acquaintances until I graduated three years later.

We never saw each other again. I never heard anything about her until the other day! A roommate of mine, who was in the same singing group as Mickie (The Windy Hill Singers) sent out an email that Mickie is suffering with stage IV cancer, and that the prognosis is not good. I understand from Kathe that Mickie's college boyfriend from the singing group and her husband both died years ago from the same cancer. Is it contagious?

It took my breath away. The day I received the email, Kathe said that it was Mickie's 62nd birthday!!! Oh. My. Gosh!!! How did that happen? How can she be that old? Ooops, that means I'm that old too. Is that age old? Not according to my head.

I feel like this is an echo of Jayme's recent blog about the death of her dear friend and I don't mean to steal the thunder from her sad experience. I just needed to vent about this. It's been on my mind since I received Kathe's note. I'm sad about this. Sad for Mickie's family, for the life that's ebbing from her beautiful body and being, sad for our long gone youth (and, contrary to what most people say, I would love to have the chance to do it all over again), and sad that I will begin hearing stories like this about my friends and family more and more frequently.

I know that God is in control. I know that He numbers our days. I know that all our deeds were ordained for us before the world was created. I know that He loves me more than I can comprehend. And I know that my eternity with Him in heaven is going to be more than I "can think or imagine".

May Mickie know that security too. May she look forward to her new eternity in Heaven with the Author and Finisher of our lives. May she be comforted in this dark time of her life by the everlasting love of the Father, and the care and concern of her family and friends.

(this is not my photo post for today--check back later for that one)