222/365

Jesus with Lamb

Every month, on the Sat closest to the 15th of the month, my church serves a free dinner in the parking lot of a church in downtown Abilene.  There's a huge parking lot on the back side the structure, and in one of the grassy areas there's a statue of Jesus holding a staff with a lamb on His shoulder.  

For some reason this was the first time I really noticed the statue in the back yard of the Methodist church. The bird on Jesus' head just didn't seem to be bothered by my attention. 

 I had to snap a photo of it.  

I love statues and this one is so comforting.

We serve a lot of meals to homeless folks.  It's such a great ministry.

154/365

Farm near the lake

This farm is near the shore of the Great Sacandaga Lake in upstate NY.  Below it, nearer the water line, is a beautiful house~~maybe where the farm owners live.  

This is such a serene image!!

151/365

Beautiful Home at Lakeside      

This beautiful home is sitting on the shore of the Great Sacandaga Lake on a lovely early summer day. 

95/365

Fishing

It was another beautiful early spring day today.  

EASTER

I took a short ride to get out of the house and went to the lake near my place.  There were many folks at the lake fishing and enjoying the day.

I managed to get a pic of this guy without him noticing me.  

326/365

Abilene State Park Pond

I decided to take a ride to the state park this morning.  In all the times I've gone to the park, I've never seen the water in the pond this low.  It's a total surprise since we've had more rain this summer than in the past 5 summers, so what's the deal????

298/365

298/365

The Lion and the Lamb

This beautiful statue is seen outside the entrance to the Sight and Sound Theater

located in Branson, MO.  The venue shows plays from Scripture and they are absolutey spectacular.

The one we saw was "DAVID", which will probably be  showing for the next 1.5 years.

The theater is closed for a few months starting in Jan I think.

The quality of these productions rival anything seen on Broadway.

242/365

Backyard Pool

The Tiny Wedding venue is sometimes in the backyard of the people who run the business.  It was my first time being there~~oh, to have a pool like this... 

178/365

Japanese Garden

094/365

Pink Lily

I made this image a long time ago.  I might have already posted it, but I don't remember.

I love the pink color.

It's raining today, thankfully.  We haven't had rain in a long time.  The temps are also cooler, and the longer they stay cool, the happier I'll be.  It will be way too hot for way too long here.

It's a get-undekr-a-blanket-on-the-couch-with-a-cup-of-coffee-and-a-book kind of day today.

I'm reading 

"Between the Wild Branches", by Connilyn Cossette.

 

124/366

Horse trailer in an empty green field.

My heart is grateful for:

random happy scenes

347/365

Sleeping Cat

I was at a friend's house today.  This cat is so friendly and usually wants to be right where we are, but as I walked through the living room, I saw her snoozing.  She looked so comfortable I just had to get a photo of her.

My heart is grateful for:

the continued warm weather we're having

64/365

Just a Bouquet of Blue Sunflowers

Someone was done with a bouquet of colorful flowers even though they still looked pretty vibrant.  I boldly asked for them and spent some time trying to get a good shot.

It was fun and I didn't feel as exhausted setting this up as I did the other day.  There were some pretty yellow sunflowers and some Chinese asters but for some reason I liked this one best.

I'm grateful today for:

clean drinking water at the turn of the tap

9/365

Bee's Wax Candle

I'm trying to minimize the non-essential possessions in my home, because:

1)  the less-is-more philosophy is giving me a lot of peace

&

2)  I don't want my kids to have to Figure-Out-What-To-Do-With-Mom's-Stuff when the time comes.

My environment isn't austere and never will be.  I think a home should be inviting and comforting, not only to the people who live there, but to all who enter for whatever reason.

I love these statues.  The candle is a bee's wax candle that a friend made.  Her husband is a honey farmer and she always has plenty of bee's wax and she kindly gave me several candles the last time I visited.  It's really time to burn it, but I keep forgetting, so right now it's another calming piece of decor in my living room.  

Beautiful Morning at the Beach

8/365

I decided to finally get going to a beach this morning.  I only have about 30 more mornings to do that before I head back to NY, where my toes will not touch sand for the next 9 months when/if I return to Hawaii next year.  Insert sad face.

My beach of choice was Ko Olina.  It's close, it's beautiful, and the weather there is usually wonderful even when it's pretty stinky elsewhere on the island.  I packed a book, my camera, a snack and a drink...

Ko Olina is home to Aulani--the Disney Resort.  After grabbing some rays and then walking around to get some photos, I took a walk through the grounds of Aulani.  It's one of my favorite places to be.  I know it's a tourist trap, I know it's crowded, I know it's not what you think of when you imagine Hawaii, but I love it anyway.  

It was designed with an Hawaiian cultural advisor on staff  and it's so NOT hokey.  I lucked out again and saw one of the characters, Stitch, wandering around looking for photo ops with the children.

I.   WANT.   TO.   WORK.   THERE!!

It will never happen, but it tugs at my heart every time I'm there.

Anyway, after several hours at the beach, I packed up, drove to the Y and swam my laps.

It was a really good day, praise God.