image via talltalesfromasmalltown.blogspot.com
When I met Christ I felt like I had swallowed sunshine.” (E. Stanley Jones, +1973, Christian missionary)
“Rise up in splendor! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines uon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; But upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears His glory….Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow.” Is 60:1-2,5a
The ins and outs of our everyday lives…our routines…our patterns…
Do you see the EXTRAORDINARY in the ORDINARY of your daily “slice of life”?
How quickly our vision dims at the beauty before us….The beauty in the ordinary.
Is it…”Oh no, here comes a new day?”
image via fromtheheartofj
Or, the beauty of the morning light splashed upon the pillow?
Is it, “Is the back yard flooded again?!”
image via fromtheheartofj
Or the depth of reflection in a mud puddle?
Is it, “Busy, busy day…no time to cook dinner.”
image via fromtheheartofj
Or the joy of conversation over take-out?
The things that matter most are treasures hidden in our unique “slice of life”
I have been abundantly blessed to participate in the “Slice of Life” Project e-course taught by talented, beauty seeker, Seattle based photographer, Darrah Parker.
image via www.darrahparker.com
With Darrah’s assistance and inpirational encouragement, photographers from all over the world (thanks to the internet) have reclaimed the beauty of the ordinary of their lives through the lens of their cameras. There are pros with fancy cameras all the way to beginners with point and shoot or camera phones all learning and being blessed by the sharing of the ordinary turned extraordinary…a beauty treasure hunt.
Darrah on her website www.darrahparker.com shares about the class,
image via www.darrahparker.com
“Have you ever wanted to stop time? Hold a moment in your hands? Capture a slice of your life and turn into a treasure? In the Slice of Life Project, you will dig beneath the surface of your everyday life with your trusty camera by your side and unearth the beauty that has been there all along.”
“The Slice of Life approach to photography is a way of seeing, noticing, and appreciating the nuances and details that make your life special. It’s a way of embracing and honoring the imperfections in yourself, your loved ones, your messy kitchen, and cluttered shelves. It’s about saying that your life is just right the way it is.”
“This workshop will not require the perfect camera or fancy lenses or knowledge of ISO, aperture, or shutter speed. It won’t even require you to get out of your pajamas or make your bed! It will only require you to show up with a camera (ANY camera), an open mind, and a creative spirit.”
Registration is now open for the next class beginning April 6…take this 6 week retreat and rediscover the beauty in your life! Go to the website www.darrahparker.com for more details.
Beauty leads to wonder and awe…beauty leads to gratitude…beauty leads to praise!
And we were created to be a people of praise and thanksgiving!
May you be blessed this day with the recognition of the beauty in your life!
“Experience has shown me too late
image via justshudjup.com
that we cannot judge people by their vices,
but on the contrary by what they hold intact and pure,
image via timeflieswithoutwings.blogspot.com
by the childlike qualities that remain in them, however deeply one must search for them.”
(George Bernanos, +1948, a prolific French author and soldier in world War I)
“Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide.” Is 11:3b
“Jesus loves as a PURE GIFT….
image via directfromdeb.wordpress.com
He makes others better by loving them. Not only does he NOT accuse their mediocrity,…but He takes up their defense and gives them His heart, His time, His trust.
image via bloggingtheologically.com
He knew that if (such) people were weak, small, mediocre, it is precisely because they lacked the love to grow and because others did not love them enough.
image via asbaquez.blogspot.com
What does our Lord do? He calls forth, arouses, renews the best part in man, the part that is hidden in each and every person. Because Christ loves, and shows His love in creating new and good things…
image via myediblememories.typepad.com
Everybody who meets Him once again begins to believe, to have trust in God and in themselves.” (By Fr. Bernard Bro, a Dominican priest and author of “Learning to Pray”)
image via mekenzie.hubpages.com
If we see with eyes of compassion the hardness in others and in ourselves as merely stunted growth from lack of love…how differently we would then treat ourselves and our neighbor. Loving ourselves and others in Jesus could cause a flourishing of new growth…a springtime in Him who is love.
image via ou.org
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you. ” Luke 6:36-38
“Geo WHAAAAAT?,” said the Krispy Kreme Doughnut worker at the drive thru…
image via myspace.com
“You know…Geo Caching…will you give us a hint as to where it is?”my husband calmly said.
Whatever are you talking about fromtheheartofj?
GEO-CACHING.
image via parkrrrr.com
It’s a real world outdoor treasure hunting game. First players get coordinates for hidden treasures via the official website www.geocaching.com Then they try to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS enabled devices or their smart phones. After they find one they sign a logbook, see what others have left behind and if they want, share their experiences online. There are over 1 1/2 million geocaches hidden world wide and over 5 million geocachers around the globe. Almost 4000 hidden in my zip code alone and I don’t live in any booming metropolis.
image via craftingagreenworld.com
Well, I wasn’t about to crawl in the big green dumpster just to find a geocache so we didn’t find that one, but did find one hidden at Texas Roadhouse Steakhouse so the trip wasn’t a total waste. Honestly, it takes awhile for us to hear of things in Alabama, but this weird and wacky hobby will keep you laughing as it did the carload of folks I was with. It’s great fun for kids, teenagers, young adutls, middle agers, and grannies and grandpas. You just have to be young at heart!
So….what does geo-caching have to do with a devotional blog about the journey of the heart?
Well…We were created to be “seekers”. We were made to seek God…to grope for Him even though He is not far away.
image via m.podbean.com
Are you in touch with that seeking part of your heart? For it is a part of who you are.
I find that the desire to seek spills over into all parts of my life. To nurture that seeking in the many varied ways it presents itself is to nurture that part of our heart that is creative.
So yes, seek God and you will find Him. He stands knocking at the door.
image via samfrye.wordpress.com
And if you have nice weather this weekend…get out and do some geocaching…it’s weird, and wacky but best of all it’s free.
image via gpsmagazine.com
“He made from one the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and He fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions, so that people might seek God, even perhaps grope for Him and find Him, even though indeed He is not far from any one of us.” Acts 17:26-27
You knit me in my mother’s womb…
image via canadatop.com
Stitch by stitch.
The way you intertwined the DNA with which I am created…
thednastore.com
Is Your Divine Design.
And you saw it as wonderful!
You outlined my days. You numbered them.
NOTHING about me is a mistake!
I am part of the Heavenly Father’s “Designer Collection”
image via designersense.org
And I wear His label!
“You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works! My very self you knew; my bones were not hidden from you. When I was being made in secret, fashioned as in the depths of the earth. Your eyes foresaw my actions; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be. How precious to me are your designs, O God.” Ps 139 13-17
funny dance1.png
Dancing with the feet is one thing…
but dancing with the HEART is another!
(a really fun video I’ve came across on a fellow blogger’s site…I wasn’t able to go back and find out which one…so you who shared this thank you!
What if we all began the day with such “spring in our step”? This video made me want to go skip down the street.
Would you join in the dance?
May it bring a smile into your Saturday.
Blessings.
image via fromtheheartofj
This REALLY tickled me…I may be royalty because I am a child of God…but I don’t think this would go over well with hubby!
Frank A. Clark (1911-1991) is best known for his one panel, one liner sermon, newspaper cartoons entitled “The Country Parson”. He evangelized thousands of loyal readers with his faith based humor. He once said…
“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.”
Oh yes…if I had my way….
image via fromtheheartofj
It’s said that cupcakes are “God’s apology for muffins”.
Unfortunately, medically, my cupcake days are over…that is unless someone has a really good recipe for gluten free, grain free, sugar free, dairy free cupcakes! (goodbye desserts, pastas, cheeses, homemade breads, grits, gravies, Captain Crunch, and pizza, etc…sigh, sigh, sigh and a tear or two) It’s said when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade…and I agree with Mr. Clark. Why not find a bit of humor in the tough stuff? I still love cupcakes..a lot…but now I really love baking them for others. And the wackier and more colorful the better. Cupcakes really DO make people smile…and that is so much sweeter than any double chocolate, swirled icing, marshmallow creme filled cupcake.
“So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold new things have come.” 2 Cor 5:17
Henry Moore was and English sculptor and artist. He is best known for his abstractions of the human figure, particularly the mother and child, and reclining figures. It has been said that many of Moore’s sculptures, that include hollow spaces and rolling curves, were inspired by the landscape hills of his birthplace of Yorkshire. He created many public works of art around the world. Although he became quite wealthy from the sales of his work, he lived very frugally and before he died he created the Henry Moore Foundation (still in existence today) to support the education and promotion of the arts.
image via obit-mag.com
“The secret of life is to have a task, something that you devote your entire life to, something to bring everything to, every minute of the day, for the rest of your life. And the important thing is, it must be something you can’t possibly do.”
Henry Moore (1898-1986)
What is your life task? What is that which you devote your entire life to? What is your passion? What is that which your heart cannot ignore?
What is that which you can’t possibly do?
Could it be,” You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt 22:37-39) ?
For surely this radical love is impossible without the love of God infused through grace within us.
And it is in that flow of God’s grace we discover that life task, that life devotion, that passion, that mission of the heart.
By surrendering our total selves heart, soul, and mind, to Him who is love…
We become His artists of all kinds, in all walks of life, splashing forth up on the canvas of the Kingdom our own unique color and brush work.
image via dreamstime.com
Blessings on your weekend!
Professor Gary Greenberg who holds a PHD in Biomedical Research from the University College in London recently spent 5 years searching the globe for sand grains to photo. Using tiny accupuncture needles he sought to to find and arrange the most perfect specimens. Once found, he magnified them 250x real life.
What did he find?….The photos will amaze you!
Each grain of sand….a tiny treasure…
Each grain of sand….a true work of art.
Each grain of sand…an infusion of God’s creative genius.
Each grain of sand….unique and original.
“For you make me jubilant, Lord, by your deeds; at the works of your hands I shout for joy. How great are your works, Lord! How profound your purpose!” Ps 92: 5-6
Heavenly Father, how great and wonderful are your works. If just one grain of sand bespeaks your artistry in ways unsurpassed, how much greater the beauty of the human person. Each a tiny treasure; Each a true work of art; Each an infusion of Your creative genius; Each unique and original. Give me eyes to see beyond the flesh to the magnificent work of art in each person that crosses my path. Magnify my vision to detect the glorious reflection of You in those I meet. Through Christ, Our Lord Amen.
through Him with Him in Him... 