Monday, November 29, 2010

Oh, That Child

The first time... maybe the sun was in her eyes. You can catch a person off guard.Yeah that is what it is.
This is the second...now this is looking real good through the viewfinder....One more shot just in case someone blinked..

I am starting to think maybe this wasn't just the sun...
What do you think?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

We are reaching the end of a Journey


It is getting close to time to say goodbye to a best friend. I can see it more each day. The heart and love is still so strong but his body is starting to let him down.
I have had so many wonderful dogs through my life and Tucker has been one of the best.
About 10 years we read an ad saying 2 weimaraners for sale $500. We went to look at them and they kept showing us the female. When they showed us Tuck, the woman said you can just have him (from $500 to free??? go figure). She said he a pretty dumb dog and kinda weird. (The funny part is that he fit in our family just fine.) So he was a little weird at first--such as riding in a car he would duck as we went under bridges, at home he didn't like stepping on a door threshold so he walk around, he ducked at ceiling fans, and has always got in the bathtub during storms (we call him Doppler Tucker). But our love grew quickly for him. Such a sweet boy. All he asks is to be where we are outside or in a back room. He watches at the window waiting for us to return. He became a companion, a babysitter
and a good listener (how many tears have fallen on him as he listens). Those eyes---you can look so deep in them.
So as I see the end drawing near, I have to thank my Heavenly Father for this gift He has given me. And Lord, among the heavenly gifts you have prepared for me, I hope you include a sweet friend watching for my arrival.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Lord is My Peace


The Lord is my peace. I shall not live in anxiety. He puts me under His wing of comfort and calms my spirit within me. He takes all my anxieties on Himself and helps me to focus on Him. Yes though I walk through a time of grave uncertainties and fierce anxieties, I will not fret for you are my peace. Your Word and Your presence calm me now. You hold my uncertainties in the palm of your hand. You smooth my wrinkled brow. Surely serenity and trust in You shall fill me all the day of my life and I shall keep my mind stayed on You, forever. (copied)

“But Jesus immediately said to them, Take Courage. It is I. Don’t be Afraid.” Matt. 14:27
Be sure to check out more encouraging words at Spiritual Sunday

Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Foggy Sunrise

Love the fog that came in on a cold Tennessee morning. I could hear the horses running and snorting but couldn't see them for awhile. Finally they ran up on the bank and I was able to capture it.
Thanks for the beautiful show.
(For more black and white photos go to Black and White Weekend)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Horse Week

Had a great horse week. Rode with my husband and other friends last weekend in a Britney Spaniel field trial. You ride with a group of people (the gallery) behind judges and handlers on horseback through fields and woods. Don't ask how many birds or finds there were..I was too busy enjoying the ride.
It was 24 degrees one morn but I had layer my clothes well so I was warm (75 degrees later on the week but that's Tennessee).

Here are our horses eagerly coming when I call out do you want to carry us for four hours at a fast pace (only a non-horse person will think I am serious).

...and here is Preacher when he understands what is going to happen...
You can see the brakes being applied.
(for more black and white photos go to Black & White Weekend

Thursday, November 11, 2010

His Rest

When the sea is calm, spread out the sails if you want to, but your boat is not going anywhere. But when the winds blow hard and the waves rise up all around the boat, then though your boat may rock back and forth and the wood creak, that is when it will began really getting on to where you want to go. (Spurgeon) 

“Therefore since the promise of entering His rest still stands let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us just as they did, but the message they heard was of no value to them because those who heard did not combine it with Faith. Now we who believed entered that rest just as God has said.” Hebrews 4:1


Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Standing Firm

(This tree has the entire weight of another tree on it and has deep ruts in it from a barb wire fence growing in it yet stands tall and firm. It is a reminder to me of how life's burdens can be so hard but daily I see verses in God's Word and in devotions reminding me to STAND FIRM.)

(From Lifeway's Devotional)

Selections From Exodus 14 
Look At It This Way
You cannot retreat; you cannot go forward; you are shut up on the right hand and on the left; what are you going to do now? The Master's words to you are, "Stand firm."

Despair whispers, "Lie down and die; give it all up." But God would have us put on a cheerful courage, and even in our worst times, rejoice in his love and faithfulness. Cowardice says, "Retreat; go back to the worldling's way of action; you cannot play the Christian's part, it is too difficult. Relinquish your principles." Precipitancy cries, "Do something. Stir your self; to stand still and wait is sheer idleness." Presumption boasts, "If the sea is before you, march into it and expect a miracle."
But Faith listens neither to Presumption, nor to Despair, nor to Cowardice, nor to Precipitancy, but it hears God say, "Stand firm" - ready for action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting the directing voice; and it will not be long before God shall say to you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, "Go forward." - Charles Spurgeon

Courage wouldn't be courageous if it always came easily.  Be willing to stand alone even when everyone else has given up.  That's the defining mark of a leader.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Worthy of His Calling

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice oppression and exploitation of people so that you may for justice, freedom and peace. 
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in the world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done to bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor. Amen (An Franciscan Benediction)

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of His calling , and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith." 2 Thess. 1:11