Memorizing scripture...

...with Beth Moore this year. This is how I am doing it - with a little brown field journal from Desiring God, colored pens and pencils (though yellow doesn't work well), and my ESV Study Bible. This is my first year memorizing scripture from the ESV Bible and it can sometimes be a challenge for me to re-learn a verse in a version that is different from what I have always used. The little brown field journals are the perfect size for taking with me any where I think I might have even a few minutes to concentrate. I need the constant repetition. There's no system to my underlining, annotating and equating - it's just what works for me at the moment. Tomorrow I will add another verse to the journal - I'm just not sure which one yet. What about you? Are you hiding God's Word in your heart (and mind) this year, too?

I can't believe I missed it...

Saturday March 28th was "Weed Appreciation Day", and y'all know how much I appreciate the wonder and beauty of weeds. It's not that I love to see them in the landscaping around the house, but we have 5 acres with a pasture, a field, a creek with thickets that line the banks and a pond bordered by cypress knees and trees. Those are the places I delight in discovering the delicate loveliness of flowers and plants that most people call weeds. Rusty lyonia and wild blueberries are two of my favorite native weeds that are presently in bloom on Pollywog Creek. The rusty lyonia (lyonia ferruginea) grows along the edge of the thickets and under the pine trees in the pasture. The white urn shaped flowers look very much like those of the wild blueberries, but they are dotted with rust-colored spots. The white to pinkish bell-shaped flowers of the blueberry (vaccinium) hang in clusters similar to the rusty lyonia. This lowbush variety grows at the edge of the thickets by the creek. Speaking of pink, my latest post at Washing the Feet of the Saints is Pretty in Pink... Do you have a favorite weed that is in bloom?

Lent::Fifth Sunday...

God wants people to be happy. And the only way we can be happy is by following his instructions. So he gave us his Word, his written Word, to make very clear to us where our life comes from and how we can keep it. BUT again and again we think our ideas are better than God’s. And we turn from life to death. ~ Lenten Lights by Noel Piper

Read the rest

  *Photo - Balcony Hallway, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville

Saturday Photo Hunt - Hands...

Be careful little hands what you do... Hands to work and hearts to God... Welcome to all my photohunt friends - with extra big thanks to TNChick, for her gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt every week. For "hands" photos from other Photo Hunt participants be sure to click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is: stripes.

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The "Pollywog Creek Bird Sanctuary" and a little video fun...

This was quite a day for the birds on Pollywog Creek. The baby doves I found yesterday were perched on the same limb of that scrub oak in the pasture all day today. I was a little worried about them this morning when I spotted a hawk nearby, but they were still there when Gavin and I went for a late afternoon walk. The hawk and baby doves were not even centerstage when it came to birds today. I can't remember the last time I saw so many different birds on Pollywog Creek in one day as I saw today. There were bluejays, sparrows, crows, cardinals, yellow-rumped warblers, a pilated woodpecker, red-bellied woodpeckers, a great crested flycatcher, a great blue heron and a duck at the pond, a mockingbird who spent much of the day serenading us from atop the japanese honeysuckle and even goldfinches and two green painted buntings that I thought had left for the season. The backyard looked like a bird sanctuary. After our walk through the pasture, Gavin had fun playing in a dirt mound and I couldn't resist taking photos of the result. He isn't crying in the last photo - that is how he poses and says "cheese". That's pretty much how he looked when his daddy took him home. Speaking of Gavin's daddy, Nick celebrated his 10th birthday 6 days before Emily was born 18 years ago. Nick's birthday was actually my due date, and he was hoping she would be born on his birthday, but she obviously wanted a birthday of her own. Because Nick is often at sea, we don't always get to celebrate his birthday on his actually birthday and this year was no exception. We did, however, celebrate Nick's birthday as a family the day before we left on our trip. Because we were in Nashville on Emily's birthday last week, we had our family celebration of Emily's birthday with Nick and his family on Tuesday. All that to explain the following silly videos from our Tuesday night family dinner... Don't ya just love Louis's directing? "Sing!" "Stop!" Let's try that again... Never mind - just blow out the candles, Emily, and let's eat cake!

Baby, baby...

Wandering through the pasture late this afternoon, I discovered these two juvenile mourning doves huddled together on the limb of one of the small scrub oaks. Older doves would have flown away, but these two barely moved as I circled the tree in an effort to get a good angle for a photo - a task that proved difficult, as you can see. There was no sign of a nest or parents. I'll be anxious to see if they are still perched in that same spot in the morning. It felt good to be outside in the cool of the late afternoon. Emily and I had been away from home since early morning when I was scheduled for blood work and a dexa scan. Later we drove into the city for lunch and to shop for a baby shower and to visit the library. By the time we got home, I was exhausted. I'm having a hard time shaking the flu and it doesn't seem to take much lately to wipe me out. A short nap only seemed to make me lethargic. A long walk in the fresh air after an early supper was exactly what I needed.

Washing the Feet of the Saints...

Most of the lovely finches - including the painted buntings - have left their Pollywog Creek home for a season, and the larger and louder red-bellied woodpeckers and bluejays - with a cacophony of caws and kwirrs - have moved into their place. A variety of woodpeckers are often found here, but this is the first year that I've seen them at the feeders, and I'm amused by their clumsy attempts to hang on. I'm not particularly delighted at these changes. Not only will it be months before I can hope to see the buntings again, these are harbingers of the warmer and humid days to come. For now, I am soaking up all the backyard swing time I can manage. The long summer days indoors will arrive much too soon, and my hours on the swing with coffee and a good book will come to an end. I recently finished reading Peace Like A River by Leif Enger. I am a voracious reader, but I seldom choose to read contemporary fiction. To be honest, there are not many contemporary writers of fiction that I enjoy. I simply do not have time to read the poorly written, shallow and boring fiction that is often mass produced and marketed today. When John Piper recommended Peace Like a River, I knew it must be worth my time - and it was. Enger's prose is rich, his characters are deep and intriguing, and the story captivates to the very end. If I could summarize the theme of this powerful story, I think it could be found in I Peter 4:8:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

I'm presently re-reading Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore - a book I read before our trips to New York City, Atlanta and Nashville this past year. The limited resources in the rural communities that surround Pollywog Creek do not attract the homeless. I'm reading Same Kind of Different as Me with a different perspective on homelessness this time. With a sense of urgency, I've also been devoting more time to "Washing the Feet of the Saints" - the work I alluded to when I wrote the following here:

...there's not enough time for me to elaborate at the moment, but finding this from Dr. Mohler in my reader this morning made my heart race. It is my passion and my burden. It is the one place I know God has called me to use what ever gifts He has chosen to grant me, and I could use prayers that I will remain focused to the task. ("Do Not Cast Me Off in the Time of Old Age," Part One.)

With neither an agent nor an editor, it seems rather presumptuous of me to say that I am writing a book, but there it is - I'm writing a book. And I've pitched the idea to Mary DeMuth (a fabulous contemporary author of fiction and non-fiction - which is why I respect her opinion), who promises to critique it (the pitch) the first of May here.

I've dabbled with this project much too long, but with my writer's group encouragement and persistent Holy Spirit nudges, I'm determined to quit dabbling and to focus. I began Washing the Feet of the Saints almost three years ago, but I've neglected it for over a year until today - when I posted Chapter I - Part I. Part II is scheduled for tomorrow. If you have time and interest, I'd love to know what you think - really.

Last week...

Lake Alice University of Florida Gainesville Atlanta in the rain Sunny Nashville Home on Pollywog Creek (Yes - I know they are weeds!)

Lent::Fourth Sunday

Even before the world was created, God knew that Jesus would be the Way, the Truth and the Life for all who believed in him. But God didn’t just ignore his people then, waiting until the time came for Jesus. No, he gave them a way to be forgiven. If they offered sacrifices from a heart of worship, they could renew their friendship with God as they proved their reliance on him. BUT people did not rely on God. Some did not follow his way of sacrifice and worship. And there was an even deeper problem. Many may have followed the outward ritual, but they didn’t trust God in their hearts. They didn’t love him. They didn’t live lives that reflected his glory.
~ Lenten Lights by Noel Piper

Read the rest...

*Photo-Chapel windows at the base of the bell tower at Belmont University, Nashville

Saturday Photo Hunt - Yellow...

Welcome to all my photohunt friends - with extra big thanks to TNChick, for her gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt every week. For "yellow" photos from other Photo Hunt participants be sure to click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is: hands.

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Almost home...

Leaving Nashville early yesterday morning, we drove through the winding foothills of Tennessee into north Georgia, around bustling Atlanta and all the way down to Hogtown before stopping for the night. Though we are more than ready to be back on Pollywog Creek, today's pace will thankfully be much more leisurely than yesterday's. Tomorrow... *Photo - Emily celebrates her 18th birthday on stage at the Grand Ole Opry's Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

How did it get to be Wednesday?

And how is it that my "baby" is now an adult? I admit it - there is much pleasure in seeing our children spread their wings and fly, but I am not ready for my baby girl to leave the nest. Today in Nashville is filled with appointments and activities at Belmont University - a college Emily is considering. Later we celebrate...

*Photo-dove nest in courtyard outside Country Music Hall of Fame

Last night...

JC is right that we are headed north, but then that's probably a given considering where we began. Jen thought we might be going to Texas. Very good guess, but not this time. We left Gainesville (and Tim Treebow) yesterday for a night in Atlanta, where we strolled in the cold fog and mist through Centenniel Olympic Park, bought meals at Subway for two homeless people we encountered there and then met our friends Brian, Rebecca and Emily for dinner at Ted's Montana Grill near the Tabernacle.

Our hotel accommodations in Atlanta were wonderful and we would have gladly stayed longer, but with places to go and people to see, we drove out this morning in the cold and steady rain, arriving early this afternoon here...

The rain stopped, the sun came out, and my cell phone works. Maybe tomorrow...

Lent::Third Sunday...

Usually God holds back his anger over sin. But one time he let it loose, so we would know how serious it is to turn our backs away from God and toward the darkness, and so we would know how great his wrath is against sin. BUT he did not totally destroy his creation. He showed us his mercy, through Noah. ~ Lenten Lights by Noel Piper

Read the rest...

*Photo - Atlantic Ocean sunrise on a stormy morning in May 2006

Off to a rough start...

Tim Treebow (no spelling error - click the link and you'll see)

So no one wanted to try to guess where we are headed? I suppose I didn't leave very good clues. Almost anywhere could have that kind of forecast. Maybe I'll offer clues along the way - like the photo above that makes it fairly obvious where we are tonight. Our little adventure has gotten off to a rough start. Emily forgot the charger to her laptop - which we need to download photos on the trip - and when we stopped to buy one at Best Buy, I dropped my cell phone in the uh...loo. Yep. That was about 6 hours ago and as of right now - my cell phone still doesn't work. Distracted by our sudden electronic woes, we actually got lost on the way to my brother-in-law's house, and when all was said and done, what should have been a 3-hour trip from an earlier stop in central Florida had turned into a 5-hour one. Tomorrow is a new day. My cell phone's future remains in question, but we found my brother-in-law's house, the laptop is charging and we are anticipating a good night's sleep before resuming the adventure in the morning.

(By the way, should anyone wonder, Nick is safely guarding Pollywog Creek in our absence - and if anyone needs me, call Emily. )

Saturday Photo Hunt - Four...

Welcome to all my photohunt friends - with extra big thanks to TNChick, for her gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt every week.

I have pre-scheduled this photohunt post, as well as next week's, in the event that I will not be able to get online either Saturday. I do so appreciate your comments while I am away and will do my best to visit you as soon as I am able. God bless!

For "four" photos from other Photo Hunt participants be sure to click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is: yellow.

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Life in the rural south, arthritic knees, late night ramblings and another quote...

As the hunting buggy slowly putt-putted it's way down the rural road in front of our property the other day, I thought it was a perfect example of the pace of living we rural Florida natives most enjoy. I'm quite sure that the bent toward life in the slow lane is a character trait that was embedded in our DNA over the years our ancestors endured our hot and humid wetlands without the benefit of air-conditioning. Slow moving was a means of survival. For those of us now living on Pollywog Creek it is just pure pleasure. I was forced to leave our leisurely living for a day in "the city" with Emily today that included a date at the orthopedic surgeon's office for knee injections - which, by the way, were a breeze. I wouldn't lie to you, it did not hurt but the teeniest, tiniest bit, and hopefully I can explain more later. I'm embarrassed to tell you how much I have dreaded this appointment. Pain is not one of my favorite experiences and the multiple testimonies I've heard about just how painful these injections are not only contributed to my delay in scheduling an appointment to see an orthopedic surgeon, but greatly increased my anxiety in anticipation. Before I ever saw the doctor, my view of knee injections ranked with root canals as procedures to be avoided at great lengths. And great lengths I took. Remember last year when I went to my doctor for knee pain because Louis said we couldn't go on vacation until I saw a doctor about my knees and I ended up with a cardiac stress test, a false "heart attack" diagnosis, and surgery to remove my gallbladder without ever seeing the orthopedic surgeon? And we still went on vacation? Pretty clever of me, don't you think? By the way, New York City is no place for people with knee pain unless your money grows on trees and you have an unlimited supply of cab money - of which we had neither. And a 1200 mile car trip from south Florida to Texas by way of New Orleans is not only incredibly difficult on painful knees, but on fifty-something bodies one week past gallbladder surgery. Just in case you need to know. (I DID admit that I often learn things the hard way.) Louis casually mentioned once or twice about how I got my way last year and I pretended not to hear him, but as we began planning two exciting trips between now and the middle of May, the subject of seeing the orthopedic surgeon once again became an issue. And with an all-clear from the cardiologist and my gallbladder where ever it is unwanted gallbladders go, I was now out of excuses. Six weeks of visits to the orthopedic surgeon's office, blood work, x-rays and an MRI produced a diagnosis of moderately severe arthritis in both knees (thanks to crohn's, I'm told) and a torn meniscus from who knows what. Since I'm not exactly a youthful basketball star anxious to return to the court, my surgeon is hoping to avoid surgery on the torn meniscus for as long as possible. I LOVE my surgeon. You know what I'm thinking - dare I say it? Surgery does not fit neatly into my newly established schedule. (!!!!!!!) He would also like to avoid knee replacement surgery on both knees, if at all possible, and is treating the arthritis conservatively with an arthritis diet that combines the no-sugar, no-grain diet that is best at keeping my crohn's in remission with daily servings of foods like fresh pineapple and tart cherry juice concentrate (and a handful of supplements) that are rich in natural anti-inflammatory properties. After just six weeks I have experienced a significant improvement - which is great for avoiding surgery, but I still need the injections and today was the day I agreed to it. We leave for our first trip in just two days, and though I'm sure he could tell that I was hedging and procrastinating, even the surgeon agreed that waiting until today was an excellent idea. Did I happen to mention that I LOVE my surgeon?

I was secretly hoping that I would wake up this morning with a fever and in need of another day of recuperating at home that might actually extend until after we had to leave for our trip and I'd have to reschedule my injections for who knows when. Emily had a hair appointment, but she'd just have to go off on our exciting trip with her same hairdo because I'd just be too sick to drive to "the city." No such luck. A nervous stomach, a cough and runny nose, but no fever.

Well, wouldn't you know it. I just looked. It is 1:00 am and there is much laundry and cleaning and packing and birthday celebrating to be accomplished tomorrow, so my "knee saga" must come to an abrupt - but hopefully temporary - end. I'm absolutely blown away by God's grace and kindness and goodness and patience and mercy that He extends toward me in staggering abundance, and I cannot wait to tell you about it - if only I didn't need sleep.

In the meantime, I hope that you are as blessed as I was by this quote from Tullian Tchividjian - that had absolutely nothing to do with my knees when he wrote it, but had absolutely everything to do with my knees when I read it...

God is clearly up to something big. Don’t miss out. Don’t let fear of the unknown prevent you from this great adventure. ~ Tullian Tchividjian in "It's Unanimous" (emphasis mine)

Be sure to read the rest of the story and pray for the "great adventure" Pastor Tchividjian and his church are taking. For those of you who have been praying for me recently - BIG hugs and thanks. I needed to be much better today, and I was. So was my finger. I didn't even show it to the doctor. It doesn't look pretty, but I must have just severely bruised the knuckle under the lacerations and abrasions.

Prayer and daytime cold medicine got me through the day. I got my injections and Emily got the cutest hairdo. I wonder if she would mind if I took a picture while she slept. She's so gorgeous! Better not. Maybe tomorrow during birthday celebrations. Nick was 28 years old today and Emily will be 18 years old on Wednesday while we are off on our exciting trip. Can you guess where we are going? The weather there yesterday and today was frightful. Cold. Wintry mix of rain and snow and sleet, but the long-range forecast while we are there for Emily's birthday is...

March 18 - Sunny 43° - 69° 0% chance of rain Can you guess where?

The view from...

...here. In case y'all don't already know it - I can sometimes be a bit of a rebel. I'm one of those strong-willed people that Cynthia Tobias writes about who sometimes think that rules are for stupid people who don't know what to do and are therefore in need of rules. That's not true, of course, but it is sometimes what strong-willed people like me think. I'm quietly strong-willed. I don't have temper tantrums or demand my way - I just simply go about doing things the way I think they ought to be done. I almost never follow a recipe exactly and I often don't read manuals, which means that I frequently learn things the hard way. Is it any wonder that I've never been able to sew anything without ripping out at least one seam? Y'all are all extra-ordinary and can tell me what to do all you want, but I don't care much for ordinary people like me telling me what to do. I don't even care much for me telling me what to do - which is why I have resisted even my own discipline. Pathetic, I know. God's discipline is another matter altogether...

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

I'd be stupid to not welcome and respond to God's discipline...so I listened intently when He spoke to me about my time. I prayed and studied...and I responded by creating a schedule for each day of the week (except Sunday) that would help me be more disciplined that I might accomplish the tasks that I believe are most important every single day. As I wrote yesterday, that prayed-over schedule was sabotaged from day one. Long story - but it involves among other things a pack of strange dogs, a sick grand-baby and a trip to the out of town pediatrician's office, a promise to take an elderly friend for physical therapy that I had forgotten about, a board meeting I had failed to put on my calendar, the flu, and a possible broken finger (mine). Remember how I don't read manuals? For multiple reasons, I needed to wash Gavin's car seat cover after the trip to the doctor on Friday, so Saturday morning I removed all the straps and hardware from the car seat so I could remove the cover and wash it. When I put the clean cover back on the car seat, I relied on my memory (not smart) to put the pieces back together. You probably know where this is going. I suspected Monday evening that I was coming down with the same flu bug Gavin had, but proceeded to clean house Tuesday morning for my elderly friend before picking Gavin up from preschool before lunch. By the time I picked up Gavin, I was beginning to feel quite sick, but knew Emily would be at home to help me if I could just get Gavin home. As Gavin and I raced down the walk from the school to my car (it's a sure-fire way of getting him to go straight to the car), I hit my hand on the railing. You know how something hurts so bad you want to throw up? With beads of sweat on my forehead and blood dripping from my finger, I attempted to strap Gavin into the car seat only to discover that none of the clips would click into place because I had put them on the wrong straps. Have you ever tried to disassemble and reassemble a car seat with a sore throat, cough, fever and chills and an injured finger while a very busy two year old roams the inside of your car? The good news is that Gavin took a 3-hour nap after I finally got his car seat back together and we drove home. After a miserable night of more fever and chills, my sore throat and the nausea is gone and though I'm still coughing my fever is way down, and I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to have both of my knees injected (another story for another time) and he can look at my finger. I'm not giving up on my schedule, though I am going to put it away for a while. I spent most of today reading and sleeping on my backyard swing (which explains the crocs and the crooked bird feeder view - I might be sick, but I'm still not going outside without my camera) - soaking up good vitamin D, and I think it did my body good. The rest of this week is already askew and we are leaving Saturday for a week away from home. I'll re-examine that schedule when we return. My schedule is peanuts compared to C. J. Mahaney's - or any pastor's schedule, for that matter - but considering my recent string of "unpleasant things", I appreciated this reminder from C.S. Lewis that I found in Mahaney's Scheduling the Unexpected this afternoon...

The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s “own,” or “real” life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life—the life God is sending one day by day; what one calls one’s “real life” is a phantom of one’s own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it’s hard to remember it all the time.

I think I should print that quote on my schedule, don't you?

Of wood storks and faith...

An early morning prayer walk around Pollywog Creek is my favorite way to begin the day. In my recent efforts to establish a daily schedule that will help me stay committed to important-to-me-tasks, I made certain that adequate time was allotted for those morning prayer walks. The ink was barely dry on my schedule before one minor crisis after another began to sabotage my efforts. Though the rest of the day unfolded less successfully, I was finally able to take that morning prayer walk yesterday as scheduled. As I walked under the canopy of scrub oaks that line our driveway amid the bursting with color azaleas that flourish in their shade, I heard the swoosh, swoosh, swooshing of their wings in just enough time to take a few quick photos. Three large wood storks glided elegantly in formation over Pollywog Creek in silhouettes of long curved beaks and legs that trailed behind huge wing spans - which in mature wood storks can be over five feet in length. The wood stork is the only stork that breeds in the United States. A year-round inhabitant of south Florida, this wading bird's breeding season occurs in our late winter dry season, when low water levels in ponds and creeks create concentrated areas of fish and frogs for food. They must have discovered from their elevated vantage point that our pond was not to their liking, for they didn't even slow their pace and quickly swooshed away.

Wouldn't that be awesome to have an "overhead" view of life?

To see from a distance just where we are going and alter our "flight plans" if there was something better on the horizon?

Well....I suppose that wouldn't be faith now, would it?

Monday morning quotes and musings...

...and of course painted buntings and other feathery friends. It is, after all, spring on Pollywog Creek.

The message in church yesterday was on surrendering, and as we examined our lives in the light of that message from scripture we were given an opportunity to acknowledge our unsurrendered places in writing and leave them at the foot of the cross. In that symbolic moment of worship, I remembered this quote I had read earlier in the week...

Our task is to take time each day to remember these truths about ourselves, and to live accordingly. If we have crucified the flesh (which we have), then we must leave it securely nailed to the cross, where it deserves to be; we must not finger the nails. And if we live in the Spirit (which we do), then we must walk by the Spirit. So when the tempter comes with evil insinuations, we must round on him savagely, and say to him: 'I belong to Christ. I have crucified the flesh. It is altogether out of the question that I should even dream of taking it down from the cross.' Again, 'I belong to Christ. The Spirit dwells within me. So I shall set my mind on the things of the Spirit and walk by the Spirit, according to His rule and line, from day to day.' - John Stott, Galatians, p. 154

HT-Vitamin Z

And isn't it interesting that the subject of the devotional reading for yesterday in Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest was "The Surrendered Life". My favorite part of that reading was the very last sentence....

And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.

In my quiet time this morning on the swing outside - with goldfinches and painted buntings and cardinals and mockingbirds and woodpeckers all vying for my attention - I was particularly impressed again with Oswald Chambers in the reading for today...

We must continually maintain an adventurous attitude toward Him, despite any potential personal risk. All that is required is to live a natural life of absolute dependence on Jesus Christ. Never try to live your life with God in any other way than His way. And His way means absolute devotion to Him. Showing no concern for the uncertainties that lie ahead is the secret of walking with Jesus.

What about you? Did you read something in your quiet time today that spoke directly to your heart?

Lent::Second Sunday...

God created people to give him glory. And he created a perfect place for them—a place that reflected his glory. He gave them everything they could need or want for happiness. BUT they listened to God’s enemy. They didn’t really believe God’s gifts to them were enough for them. So they turned their backs on God, and they lost their perfect place to live and their perfect friendship with God. Now, they could see pain and futility and death in their future. ~ Lenten Lights by Noel Piper

Read the rest...

*Photos - Green Painted Buntings and molting male Goldfinches on Pollywog Creek, March 8, 2009

The Blue Jay...

No brigadier throughout the year So civic as the jay. A neighbor and a warrior too, With shrill felicity ~ from The Blue Jay by Emily Dickinson Shrill is right. The blue jays loud, harsh "jeer" is unmistakable, and her aggressive behavior at the feeders can often overshadow her stunning beauty. I'm no "lovely blue jay", but I'm reminded of the proverb that says...

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion.

...and this verse from I Peter 3...

let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

If God chooses to adorn me with beautiful blue "feathers" - awesome, but I'm praying today for discretion and a gentle and quiet spirit.

Saturday Photo Hunt - Space...

Taken on our visit to the Kennedy Space Center on the Florida east coast in the Spring of 2006, these are clearly not some of my best or favorite photos - but definitely the most appropriate for this week's photo hunt theme. The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) through the tour bus window... A space shuttle launch pad from the closest public observation point... The next NASA space shuttle mission is scheduled to begin this coming week, when the Space Shuttle Discovery lifts off from Kennedy Space Center on March 11, 2009, at 9:20 p.m. EDT. The countdown is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. EDT. A peek inside a space shuttle cargo bay... A bronze memorial to those men and women whose lives have been lost in service to the space exploration program... Welcome to all my photohunt friends - with extra big thanks to TNChick, for her gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt every week. For "space" photos from other Photo Hunt participants be sure to click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is: four.

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