Did You Know?

    It seems life is always throwing surprises our way. Sometimes that means we must stop and take notice. It may not mean much at the time but all things in the path of life change our lives. Put enough of those happenings in our life and the path we take is altered forever, right? Actually, even the first and most insignificant of those happenings has that effect on life. How aware are you of what is going on around you? How do you greet the day when you wake up in the morning? Do you greet the day with a smile or a frown? Have you considered that every day is one The Lord has made? It is you know! Rejoice and be glad in it for these are days of wonder and learning. All things work to teach us His ways and strengthen us for what will come next, no matter what it may be. 
    It is a huge struggle to accomplish this when things are not bright and festive. It all seems as though it is pointless or against the current. It is as if you are seeing only the ways of the world. This life would have you think all is hopeless and futile. Depressing thought but the reality is that the Lord has made this day and we should be rejoicing in it no matter what we face. When your eyes open or when your feet hit the floor you should be handing your life over to Him and proclaiming "This is a day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it." You might be surprised with the results in the rest of your day.
    It is something I try to do each and every day. I still struggle sometimes as my body heals from last June's accident. The challenges that come up each day can seem very overwhelming. The Lord will provide for everything we need when He is kept first in our lives. He has made provision for us by His sacrifice. All we need do is rejoice in the day He has granted us and place ourselves in His hands. He wants us to know Him. A life time, in fact, an eternity is not enough time to know Him completely. The more you know of His love the more you strive to know. For now it is for us to rejoice and be glad for each day that is given us. When we do this He will reveal more of Himself to us.

                     

                                Psalm 95: 1-7

         1 Come, let us cry out with joy to Yahweh, 
         acclaim the rock of our salvation. 
         2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving, 
         acclaim him with music. 

         3 For Yahweh is a great God, 
         a king greater than all the gods. 
         4 In his power are the depths of the earth, 
         the peaks of the mountains are his; 
         5 the sea belongs to him, for he made it, 
         and the dry land, moulded by his hands. 

         6 Come, let us bow low and do reverence; 
         kneel before Yahweh who made us! 
         7 For he is our God, 
         and we the people of his sheepfold, 
         the flock of his hand. 
                 The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Ps 95:1–7). New York: Doubleday.

    I recently received a card from Em. We share from time to time and she knew I was struggling physically and spiritually. I would like to say a very special Thank You for your support, kindness and understanding.     

    I would also like to share something that caught me very much off guard. While attending a local prayer meeting, a gentleman sitting in front of me turned, shook my hand and thanked me for my service. He then handed me a small plastic envelope explaining that he belonged to a group that recognizes veterans. (Sorry I do not remember the name of the group) The back of the envelope is shown below.

I sat dumbfounded but did remember to than k him several times. In the front of the envelope is a star from a flag that is embroidered, about 1.5 inches wide sitting on a backdrop of the stars and stripes. If I told you I felt honored it would be an understatement.

He told me they do this rather than burn the flags to honor those that serve. God Bless these folks. They will never know how much they touched me.

That is about it for now. Keep me in prayer. Thank you for stopping by and always remember to Love The Details.



      

Patience - In God's Will

It is a sad statement, seeing the hatred and self centered actions in the world today. There is much judgement and stony hearted behavior everywhere we look. There is more than enough the world over to make one wonder where we are headed. It certainly is anything but God's way. No wonder there is so much despair and stress in this world. What is the answer? Put the love of God back into everything we do. Hatred and all the things that come from it is not the way. The above statement is true in so many ways, there is not enough room to mention them all here. Sanity the world over appears to be absent. It is frightening to think of the consequences of a world gone mad. Friends against friends, brother against brother, allies against allies. Where will it all lead. To be honest, with the weapons available today, extinction comes to mind. Everyone wants their way no matter what the cost, no matter who is hurt, even at the cost of life whether innocent or not. Why? The lack of moral vision? A twisted sense of right and wrong? We all have needs and dreams that will be dashed at times. That is a fact of life. Nothing will be forever except for God's love for us.

So what is the solution? Given the fact that so many, both abroad and domestic, are so focused on hurting those that do not agree with them it is very evident that God is not their focus. Doing things outside of His will always lead to ultimate failure. That failure can be catastrophic. Letting go and letting God does not mean being silent or sitting still. It does mean being sure of what God wants then standing up and being heard. That does not include violence, terroristic or destructive actions. Those actions are born of other than love and are self destructive to any movement. It is born of hatred not love. Since God is love, it does not take a genius to realize where those actions originate. Following Jesus, surrendering to Him, allowing Him to set our direction, putting one foot in front of the other, living in peace and harmony with compassionate understanding is far more desirable than living in turmoil and strife created because others are not willing to live in His gentle shadow. The need to destroy is born of mankind and the need to control. That is not the way to happiness nor is it the way to peace and harmony. Where is your heart? Are you at peace? Think about where your heart is. 7 My dear friends, let us love one another, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is the revelation of God’s love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him. 10 Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins. 11 My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God, but as long as we love one another God remains in us and his love comes to its perfection in us. 13 This is the proof that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us a share in his Spirit.  The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (1 Jn 4:7–13). New York: Doubleday.

I have a card that my lovely wife made for me for Valentine's day. How appropriate for this post. Love you very much sweetheart. 

Sorry about the shadow in the image. It is the result of the layering of the image. This is a very special card. 

Thank you to those who have been supportive over the last few months. Jill and I have spent the better part of the beginning of this year sick with a flu that was pretty nasty. We were both down, me first and then Jill, for roughly three weeks each. That is about it for now. Remember to always Love The Details.

Being An Example

I walk in the way Jesus walked, even though I am a sinner, in hopes of reflecting the life He has changed within.

Last post was on becoming. To become a reflection of Christ when we are sinners is the process of becoming the word of God in spite of being sinners. Sounds impossible doesn't it?  Jesus was the only one who was without sin. It isn't hard once you realize all of the saints, in fact all of the holy people of the bible, were sinners. The difference was that each of them repented and went forward in the ways God was teaching them to go. How is that possible when "God does not talk to His people any longer". That is a fallacy! The problem is not with God or Christ but with us. We live in a world that is moving at break neck speed. There is little to no time given to pause and hear Him speak to us. We are taught from the time we are born to be on the go, to seek out everything this world can give us. The things of this world seldom reflect the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:17-31) If you are willing to stop, be still and listen for the voice of God, you will soon find He still speaks to those who seek Him. My favorite reminder is in 1 Kings 19:9-13. I try to practice this every day, especially on my walks. Find a private place free of distractions. STOP! BE STILL in mind and spirit. Talk to Him as you would someone standing next to you. With some practice you will find He is always talking to you. It is very often in a very quiet, soft voice. It has the power to change your very appearance, to make you visibly different from the world. Everyone is different. He is always present no matter the state we are in. Imitate Him and follow His ways. Others will take note of the change in you. Of that you can be sure.

This brings up a very interesting thought. It is hard to see ones self as a saint but by striving to be an example of Christ you are also becoming saint like. Remember that the saints were sinners too. They just worked hard at what our Lord chose for them to do. They surrendered to His will. As they surrendered their life changed in ways that became an example of His life. Still think you are not noticed when you imitate Christ? People do notice when someone becomes "different" in a good way. That is a very interesting way of looking at being an example.

Last weekend I got a very special surprise after finishing shoveling snow off my front walk. I heard a bird call not heard in my neighborhood before. I looked around and sitting high in the pine tree two houses down was a very wet
visitor. It was cloudy, damp and dreary day but there sad an adult Bald Eagle. The pictures are a tad fuzzy due to the weather and full telephoto. Enjoy!

Neither my neighbor that was helping to clear my sidewalk nor I saw it land there. It was obviously aware of us though.
We both went and got our cameras to record the event. It was a surprise that the Eagle stayed as long as it did.

I managed to get many pictures from both my back and side yard. It was in the tree for more than a half hour. In fact I don't know how long it visited. Here are a few more pics.

Like an owl they can rotate their heads at least 180 degrees. Amazing.

Magnificent birds. As you can tell this one is soaked from the rain and snow mix. I am sure it was taking a break from its migration.

Than you for visiting. May the good Lord bless and keep you always safe and healthy. May you Christmas be more than you expect and your New Year be the best ever. Remember to always Love The Details.

Becoming

Today is a new day, a chance to live as Christ lived so that we may grow into what we were meant to be.

I have been looking at the life of Christ and how He lived in Israel. Not from a Christian point of view but from the view of his people, the Israelites. How?  The language and conditions under which he lived. I some ways it changes one's perspective not to mention understanding. The original language is difficult to translate into Greek let alone English. Many of the Hebrew words have no counter part in either language. They are not translatable without lengthy expositions. It amazes me that the bible scholars managed to do what they did as accurately as they did. Still there are things that I wanted to understand that seemed unfinished or unspoken. Crazy? Maybe! Since I neither speak nor understand Hebrew, ancient Hebrew, it poses a problem. Research is what was needed to understand the root words and phrases Jesus would have been familiar with and used. The result is a fuller understanding and appreciation of His daily life and the things He taught. That is a revelation on what He wants us to become, at least to me. Becoming as He is, that is right, IS, means allowing Him to become us. When He died on the cross for us and we accept his gift of salvation, we are forgiven for past, present and future sins so long as we believe in Him and allow Him into our lives. "You are healed. Go and sin no more," were often his words. Imagine that. A love so great that instant forgiveness is possible. Those words are relevant even today.
     It is true that it is difficult to grasp those words without His physical body for us to see and touch. It is possible to touch Him spiritually. He does come to us and touch us daily in our walk with him. We are not always aware of His presence but He is there. When it seems He is far from us, it is not he that moved but us. We are never abandoned. The miracle of healing is often very subtle to the point of not being noticed. This is often the one that is experienced. It may be in retrospect that it will be seen. That does not make it any less a miracle. Every breath we take is a miracle. Every birth, first step, new experience, first love, waking moment or anything else you might name is a miracle. It all contributes to drawing closer to Him to become the "I am" we were meant to be. 

I have a card that Em from creative EM sent last Easter. Jill had it all this time so I am sure it was never posted. Thanks and God bless you Em.

     Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. May the good Lord keep you safe and well. Remember to always Love The Details. God Bless. 
             

               

Let go! Open up!

Begin to be now what you will be hereafter. 
William James
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes_of_the_day.html

This past few months have been mind numbing. The inner hunger for spiritual enlightenment is unreal. It seems there has been a spiritual dam burst and it has caused an overload. There are times in our lives when choices are presented to us. Those choices are crossroads that allow us to stay where we are or move on. The right choice may mean staying in the shallows or moving out into the deep end. Until the choice is made there is no way of knowing which it will be. Facing life ending or changing choices is one of those places. The decision to place yourself in the hands of the Lord, to accept whatever it is He has for you, is life changing. Why? At that point you are open, without pretense, without barriers, without defenses or excuses. You are prostrate, face down in the dirt and vulnerable. Is this where the Lord wants you to be? At times! It is the place of total and complete acceptance. It does not matter how intelligent you are, what your education is, how much knowledge you have or how rich your are. It does not matter if you are wildly popular with a plethora of friends, alone and forgotten, happy or sad. At the moment of complete abandonment to Christ He pours more into you than can be absorbed in a lifetime of experiences or study. You will never finish understanding it all. Amazingly, it does not matter since He will guide you on your way. He will give you what you need as you need it. It is His understanding living in us and moving through us that is what is important. All that is needed is the willingness to remain open and to be willing to move forward. Open yourself to His Spirit to find life and peace in all you do. There are many surprises for those that allow Him to become one with them. 

I have a card to share with you today. This card came at just the perfect time, right after getting the news that my only living aunt had passed away. Though the card was for support for the accident the uplift was immediate.

The cards from Maria F (rieslingmama). Hugs back to you Maria. Your card is beautiful.

OOPS: I missed these die cuts Maria sent me on the original Post. Sorry Maria and thank you again.

Now to share a bit of the fall color from one of my walks.

  A hiking trail through one of the local developments.

 Just a few of the neighborhood beauties.

That's it for now. Thank you for the support and understanding. I am already preparing a new post but it will still be a week or two before it is done. God bless you all and remember to always Love The Details.


                  

Thank You

Before starting, I would like to thank those that dropped by and left a comment and prayer wishes. It is greatly appreciated. You have made the days lighter and brighter.

Our walk through life is not guaranteed to be without trials and risks. The unexpected is the rule and not the exception. How we handle what happens is what shapes our direction in life. Everything has a purpose. Those things can be seen as positive or negative. The choice is yours. For those that have faced a decision at a crossroad there can be many choices to be made. Mine was to tell the Lord, "I am yours. I give myself to you and whatever must be I will accept." The choice truly is ours. Make the right one and even a simple walk down the street will turn into something new and wonderful. Everything around you is new and special. Being alive takes on a different meaning. In a very real sense you are born again. The wonder around us is as a child would see it, fresh, untouched, as if never before seen. As much as we can, it is like experiencing God's love in a very real way. It brings to mind my favorite verse of all that describes God and His son Jesus. "Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love." (The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (1 Jn 4:8). New York: Doubleday.)

There are two things I would like to share with you today. The first is an anniversary card, our 53rd, from Jill. Yep! 53 wonderful years as of the end of August. Each and every one a treasure.

The next card is a birthday card from a very special friend, Em from Creative EM. She knows I love all things from nature. Thank you Em. It means a great deal to me. You are a special friend indeed.

Next is another birthday card. This is from Jill. On the front is a simple "celebrate" with a farm background. Considering the near miss this year there is reason to celebrate getting this card. It could very well have been without me. She is very special in every way.

There is a special story to go along with this card. Jill found a Bed and Breakfast called the Hurst House B&B. It sits on a hill in the Amish country near Ephrata, PA. We drove down to see what it was like and to find out what the availability would be like. Turns out we both loved the place. The views are spectacular and it is as the on-line images show. When we inquired what rooms would be available we got a major surprise. There was only one room available in the near future. and was on the 15th of September. MY BIRTHDAY. We booked the night as my present. It was wonderful and would have tried for another night or two if they were available. God is good. 

Thank you for visiting and thank you for any comments. Remember to Love The Details. Until next time, Hugs and Blessings. Jim

On The mend and Blessed

     It has been awhile since the accident and last post. Healing and gaining strength back has been only part of the process. Since that time I read the actual emergency room report. It is described as "retroperitonial bleeding" and is a rare life threatening problem. It includes bleeding from an organ (my case), tumor, pelvic fractures and aneurisms to mention a few. I was informed at the time that they were considering admitting me to the ICU unit but decided not to after consulting with the surgeon on duty. Whew!
   
    What was not shared is that I knew I was in serious trouble while in transit to the hospital. I felt there was a chance this could be fatal. Yes I felt that bad. I told the Lord "I place myself in Your hands. Whatever will be will be." At that moment a calm peace set in. Since then much has changed in how life is perceived. It is not clear what direction that will take but there is a definite change in direction. Jill and I are much closer than we were before. That is amazing in itself. There is a different attitude from family members, well, most family members.Many friends and neighbors have been most supportive as well. Some of you left comments to the last post that really were a great blessing to me. I have not gotten back to all of you but I will. Your posts have been kept and will be answered.

    Walking for gaining strength is getting better each week. Currently it is up to 3500 to 4500 steps, that does not include 1000 to 1500 steps when making supper, grocery shopping or other routine things during the day. It sounds like a lot but most of the day is spent resting or sitting. DW insists I not exert myself to much yet. LOL. "Yes Mother!"

    Since then windows 7 has been replaced with windows 10. That was not an easy transition. It took about a week until everything was ironed out, settings changed and programs updated, etc. Then there is the matter of creating system images and backups as well as emergency system repair disks. This was done for 3 computers. Angst was not a good things for a day or two. Jill was not happy about that part. It has taken me a bit to feel comfortable using the new system. Here I am and hopefully all goes well with this post.

   I haven't worked much doing artwork because the sitting position causes discomfort. This heat wave is also hard. There is no air conditioning in the room my computer is in. I am beginning to create again and will share what is done when finished. For now it is hoped a few special photos will do as a replacement.

The first two images are of a red tailed hawk. The first one he was  playing hide and seek with me. The second he was just looking to see what he could capture for a meal.

The next image is a broad wing hawk. The are smaller than the Red tail hawks. 

The hawk had just caught and dispatch a squirrel.

Here he is protecting his prize from a red tail hawk that was cruising overhead. He actually crouched down and spread his wings over the squirrel to keep it from being stolen. Amazing!

Hope you enjoyed your visit. As soon as this heat lets up I will be visiting blogs to comment. Thank you so much for visiting and commenting. Remember to always Love The Details. God Bless.   

Just a short note

Sorry I have not been around for awhile. Back on June 17 I had a fall while working in my garden. It took a week to feel the results. That Saturday I spent the day in the emergency room. The results were the loss of two units of blood into my lower abdomen and three cracked ribs. I am told it was a rare condition and I was lucky it happened this way and that I am in such good health. It could have been far worse. No operations or other procedures were needed. I am on the mend but it will take at least three months to get back to near normal. They also did an EKG and a deep scan of my heart for an anomaly the doctor saw. I suspect it will be a heart murmur that I have had all of my life. I am doing well but tire easily and have little get up and go right now. Thank you for your support and I will be back and post as soon as I am able. In the meantime, remember to Love the Details.

Love, Hugs and Blessings to all.

Mercury Transit

Being an Amateur astronomer I could not resist today's transit of Mercury across the face of the sun. I was up at sunrise to see if it would be possible to see it. Good thing I did get up early because by mid morning the clouds were moving in and I would have missed it completely. Anywho, I used the projection method through a 3" refractor (all lenses, no mirror) to see it. I took a sheet of green card stock, cut a hole in the center and slipped it over the end with the eyepiece to act as a shield that would produce a shadow to make the projected image easier to see. I used a second bright white cards stock to act as the projection screen. I held it behind the telescope and focused the image onto it then took a bunch of pictures of the projected sun image. Here is the result.

It turned out pretty good considering there way a Breeze building. It made the scope vibrate and the card stock was hard to keep still. It later became impossible. 

The image is actually horizontally reversed. The Blue oval circles highlight Sunspots that were captured and the Round black circle highlights Mercury on the face of the sun. It will be several years before this happens again. This is the best of five pictures taken. Shortly afterwards the clouds were too thick to get any more images. 

By using a projection screen I was able to see the detail on the sun. NEVER view the sun without protection. It is advised that you never view the sun directly through a telescope or binoculars unless you have a proper sun filter attached to the front of your instrument. Never use an eyepiece filter as the heat generated will crack the filter and could result in blindness. Due to Mercury's small size the only way to see Mercury was through a telescope.

Hope you like what I managed to capture. Remember to always Love The Details. God Bless. 

The Sound of Prayer

     The sound of prayer is not what you hear or speak but the voice of the soul submitting itself to the Lord.

     What the mind of the believer struggles to put into words is in many cases a futile attempt to describe the indescribable. If you pay attention to the posture and face of the one praying, it is apparent the soul is speaking far better than the words being used. Eloquent words and long detailed prayer is often an attempt to convince God of the need within the prayer. Simple words from the heart, to the point and uncluttered, are more pleasing and more what our Lord wants from us. He knows better than us the details that fit the need. All of the reasoning in the world will not convince Him that we deserve something. He provides what we need and gives us what we are due as He sees fit. That is not to say a prayer will not be granted. You may have to repeat your prayer often. Matthew 7:7-8 states “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."(New American Standard Bible). Hope not coupled with prayer is an exercise in futility in my book. Far too often an unspoken prayer has been answered whereas spoken prayers were not. If a simple prayer is voiced and the soul is in agreement the sound of prayer carries to heaven and is heard. There is no pretense in the soul. No deceit or hiding place. All is open and pure. It is not clouded with the muddy waters of this world but the clear, pure dwelling place of our Lord within us. Prayer, especially the sound of prayer from within, is always heard. Your will be done and not mine, Lord. Amen
    
     The time has come to show the results of the stencil project. This has been my project for several months. First, here is the stencil used to provide the base for this colored image. Simple enough isn't it? NOT!!!! It is not the way of this crafter to do things the easy way. As Jill most often says, " You are a brute for punishment." So what is new? Chuckle!! Where is the fun in boring? LOL.

     Here is the Stencil called "Free Spirit". It is from PRIMA and the artist is Jamie Dougherty. It is roughly 6.75 X 11 inches (180mm X 280mm). That is a width and height measurement. I loved this image from the first time I saw it. It lends itself to the rebel within and the native american. I WILL NOT do this one too often but it is fun to do.       

     Here is the finished stencil. The hair was a major consideration. I settled on black, although that presented challenges in itself. Black is a greater challenge for me than the other hair colors. 
     The colors are slightly off true. I am looking for a way to true up the onscreen color with the real colors. There are utilities to do this but it also requires specific hardware. This reminds me, if anyone has problems reading a post, mine or otherwise, you can hold down the CTRL button and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to enlarge or reduce the size of the window, and thus the font, you are viewing.

I just realized the "r" and "t" in the word Spirit on the image are transposed. OOOPS!!!! Smile.

The top right of the card stock got a bit wet and is a little out of shape. Sorry about that. Smile again. SIGH. The image turned out quite well just the same. The pallet of Copic colors and pens is:

Skin: E41, R0000, R000, R00
Eye:   B000, Boo, Copic Black 0.05 Multi liner
Lips:  R81, R21
Head Band:  #11 Gold atyou Spica pen, Copic Black 0.05 Muti liner
Feathers:  B16, B21, B23, E42, E81, T10, 100
Flowers and Stems: YG63, Y14, Y67, YR24, YR31, G29, E09, E23, C29, R00, R27, R29, R39, R46, Copic Black 0.05 Multi liner
Hair:  C2, C4, C6, C8, Copic Black 0.05 Multi liner

This image was both a challenge and fun to do. It turns out the skin shading was easier than expected as was the hair to some degree. The hair detail was tedious to say the least. That took several days.                                      

Hope you enjoyed your visit today. Thank you so much for dropping by. Remember to always Love The Details and correct the mistakes. LOL. God Bless.