Jacob's Ladder

This is a picture of the detail God gives to each of His creations! We have masses of these beautiful flowers just outside our back door, all similar, yet each still unique, just like us!

This is my entry in the Nature category of Dawn's photo contest at My Home Sweet Home Check it out and enter your favourite picture.

She captured our hearts

Rick caught the charming face of this little one on a road around Kampala, Uganda in December 2007. We were blessed to be a part of a Global Build Team for Watoto Childcare Ministries. Watoto children were once orphans, and now each have a home with a house mother and 7 other children that become their family for a lifetime. This girl was not a Watoto child, and only God knows her fate.

Dawn is having a photo contest at My Home Sweet Home Check it out and enter your favourite picture.

This is an entry for my beloved husband Rick in the People/Culture category.

Cafe Chat Thursday

This week, Kim asked "So today, I ask you what does it mean that you are able to call God your Father? Really think about this one, and then just let your words flow from your heart..."

I'm a child of The King, not a king of a country, or region, but King over all things. My King is not hard or cold or cruel, He Is the King of love. He Is love itself, and I am His daughter, a child of love. To be His child then, I must walk in that same love. No, it's not an easy task, not when my flesh cries out for it's own wants, it's own needs. But... I can go see my Dad, and He will supply me again and again with all the love I need. He will fill me to overflowing so I have plenty to pour out on others.

I can run to Him when I'm hurting and He will lift me into His arms, already waiting for me, already knowing I was going to fall before my foot slipped. I can trust that He will rejoice with me in every victory. He knew I would succeed before I began. He knows, He knows all things.

These days my earthly father struggles with memory loss and delusions, and the connection we once had fades with each visit. I pray that he too will feel the love my Daddy God has for him, but he doesn't yet know the way to reach for Him, he doesn't know Jesus as the doorway to the Father's heart.

I know that both my father and My Father love me, and I pray that in His mercy and His grace, they will come to love each other too.

How would you answer Kim's question this week? Join us at Cafe Chat and share your thoughts and your heart.

Eyes of Faith

Yesterday afternoon I grabbed Rick's camera and headed out to the barn hoping to catch a few pictures of Cream's five kittens. I was unsuccessful in that mission, but did get some lovely shots of our dog Faith. I wonder what the world looks like through those baby blues.

I know that my world certainly looks different when I look through "eyes of faith".

"Through faith we understand that the worlds came into being, and still exist, at the command of God, so that what is seen does not owe its existence to that which is visible." Hebrews 11:3 WNT

Apple Seeds

Anyone can count the seeds in an apple...

but only God can count the apples in a seed.
-- Author Unknown

This quote arrived in my husband's email this morning and I have been chewing on it for most of the day.

Only God. Those two words speak volumes. Anyone can do some things, but only God can do all things. Many people have knowledge of some things, even profound knowledge about certain things, but only God knows all things. Of course we can count the seeds in the apple, for they are visible to our natural eye, but only God knows the hidden things.

"He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness,and light dwells with him." Daniel 2:22 NIV

This simple quote reminds me that any wisdom I may have or think I have is even smaller than a single grain of sand compared to the knowledge of our Lord.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT

Only God knows the potential that lies within each thing He has created. He doesn't just know how many apples will come from that seed, He also knows what potential waits inside of me. Today I choose to bow in wonder of only God.

Something Rare

I consider this blog to be a place where I share what the Lord has placed on my heart, in the words He gives me to write. But I feel that I MUST share this word by Mark Chironna that was published on Elijah List today. I sense that there are many of us who need to be encouraged by this word from the Lord.

The ElijahList - Mark Chironna: "This Season the Lord is Revealing Hidden Treasures Deep Within Our Hearts and Spirits. Dare to Believe!"

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Cafe Chat Week of June 20th

Kim's question this week is: "Name 3 qualities or characteristics of a good/close friend. Explain why the qualities or characteristics you listed are important to you in your friendships" I wasn't expecting this question to move my heart to dig this deeply, and my reply follows:

Integrity -- "Integrity may be seen as the quality of having a sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one's actions. The term "hypocrisy" is used in contrast to integrity" from Wikipedia

Transparency -- "Transparency, as used in the humanities and Pilatian theories, when used in a social context, implies openness, communication, and accountability. It is a metaphorical extension of the meaning a "transparent" object is one that can be seen through." from Wikipedia

Love -- "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV

It does not seem possible for me to have a genuine friendship if the people involved are not genuine as well. When I invest myself in a relationship I am looking for something more than icing on a cake, I'm looking for bread, for meat, for accountability. I have known many women who I can enjoy spending time with, having fun and sharing a moment, but if it never goes any deeper than that, they may join my list of "girlfriends" but they do not become what I consider a "good friend" or someone I enter into a covenant relationship with.

A covenant friend is consistent and true to who God created them to be, bearing the mark of integrity. A covenant friend will allow me to see who they are, on good days and bad. That kind of transparency builds trust and history. It allows me to heed the words of the Apostle Paul "Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others' joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others' grief]." Romans 12:15 Amplified

A covenant friend will speak to me about the "hard things" in life and because I know they are speaking in love I am able to receive their words. For the same reason, they allow me to speak into their life also.

What qualities do you seek in a "good friend"? Join Kim at Cafe Chat and share your thoughts.