Saturday, July 28, 2012

Running the Race

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. 

 let us run with perserverance the race marked out for us.
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, 
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
 

On your mark, get set, go!



In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory 
there is a glory to be found if one has done his (her) best.

~Eric Liddel

Actively Seeking Beauty

I love looking through a lens. 
Some would say I see the world I want to see through the lens. 
No, I see the world as it is. 
Capturing beauty. 
Eye am listening.

 A very special friend.
 The daddy's bake club :-)
 Consortium of thoughtful thinkers.
 Birthday fun.
I am so tired. I played very hard. When do we go home? 
Why do I have to smile?

Friday, July 27, 2012

The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as our culture has defined it.
~David Orr

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Celebrating our most favorite girl in the world.
Nine is quite fine!
We think you are divine. 


Beautiful.
Beloved.
A cheerful spirit is your gift.
You believe the best of everyone. 
You love to serve.
Creativity flows from your heart and into your hands in all you do.
We are so very thankful for you.
A gift from heaven into our family.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...




Another fun filled and busy day of fellowship and laughter.
The game's growing on me...

 Baseball makes me happy. 
I see his little smile. 
Dreams reach the sky.
The hot dogs, coke and candy, nachos, chips and fries,
settle exactly on my thighs!
The kids dash for cash. Sponsors do abound.
At games end, big and little boys run the bases.
Home! Run!
Just plain folk, having fun.
Home runs, dreams, and baseball.
Who doesn't like sitting in the sun?



Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Wave Club


 We had a lovely day with friends at Beverly Beach.

Tugging heaven down to earth, with a kite string.

 

 ...to get the full value of a joy, 

you must have somebody to divide it with.
~ Mark Twain


Hoping your weekend is filled with fellowship and Him.
 
The most precious jewels are not made of stone, but of flesh.

~ Robert Ludlum


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Finding the Voice, Hearing the Presence

There is a voice that calls in wilderness. A voice in wildness. Sometimes it is the wild howl of grief and loss, other times it is the voice of comfort.

Wild uncomfortable places challenge us to listen. Listen for the Voice.

Words take on flesh. They become who we are. Words are tangible. A physical presence in our lives. Whether lacking or in excess, they are shaping us.

John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, Make straight the way for the Lord. (John 1:23)

What is your wilderness? Who is calling into it?


 Isaiah 40
40 Comfort, comfort my people,
    says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
    that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord[a];
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.[b]
Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
    Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God endures forever. ”
You who bring good news to Zion,
    go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,[c]
    lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
    say to the towns of Judah,
    “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
    and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.
11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
    He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
    he gently leads those that have young.
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
    or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
    or weighed the mountains on the scales
    and the hills in a balance?
13 Who can fathom the Spirit[d] of the Lord,
    or instruct the Lord as his counselor?
14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him,
    and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge,
    or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
    they are regarded as dust on the scales;
    he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
    nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
    they are regarded by him as worthless
    and less than nothing.
18 With whom, then, will you compare God?
    To what image will you liken him?
19 As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A person too poor to present such an offering
    selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
    to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 “To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.
27 Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?
28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.


Friday, July 13, 2012

Portland Mounted Police Unit

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for man.

~ Winston Churchill


Wonderful horses and moments. Good friends and gentle giants. 

The horses paw and prance and neigh,
Fillies and colts like kittens play,
And dance and toss their rippled manes
Shining and soft as silken skeins....


~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

... Be human in this most inhuman of ages; 
guard the image of man, for it is the image of God.
~ Thomas Merton

 

You were made in the image of God. 
Are you living the beauty 
He has woven into your life?  
Speak hope. 
Guard the image of a generous and gracious God.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Raspberry Picking 101


Go while it's hot, the berries are sweeter.

Hide from your mother,
except to steal her berries.

Share your berries.

Go again soon!

Soon, daughter will make freezer jam.
 
Then we would take the canoes
 and paddle to the magic island 
where we ate lunch. 

 ~ Tasha Tudor