June Caedmon's Blog, page 74
April 28, 2014
Inspired by . . . chinaberry
Inspired by . . . chinaberry
Driving in the the other day I noticed that our chinaberry tree was in bloom – and attracting a lot of attention!
A quick grab of my camera and I was back down at the base of the tree, neck craned back, inhaling the heavenly scent as I attempted to shoot the flying flowers swarming the tree's pale lavender blooms. After about 30 minutes of chasing the black and oranges flutter bugs around my neck insisted I stop. The conditions weren't great - it was pretty windy – but I got a few shots that I thought were good enough to share with you.
Synonym(s): Melia azedarach var. umbraculifera
Family: Meliaceae (Mahogany Family)
Duration and Habit: Perennial Tree
Native Origin: Himalayas
Black Swallowtail
Monarch
Textured with Kim's kk_way
Black Swallowtail
Textured with Kim's kk_felicity
Swallowtail
Well, I have more butterflies to chase . . . .
Have a wonder-filled day!
Blessings,
Sharing inspiration here:
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April 24, 2014
Inspired by . . . the lone star state
Inspired by . . . the lone star state
When my mom moved to Texas a couple of years ago a friend gave her a bumper sticker that reads, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" It's a fun sentiment, but I can't honestly say that I've spent the first 35 years of my life trying to get here. What I can honestly say is that when I moved here seven years ago it felt like coming home.
The state flower is the bluebonnet and what a beauty she is! "The bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland, the cherry blossom to Japan, the lily to France, the rose to England and the tulip to Holland," affirms historian Jack Mcguire.
Did you know that Texas actually has five state flowers? All of them are bluebonnets!
Lupinus subcarnosus, the original champion and still co-holder of the title, grows naturally in deep sandy loams from Leon County southwest to LaSalle County and down to the northern part of Hidalgo County in the Valley. It is often referred to as the sandy land bluebonnet. The plant's leaflets are blunt, sometimes notched with silky undersides. This species, which reaches peak bloom in late March, is not easy to maintain in clay soils. Lupinus texensis, the favorite of tourists and artists, provides the blue spring carpet of Central Texas. It is widely known as THE Texas bluebonnet. It has pointed leaflets, the flowering stalk is tipped with white (like a bunny's tail) and hits its peak bloom in late March and early April. It is the easiest of all the species to grow. Lupinus Havardii, also known as the Big Bend or Chisos Bluebonnet, is the most majestic of the Texas bluebonnet tribe with flowering spikes up to three feet. It is found on the flats of the Big Bend country in early spring, usually has seven leaflets and is difficult to cultivate outside its natural habitat. Lupinus concinnus is an inconspicuous little lupine, from 2 to 7 inches, with flowers which combine elements of white, rosy purple and lavender. Commonly known as the annual lupine, it is found sparingly in the Trans-Pecos region, blooming in early spring. Lupinus plattensis sneaks down from the north into the Texas Panhandle's sandy dunes. It is the only perennial species in the state and grows to about two feet tall. It normally blooms in mid to late spring and is also known as the dune bluebonnet, the plains bluebonnet and the Nebraska Lupine.
I've added white and pink bluebonnets to my bucket list. They're very rare. There is a legend about the pink bluebonnet. You can read it here: Legend of the Pink Bluebonnet
The name Texas is based on the Caddo word tejas, meaning "friend" or "allies."
It's true the concept of size is a little different here. Texas is the 2nd largest state {behind Alaska} and has the world's 13th largest economy. No kidding.
I've seen cows here that stood taller than horses, and jackrabbits that I mistook for small deer. No kidding.
It's a pretty fabulous place. And if you're ever in the neighborhood, remember . . .
. . . you have a friend in Texas!
Blessings,
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April 23, 2014
Inspired by . . . an incorruptible seed
Inspired by . . . an incorruptible seed
Last year we were blessed with a beautiful morning glory vine that emerged at the corner of our porch and made it's way up {with a little help from me} onto the railing.
Last fall when the vine went to seed I harvested the seeds and saved them for replanting this year. I'm hoping to have a matching vine on the other side of the porch!
Of course, not all of the seeds I planted germinated. Some of them were bad. Corrupted. Instead of experiencing a rebirth, into something beautiful, the seeds remained dead.
First Peter tells us that:
You have been born again, not from a seed that can be destroyed, but through God's everlasting word that can't be destroyed. That's why Scripture says,
"All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower of the field. The grass dries up and the flower drops off,
but the word of the Lord lasts forever." This word is the Good News that was told to you.
1 Peter 1:23-25
The seed that the Lord plants in the fertile soil of the Believer's heart cannot be destroyed.
When the seeds are properly watered. . .
Do I listen to what God's word is telling me to do?
. . . weeded. . .
Do I repent when convicted of sin?
. . . and pollinated. . .
Do I believe and obey the word?
. . . there follows a beautiful harvest of FAITH!
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10:17
God plants His word in our hearts, and we live it out by faith.
How are you living out your faith today?
There are a million ways, big and small – I'd love to hear!
Blessings,
Sharing inspiration here:
April 22, 2014
Inspired by . . . simple
Inspired by . . . simple
Sometimes something can be so plentiful as to become ordinary. Something that once was exciting, interesting or enjoyable can become boring, simple and dull.
Common.
Some might say that about the rose.
They certainly are plentiful.
Some might view a bouquet of roses unimaginative.
Ordinary.
Textured with Kim's kk_simple
I'm quite certain that Mitt Romey's mother would not agree.
Mr. Romey has shared that every day his Dad gave his Mom a rose, which he left on her bedside table. That's how she knew he was gone. That morning she woke up and there was no rose.
One simple, ordinary rose making a profound statement.
Every day.
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Is there something in your life that was once exciting, interesting or enjoyable, that has now become ordinary? Common? Dull?
What if you woke up tomorrow morning and that something was no longer in your life?
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Would the ordinary suddenly be
extra-ordinary
once again?
Blessings,
Sharing inspiration here:
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April 20, 2014
Inspired by . . . a risen Savior
Inspired by . . . a risen Savior
When the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they didn't break His legs.
However, one of the soldiers stabbed Jesus' side with his spear, and blood and water immediately came out.
The one who saw this is an eyewitness. What he says is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you, too, will believe.
This happened so that the Scripture would come true: "None of His bones will be broken."
Another Scripture passage says, "They will look at the person whom they have stabbed."
A garden was located in the place where Jesus was crucified. In that garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed.
Joseph and Nicodemus put Jesus in that tomb, since that day was the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.
Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb. They were carrying the spices that they had prepared.
They found that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb.
When they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzled about this, two men in clothes that were as bright as lightning suddenly stood beside them.
The women were terrified and bowed to the ground. The men asked the women, "Why are you looking among the dead for the living one?
He's not here. He has been brought back to life! Remember what He told you while He was still in Galilee.
He said, 'The Son of Man must be handed over to sinful people, be crucified, and come back to life on the third day.'"
A week later Jesus' disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
Then Jesus said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Take your hand, and put it into My side. Stop doubting, and believe."
Thomas responded to Jesus, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus said to Thomas, "You believe because you've seen Me.
Blessed are those who haven't seen Me but believe."
John 20:28-29
He Is Risen!
April 17, 2014
Inspired by . . . tradition
Inspired by . . . tradition
And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood" Luke 22:17-20
I had never really thought much about it before now, but the Last Supper wasn't the "Last Supper" for the disciples of Jesus.
For many of us, it's a familiar scene: The long table, with Jesus at the center, His disciples reclining around Him. The breaking of the bread, His body. The drinking of the wine, His blood. Do this in remembrance of Me.
And I do. When I partake of the Lord's Supper, when I eat the little square piece of unleavened bread, I remember His body, broken on the cross.
For me.
When I drink the little cup of grape juice, I remember His blood. Dripping down where the thorns pierce His brow. Soaking into the wood of the cross.
For me.
But Jesus' disciples weren't preparing the upper room for the Last Supper. Certainly Jesus knew what He planned to do, but they didn't. In their minds, they were preparing the Passover meal. A meal prepared in a certain way, eaten in a certain way, to remember a specific occurrence.
“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord;
throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast." Exodus 12:14
The disciples might not have understood it at the time, but after Jesus rose from the grave, He made sure they understood.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:27
Oh, to travel back in time and be a fly on Peter's tunic when Jesus was interpreting His Word and all things concerning Himself! The Word made flesh – God's Word in action – oh, how glorious! Does it not say that their hearts were burning within?! {Luke 24:32}
Perhaps the following is a glimmer of what He shared with them....
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Exodus 12:1-2
Jesus' death and resurrection marks a new beginning. "Behold I make all things new." Rev 21:5 Jesus' death, His payment for our sin, gave us a new start, direct access to God, the Father. "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." Matt 27:50-51
Your lamb shall be without blemish... Exodus 12:5
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15
Then they shall take some of the blood {of the lamb} and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it... Exodus 12:7
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29
I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain... Rev 5:6
The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. Exodus 12:13
For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:9
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When Jesus instituted the Last Supper, He set aside the ritual of the Passover and revealed His end game.
The Victory!
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Talk about your heart burning! My heart burns and my pulse quickens every time I read that scripture – Amen?!
The Last Supper, what we call the Lord's Supper [or Communion}, is not so much a ritual as it is a sacrament. It is something we receive, rather than give.
We invite Him to commune with us, we receive His presence,
Yes, it's all about Jesus. His broken body. His blood poured out. I still think of the cross. I still visualize my sin, not the nails, holding Him there.
And weep.
But I also remember. I remember that the event in Exodus that the Jews celebrated {and still celebrate} every year was a glimpse, a symbol, of what was to come.
Jesus, the Messiah. The lamb – slain so that we might be "passed over" when God judges sin.
Jesus has come. Jesus has paid. He has overcome death and conquered the grave!
Jesus Lives!
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
Rejoice with me,
and invite Him to your table.
Blessings,
Sharing inspiration here:
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April 15, 2014
Inspired by . . . tetrad
Inspired by . . . tetrad
This is not the post I had originally planned to share with you today. But . . .
. . . something happened last night.
"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night;
and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." Gen 1:14
The first of four total lunar eclipses (blood moons) set to happen between now and September 2015.
EarthSky.org describes a lunar tetrad as: "Four successive total lunar eclipses, with no partial lunar eclipses in between, each of which is separated from the other by six lunar months (six full moons)." Not necessarily that rare – there was one in 2003 – what is significant is how these correlate to major Jewish feast days. Two of the eclipses happen on Passover, the other two at Sukkot. In 21 centuries there have only been 8 (including this coming one) blood moon tetrads that fell on the Jewish Feasts of Passover and Sukkot and the 3 most recent ones occurred during extremely important events for Israel.
If you're interested in the history, both past and present, you can read more here: Elijah List
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming
of the great and awesome day of the LORD." -Joel 2:31
This should not be a time of fear, but a time of readiness.
A time to watch, and pray.
And, most importantly, a time to share the great HOPE we have in Jesus Christ.
Shalom,
Note: All of these images are SOOC. I might decide to "play" later with some hue saturation, etc., but I wanted you to see exactly what my camera shot last night. I didn't even crop these, just added the watermark.
http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/
Sharing inspiration here:
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April 14, 2014
Inspired by . . . perfectly imperfect
Inspired by . . . perfectly imperfect
I thought Kim's prompt for this week, perfectly imperfect, was the perfect opportunity to share my – straight out of the box – shots taken with my new Canon SX50.
{insert happy dance here}
(Keep in mind that I have been shooting with a Kodak EasyShare 3.1mega pixel camera for the last, oh, ten years or so. Most cell phones have a higher mega pixel camera in them! I have been very thankful for my little Kodak. But lately it has decided that it doesn't always want to work when I want to work with it!)
Back to my happy dance. . .
I have been researching {and dreaming about} a new camera for the last two years. I thought I had decided on the Nikon D3100. Great reviews. Pro photographers were weighing in, saying what a great beginners camera this was, etc. I was convinced. Until I met someone whose name I can't remember and blog I can't find – ugh! She shoots with a Canon SX50 and after reading her mini review I knew I had to check it out. The more I read and the more I thought it through, the Nikon was more camera than I could handle I wanted. I don't mind learning a few manual settings for certain shots, but I really just want a good great point-and-shoot camera. I think I got that in the Canon SX50.
The following shots are completely unedited. They are the first shots I took with the camera – straight out of the box. {The only thing I did to them was reduce the size for the blog}
Black-chinned Hummingbird
Lesser Goldfinch
Petunias
Eastern Phoebe Flycatcher
(the blur on the right is a tree)
I was playing with the zoom. Camera was set to Auto. I was shooting from the corner of my porch – the flowers and bird feeders are about 20 feet away.
The next day I took these:
Verbana textured with Kim's justatouch2
SOOC
Scissortail Flycatcher – SOOC – taken from about 350ft
Cardinal – SOOC
Wildflowers textured with Kim's justatouch
Thanks for indulging me today. I shared more photos than usual.
Last one, promise. . . .
Kitty – SOOC
Obviously, I'm thrilled with my new camera!
My friend Gail {Louisanna Belle} recently bought one as her 2nd "oops, it won't hurt quite so bad if I drop it in the lake" camera. If you're not familiar with Gail's amazingness, you definitely want to pay her a visit. Her "test run" on the SX50 can be found here and she turned me on to some great tips from Tony Britton featuring some of the manual settings on this camera.
I'm celebrating the perfectly imperfect today, with others, over at Kim's Café.
Do join us.
Have a wonder-filled day,
Sharing inspiration here:
April 8, 2014
Inspired by . . .
Inspired by . . . Preparing the Soil
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19
If the warm weather and sunny days haven't done it for you, then certainly the date on the calendar should have you thinking Spring! If you're like me then you've spent the last several months planning and dreaming about your spring garden – it's finally time to prepare the soil! Every gardener knows that good soil preparation is key to how the seed (or plants) will grow, thrive and produce a harvest.
In the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13, Jesus compares God's word to a seed.
“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
So how do we prepare the soil of our hearts to receive God's word, so that it will grow, produce fruit and ultimately a bountiful harvest?
Textured with Kim's organic texture
Just as an organic fertilizer will prepare the soil to receive the seed, Christ's love, the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, prepares our hearts to received God's word.
"The seed looks very sharp," she said shrinkingly. "Won't it hurt if you put it into my heart?"
He answered gently, "It is so sharp that it slips in very quickly. But, Much-Afraid, I have already warned you that Love and Pain go together, for a time at least. If you would know Love, you must know pain too." ~ Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard
It is a painful process, as the Shepherd warned little Much-Afraid. It involves change, repentance. A transformation from death to LIFE! We come to God as we are, but He does not allow us stay that way.
It is only by allowing Christ to dwell in our hearts that we can receive the seed, the word of God. For spiritual things must be spiritually discerned.
In Ephesians Paul prays for us to be "rooted and grounded in love" so that we might come to understand the fullness of Christ's love for us. This is a blessing indeed, for it is the love of Christ that waters the seed, the word of God, within us.
Is the soil of your heart prepared to receive the seed of God's word today?
Blessings,
Sharing inspiration here:
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April 7, 2014
Inspired by . . . for the love of B&W
Inspired by . . . for the love of B&W
I was over commenting on Pat's {BaileyRoad} lovely song sparrow, saying how I should do more in black & white when I remembered Kim's prompt for this week:
for the love of ______? whatever comes to mind.....
So on a Sunday afternoon, when the sky look like this . . .
Textured {appropriately} with Kim's Greyday
. . . what else is there to do but play?
I'm lovin' me some black and white!
“Colour is everything, black and white is more.” – Dominic Rouse
What's around the bend?
Eureka Springs, Arkansas
Grasses – oilpaint filter applied
Red caboose – fresco filter applied
What are you lovin' this week?
Have a wonder-filled day,
Sharing inspiration here:
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