June Caedmon's Blog, page 75

Inspired by . . . quirky selfie

Inspired by . . . quirky selfie

 

This one was easy – ha!

In my case ANY selfie is QUIRKY {smile}

I definitely prefer the abstract when it comes to portraying myself.

I think these turned out rather fun. . . .

 

Textured with Bonnie's Blue Rhapsody texture (Crystalline Quartet Set) {love this set!}

 

Textured with Bonnie's Old World Charm 1 (Old World Charm Set)

 

I find it amusing that both of these are reflections of me in my computer screen. Tells you where I spend most of my time. The first one was taken outside, so a lot of what is going on around me is the reflection of trees and leaves behind me, and the sun shining through my hair.  The second selfie {my personal favorite} was a complete accident. I was trying to do something on my new phone and took a picture instead!

It was perfect timing for Bonnie's party this week! And speaking of Bonnie – for those of you who do not already know – Bonnie truly is a special lady.

It was through Bonnie's encouraging blog and gracious giving of her free textures that I came to appreciate "abstract" art. I am a purist at heart – a "straight out of the camera" kinda girl. But Bonnie awakened a new path of creativity in me, and along with that a new appreciation for all forms of art. There are still some photos I can't bring myself to "texturize," but I've had a lot of fun playing and "making" art with my photographs, too.

Bonnie is a true artist. You can see it in her photo art, her paintings and her textures.  And you experience it in her encouragement and gracious spirit. If you haven't met Bonnie, or taken the time to get to know her, I encourage you to do so.

Don't forget to stop by and check out the Gallery this week!

 

Have a wonder-filled day,

 

 

Sharing inspiration here:

Inspired by . . . faith

Inspired by . . . faith

Feeling tired? Emotionally, spiritually, physically – tired.

Be encouraged and rest in these Truths:

 

For I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able.

 

Clematis – SOOC

Able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.

Able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Able to aid those who are tempted.

Able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

 

Clematis – SOOC

 

Able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding JOY.

Able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.

 

Textured with Bonnie's Old World Charm 2

 

"Do you believe that I am able to do this?"

"Yes, Lord."

"According to your faith let it be to you."

 

Blessings,

 

 

Scripture References: 2Tim 1:12; Eph 3:20;  2Cor 9:8; Heb 2:18; Heb 7:25; Jude 24; 2Tim 1:12; Phil 3:21; Matt 9:28-29

 

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Inspired by . . . nature

Inspired by . . . nature

 

Textured with kk_simple

 

I was thrilled to see, more than double, the bluebonnets on our property this year than last – they're re-seeding themselves – yea!

And as soon as this wind lays I'm hoping to get some better pictures to share with you.

 

It's a free and easy Tuesday over at Kim's – don't miss it!

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

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Inspired by . . . sweetness found

Inspired by . . . sweetness found

Some things just can't help but make you smile.

 

 

Hmmm, what could be in this sweet little package?

 

 

Prepare to be charmed. . . .

 

 

"Hello." {blush} "My name is Percy."

 

 

"This sweet lady adopted me from Sugar Crumbs.

She says she's fostering me until her niece is old enough to care for me property."

 

 

"I'm not so sure she'll be able to give me up when the time comes, though."

 

"'Cause I make her smile – all.the.time."

{blush}

"I hope I made you smile today, too."

 

Have a wonder-filled day,

 

Sharing inspiration here:

Inspired by . . . birdsong

Inspired by . . . birdsong

 

Many of us charge through life devouring one task after another.

"Got that done," we barely take time to say as we're already halfway through the next item on our, ever increasing, "to do" list.

Of course there are some tasks that we want to get through as soon as possible. But these days that hardly seems to matter.

Menial tasks, leisure tasks, pleasure tasks, tasks of service and hospitality – we rush through them all.

The title of a newly published book by Dr. Mark Eckel (ThM PhD) recently caught my eye. "I Just Need Time To Think!" Written primarily for his students, it teaches the Hebraic concept of selah to encourage reflection.

I think we can all use a little selah in our lives.

 

 

Once you get on the hamster wheel, it is really hard to get off. You have to be intentional about getting off.

One of the things that has helped me is to build reminders into my life. Just like actors use cues to remember their lines, I use visible or audible reminders to help me slow down and re focus on who and what is important.

Laura gave me a long, cool drink of water the other day at The Wellspring when she posted this:

“…we have a very discreet bandwidth of supersensitive hearing and that's between 2.5 and 5 kilohertz in the resident frequencies of the auditory canal,” he tells host Krista Tippett. “Is there something in our ancestors' environment that matches our peak hearing human sensitivity? Because most of what I'm saying right now, except for the "s" sounds and the high-pitched sounds, falls well below that range. And, indeed, there's a perfect match: birdsong. Birdsong.” - Gordon Hempton, a self-proclaimed acoustic ecologist

The sound of birds singing has always brought me JOY. But to know that God specifically fashioned my ear to hear this sound brings me wonder and leaves me breathless!

 

 

Birds are everywhere in our world. Chances are, wherever you spend your day, you'll have the opportunity to hear them.

Birdsong is my newest cue. My newest reminder to . . .

selah

Now whenever I hear a bird sing I pause and remember that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God has a purpose and a plan for my life. Nothing escapes His notice – not even the pitch of a bird's song!

Have a wonder-filled day,

 

 

Sharing inspiration here:

 

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Inspired by . . . the quiet Truth

Inspired by . . . the quiet Truth

 

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light,

and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. 

Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.  ~Mahatma Gandhi

 

Textured with Kim's kk_stay

 

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”  John 18:38

 

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.   John 14:6

 

Textured with Kim's kk_rest_magic

 

 

Shalom,

 

 

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Inspired by . . . hope

Inspired by . . . hope

 

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame,

because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5

 

This verse has comforted many Believers through many trials.

Does it comfort you?

 

 

If you are in the midst of a great suffering these words may not be enough to bring you comfort. You may not yet have come to a place where knowing that God has an intended purpose for your struggles is a comfort. I understand, I've been there.

Even knowing that these assurance were written by Paul, a man who endured great physical suffering may not be enough. The desire to be humbled and made more like Christ is drown out by the physical or emotional pain of what you're experiencing.

Perhaps you feel that you have passed beyond that hope. You have come to a place of dry, cracked, barren land where you feel utterly alone and bereft.

Take comfort in this:

Our heavenly Father is never absent from our pain. It is by His design that His Son willingly suffered so that He can sympathize with our weaknesses.

 

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;

but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,

and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

 

At some point in your suffering a tide will turn. If you have grown numb, you will begin to feel again. If you have grown angry, you will begin to calm. If things have grown dark, you will begin to see.

And you will realize that:

His love kept your heart from growing cold.

His arms kept you from loosing control.

He is the Light that pierces the deepest darkness.

 

The hope remains . . .

. . . it waits, as an anchor to our soul,

until we are, once again, able to embrace it.

 

Embrace the Hope.

 

Blessings,

 

 

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Inspired by . . . color

Inspired by . . . color

Spring temperatures inspire a trip to the nursery. . . .

 

Textured with Kim's kk_0603

 

To hope and dream . . . .

 

kk_rene

 

kk_0703

 

And plan.

 

kk_phoebe

 

What's inspiring you today?

 

 

 

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Inspired by . . . a heart for service

Inspired by . . . a heart for service

 

I was blessed to receive this beautiful shawl in the mail this week.

 

Textured with Kim's dreamit texture

 

My sweet friend Leah sent it to me. It was made by beautiful, dark-skinned women who live in a world vastly different from my own. I don't know their world, but Leah does.

Leah is a missionary with Pioneer Bible Translators. It may surprise you to learn that Leah is not a bible translator. Although she is part of a team that does bible translation, Leah's purpose it to help the people in the towns where she ministers to deal with, and ultimately overcome the trauma they've endured through tragic events that have all too often been part of their daily lives. 

Leah has dedicated this time in her life to minister to theses people who have, and are still, suffering so greatly. This is God's call on her life.

 

 

I'm not called to do what Leah does. Maybe you are. Maybe you're not.

But we are all called to do something.

The shawl not only keeps me warm, but it reminds me to be intentional.

Intentional about praying for Leah.

Intentional about answering the call to service that God has placed on my life.

 

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,

which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Eph 2:10

 

What have you found this week?

 

Blessings,

 

 

 

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Inspired by . . . a kind of greatness

Inspired by . . . a kind of greatness

Have you ever been to a place where you wanted to take pictures, but it was so overwhelming you just didn't know where to start?

Nashville and the Country Music Hall of Fame was like that for me.

It's not just the architecture, which is amazing. . . .

 

 

The sky reflecting in the building behind the Hall of Fame adds another dimension to this image. See how little the people are? There is a "largeness" to this place that follows you inside.

 

Textured with Kim's poetic and seriousmagic textures

 

The "greatness" here doesn't end with the architecture. Inside are three floors dedicated to displaying the "greatest" in the world of Country Music. The sheer number of displays, pictures, artifacts, videos, clothing, etc. really is overwhelming! And their website says that, "less than one-tenth of the artifacts belonging the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum are on display at one time." – wow!

 

 

It was interesting to see who used up the most wall/floor space. Some of the artist's displays took up enough space to fit a small house. Being from Texas we were disappointed to see nothing on George Strait until spotting his plaque in the rotunda. 

What? The "King of Country Music" doesn't have a display in the CMHF? George Strait, who has the most number one hits – in any genre, not just country music! Things became a little clearer when we learned that the majority of the artifacts here are donated.  A little more digging on the internet and we learned that Mr. Strait had donated something, not currently on display, to CMHF:

A shirt, hand-tooled leather belt with gold George Strait Bud Lite team-roping championship buckle, and Wrangler jeans worn by Strait.

Modest? I think so.

Here's a look from the inside looking out.

 

Textured with Kim's backin texture

 

And here is my submission to Kim's prompt "from above" for this week's Texture Tuesday link up.  This is looking down into the gift shop.

 

Textured with Kim's poetic and seriousmagic textures

 

I took a lot of pictures inside of the displays. But with the low light, bright lights, reflecting lights or no lights, none of the pictures came out very well.

 

You'll just have to go see for yourself!

And don't forget to click over to Kim's TT party {on Tuesday} and leave some love!

 

Have a wonder-filled day,

 

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