Totally Random~

...just airing out the mind.

As a young person, I remember thinking that older people were always wiser and that being intellectual was important. Now I am without doubt that wisdom is the greatest thing.

  Many people are filled with years of living, or with knowledge, or both, 

 and without a drop of wisdom.  

Yet, there many uneducated people touching lives because they are smart in the areas that matter most. 

~ * ~

Isn't that cool? I don't know how I got that shot, but I like it.
 How does God keep that old moon just hanging there? 

These are begging me to paint them. Aren't they wonderful?
I have an old milk can, a really big one on the porch. They would look great on it.
The thought of painting excites me.
Creating texture and working with color.
Colors are wonders in themselves. 

Speaking of color...whoa. 

Amazing.

 I'm repeating myself, but I like texture and color...it's fun! 

 Look at this thistle plant. How much fun did the creator have making all the plants and animals on this earth?

 I only see a smidgen here in Missouri, and I am in awe. I can't create anything. Only copy. 

Man, oh, man. Isn't it great?!
 Aerodynamic and beautiful. 

These wildflowers are so delicate and peaceful. 

They remind me to be gentle.

Amazing little creatures! 

Zoom. Zoom. Zoom.

If you can, listen to them threaten you with their little twitters sometime... 

just stand too close to their food. 

Good bye little hummers, see you in the springtime.

The promise.

 If you don't know God's Word...the rainbow was His promise to Noah.

 He put a bow in the sky as a promise to never flood the whole earth again. 

There's a double promise in this photograph! 

All of God's creation speaks something. When I really look and listen, it ignites a passion for life and living. 

 Did you ever notice that sharing your passions makes them stronger? 

Hope you didn't mind my random sharing.

~The End~

Emotions~ Part II

Yesterday, the main focus of my thoughts was loosing control of our emotions. Through the analogy of water, I talked about how our emotions can look. Especially, when look when we loose control of the bad emotions that well up inside us. Bad emotions like bitterness, anger, envy, unforgiveness, frustration, fear, and there are probably a few others.

For me, my best avenue of dealing with these is first, to take every thought captive. Thoughts can be controlled. But it is not easy. Think of it like a being on a diet. You want to eat the cake, but you choose the apple. You think something bad about someone, but you choose to redirect your thought to finding something good about that person. Oh, it's no easier that choosing the apple, believe me. But it can save your relationships, and save you from being a sour puss.

Thankfulness, contentment and love are other weapons against bad emotions. God tells us in his Word to be thankful, to be content, to love one another. Those are also choices. They are rich vitamins. Colorful and full of vitality. They make our bodies and minds healthy. Choose to find something to be thankful about in a bad situation. Maybe a job loss is a heavy burden and you're tempted to get bitter. You could be thankful for the opportunity to try something new. (When someone fires you or you're laid off, I believe you can have schooling for a new career paid for... now, that's a bright spot.)

A story I often remember, and a turning point in my life, was when I had been asked to decorate for a special occasion at our church. I was excited and going through ideas; this was my first time doing it! That morning, before heading to the church, I was at piano lessons with our oldest. I got the call that my step dad had passed away suddenly. I was talking to my mom, crying and very much a mess inside. After lessons, we went to the church to look at decorations in the storage. I was greeted by the woman who made it her job to tell everyone what they were going to do, and she let me know it was not my job to decorate, but hers. She did not like me, and was usually rude to me. This was happening now?! Deep breath. For a moment, in the midst of her tirade about it not being my job, I wanted to let her have it. And I don't mean the job.

I walked away. I prayed for wisdom. I left calmly. On the drive home, I realized that this might just be a test. How would I handle it? How could I handle it? I called her home, and left her a message something like this,  "Hi ______, this is Heather. I was thinking you can do the decorating. My step dad passed away this morning and I have a lot on my mind right now, so maybe it would be better if you did handle it. Thank you."

And you know what, the next time I saw her, she apologized. Shocked me! This was out of character. And she wanted me to decorate. I didn't. I had given it up already in my mind and I was settled with it. It was all okay. No hard feelings. And that was nice. Plus it gave me a strong memory of how things can turn out when we handle them the right way. I will never forget it.

So, all that to say, what rules your day is your choice, just like what you eat. We don't realize all those bad choices we make add up to an unhealthy body and an unhealthy mind. We can rid ourselves of much stress and even bad health buy choosing wisely. God bless your emotional choices!

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthian 10-13

Emotions~ An Analogy.

I got on the computer at 2:30 this morning. Yes, a.m. We all experience times of laying in bed in the middle of the night with our thoughts getting the best of us, and doing us no good whatsoever. 

Tonight that was me. 

I woke, pondering the hurt I am trying to get over. You know how it is,  you should forgive, and you really seem like you have, but things just won't go away. It is not settled. 

Emotions. 

Wow.

A small word with a whallop. 

wal·lop/ˈwäləp/

Verb:

Strike or hit (someone or something) very hard: "they walloped the back of his head".

Yep. They can feel just like that. 

I am visual, so here is  what healthy emotions look like to me... 

Joy shining,

 Laughter rippling,

Even in the midst of a cold day.

Peaceful. 

Colorful. 

Drawing others into your scene.

 Inviting.

That's the ideal.

But then, someone is unkind, unthoughtful, rude, selfish,

 or worse 

...and things get to churning. 

Emotions. 

Sometimes they're slow;  you feel a wave coming. 

You try to sort it out. 

Sometimes, they're like going over a waterfall.  Swoosh! And you're gone.

(and some body's gonna get it.) 

The problem with second one is when you go over the waterfall, you take others with you. 

You may swim to shore and dry off after the fall.

 But you may just leave others on the shore gasping for breath. 

You go on your way, not looking back. 

People do that sometimes. 

Not very pretty is it?

This was me yesterday. 

This was me last night. 

This will be me today. Because I will not be ruled by emotions.
I can choose to forgive. 


Just remember, when someone forgives, it does not mean they forget. A person may not remember each offence, but they will remember to be careful with their heart. To enable total forgetting, trust needs to be restored. 


Chances are if you've taken someone over a waterfall, they will be a lot less likely to get back in the boat with you!! 


At least not without one foot on the land.

Grace~

Sometimes life is hard and we don't feel like we can make it though the day, the hour, the minute. But there is a strength we can turn to, a strength greater than anything we know. It has the power to heal, to guide, to transform. It is the grace of God. We all have a vacuum in our lives that can only be filled with God. Through Him we can have victory over the hard things and come out stronger, not broken.  I'll post more about God's grace in my life another time.... I pray this will be an encouragement to you. 

Pumpkin Bread ~ Pumpkin Cake

The other day, when I was looking for a diversion from the breakfast doldrums, 

I remembered something a generous friend and neighbor made us years ago.

Well, with fall and pumpkins- it was the perfect remedy!

Mmmm.

That orange batter screams fall is here! And the smell does too.

I doubled the recipe and made two loaves of pumpkin bread and one 9X13" pumpkin cake.                    

The cake was the bread, of course, topped with cream cheese icing.

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. of sugar
• 3/4 c. veg. oil
• 1 can pumpkin  ( I doubled my recipe and used 1 large can, not the regular size can. I also used 6 large eggs instead of doubling to eight. Everything else I doubled as called for.) 
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Directions: 

Mix eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin until smooth. Combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to other ingredients. Mix well. 

Bake at 350 for 25-30 min. in an ungreased pan. Cool.

Cream Cheese Icing:

• 3 oz. of cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup of confectioner's sugar (You can use two, but I just use one. Add more as you like.)
• 1/4 c. margarine or butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1-2 Tablespoons milk. This will depend on how much sugar you added. Add gradually to be sure the icing does not get too thin.

Mix well with an electric mixer. 

Keep refrigerated.

Enjoy! 

A Prayer

Praying aloud isn't something I regularly do. But I do see power in it. Praying aloud alone, hands raised, palms to Heaven, when it strikes me I pray this way. Sometimes at the creek, at the sink, by the bed...alone. Sometimes I pray on my knees, sometimes in bed, sometimes walking though the house. You get the picture. Whenever, wherever. This morning I was sitting at the desk praying...And I was prompted to type my prayer. Odd, but who am I to know....

Dear Lord, Father in Heaven ,

You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, The creator of Heaven and Earth.  I am thankful this morning for the opportunity to come before your throne. And I am so blessed to have friends this morning Lord, friends here in Missouri, friends from back East, and from years past. Thank you for even the smallest friendship. These are gifts from you. Father, today some are hurting with loneliness, with health issues, with fear, with financial problems.  I lift the these ones up to you , before your throne, and  I ask that you would help each one. Draw them closer to you, to your strength, to your peace, to your wisdom. Father for the ones who don't know you, I pray that you would draw them to yourself. Reveal truth to them, let them know they are not alone in what they're facing. Father, you are a God who cares. You created them and you love them. Please help them in life and the difficulties of it; help them understand that these hard things can draw them closer to you. Most of all I pray that they will understand that they need Jesus to give them a relationship with you. Help them to understand that we are all sinners and sin does not have a place in Heaven. Let them know in their hearts that Jesus paid the price of sin, death, for all men and that by trusting in his perfect sacrifice they can know without a doubt where they will spend eternity one day. We don't deserve the price he paid for us, the suffering, the pain...but your Word says by his stripes we are healed.

Father please help them today.
In Jesus name,
Amen

Love you all, In Christ.

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

                                                                                                            

"Autumn

 is   a 

second  spring

when every leaf 

is a flower." 

                                                                                                                                                                            A. Camus

We visited Spring Hill Pumpkin Patch with fellow home-schoolers this week.

What a relaxing, wonderful time it was! 

Moms chatting, roasting hotdogs, kiddos playing, hayrides, hay forts (or a hay house if you're a little girl), corn mazes, and just fun, fun, fun. 

Of course, with liking painting and photography...the colors and textures were what I loved. I could have taken a hundred photos. The little children playing in the corn box were adorable. But, I refrained, not wanting to intrude on someone else's child and appear "creepy!" Unfortunately, ours are too big for such things and I couldn't keep up with Joel in the hay fort. 

Joel

   

Jake

Dylan

Dalton

All that effort...and notice where the football is! 

 They really did have a wonderful time playing ball with friends all afternoon. I think they played ball for 3 or 4 hours!

Bestest Buddies ~ the daughters of the the pumpkin patch proprietors. 

                                          

And I end with this infectious smile...

 Doesn't she just make you want to smile too?!