From the Rising of the Sun

There's always something special about watching the changing sky as the sun brings a new day and again as the sun sinks below the horizon. A time to pause in thanksgiving and wonder, realising how small and fragile we are.

From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to             be praised.     

Psalm 133:3

Miss V and Miss E were both water baptised on Easter Sunday - a public confession of their personal faith. It was wonderful to have all the family present for this event - as well as many friends.

A small organic baby quilt has been stitched and added to my Etsy store along with a small selection of cards professionally printed using my photos. Some lovely new fabrics have inspired a few more blocks of my epp hand stitching project too.

We continue to making steady progress as we sort the possessions of my parents' in law, frequently contemplating the role of belongings, our impact on the world and the legacy we leave for future generations. Appreciating the past, making the most of the present and looking with hope towards the future.

*** You may also enjoy my Instagram feed which I add to several times a week. You don't have to join Instagram to view - just click on the little blue square camera logo under my blog profile (top right hand corner).
Karen

Refusing to Stress

Reminding myself of these words by Ann Voskamp. 

Photo from this afternoon's riverside walk, our last day of winter for 2014.


Sharing at SkyWatch Friday.

Freedom

I've been thinking over the various aspects of this quote for days- it encapsulates great insights.

Today marks the first day of summer here in Australia. Church was encouraging and challenging as usual. Some of our family are now at cricket while others are taking mil back to her home in aged care with a new set of head phones for her to use with her TV. There are plans to set up our Christmas tree later this afternoon too. Amongst all the ups and downs and busyness of life at the moment, I'm keeping my thoughts centred on His love, His grace and His favour in my life - keys for me to walk in freedom of thought and attitude.

Genesis Prayer

 

"Every miracle, every blessing, every divine appointment has a genealogy."

"If you trace them back, you'll find a genesis prayer that set in motion the Sovereignty of God"

"...there are some things He will only do in response to prayer."

                               Mark Batterson - The Circle Maker prayer challenge.

Dreaming and Praying

Dreaming is a form of praying and praying is a form of dreaming.

                      Catherine Marshall

The day we stop dreaming is the day we start dying. 

If your dreams don't scare you they're not big enough.

Get a God-sized dream, birthed in prayer.

God is infinitely bigger than your biggest problem or prayers.

Just a few thoughts from today's message at church.

Very early this morning Miss E left for a few days in the big city far away to spy out the land and dream big dreams.

I'm planning to work on my dreaming and praying from this day on......

Bold

"Bold prayers honour God and God honours bold prayers."

"Who you become is determined by how you pray."

Key thoughts from our pastor's message today. 
Being challenging to consider how and what we pray.



Sharing at I Heart Macro.

Wonderful

J playfully photographing Miss E at the Botanic Garden

Blue-faced Honeyeater in Silky Oak tree at church

Kangaroo and joey at church

M on the Japanese bridge at the Botanic Garden

M gave a beautiful message to the church ladies based on Esther

J and M at church after today's service

We have been so blessed to have J and M staying with us these last eleven days. Master J and my husband are currently driving them back to the airport in our next state for this evening's flight. Such a wonderful time of fellowship, sharing, and enjoying a little more of each other's cultures. We, individually and as a church, have been greatly encouraged and J and M have had a time of rest and refreshing also. Their presence and words have added many good things to our lives which will far outlast their short visit. We will miss them - until next time we meet, either here in Australia or over in Bihar, India.

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, 

so that by always having enough of everything, 

you may share abundantly in every good work.

                                           2 Corinthians 9:8 (Shared by J today)

Better

With some clever rearranging, de-cluttering, cleaning and resourcefulness I turned can't-do into can-do and don't haves into haves without even spending a cent. The result gladdens my heart greatly - especially as our pantry cupboard is missing a door. It's been a good week. Do you like to keep glass jars for food storage?

You can do what you have to do,

and sometimes you can do it

even better than you think.

                               Jimmy Carter

Thoughts

Photographic Note: Dianthus flower.  Canon 600D + 55-250 kit lens + Raynox DCR 250, f 6.2.

Sharing at September Gallery - Pink, I Heart Macro.

The First Person

The first person I must KNOW is myself.
The first person I must GET ALONG with is myself.
The first person to CAUSE me problems is myself.
The first person I must CHANGE is myself.
The first person that can make s DIFFERENCE is myself.
The first person I must LEAD is myself.

Some of the good thoughts shared by our gentle pastor today from John C. Maxwell's book, Winning With People. 
I plan to think on them this week and to continue to enjoy our garden's mid-winter joys....


Photographic note - all photos were taken this weekend with my Canon DSLR+50mm lens+ Raynox snap-on super macro conversion lens.


Sharing at Orange You Glad It's Friday, Tina's Weekend Flowers.