Monthly Archives: August 2016

1243. Pay attention. Be astonished. And tell about it. ~Mary Oliver

by

16

Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way
by Mary Oliver

If you’re John Muir you want trees
to live among. If you’re Emily
(or Natalie), a garden will do.
Try to find the right place for yourself.
If you can’t find it, at least dream of it.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 6.50.38 PM.png

When one is alone and lonely, the body
gladly lingers in the wind or the rain,
or splashes into the cold river, or
pushes through the ice-crusted snow.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 6.42.16 PM.png

Anything that touches.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 7.14.35 PM.png

God, or the gods, are invisible, quite
understandable. But holiness is visible,
entirely.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 6.54.00 PM.png

Some words will never leave God’s mouth,
no matter how hard you listen.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 5.42.25 PM.png

In all the works of Beethoven, you will
not find a single lie.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 7.02.23 PM.png

All important ideas must include the trees,
the mountains, and the rivers.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 6.52.46 PM.png

To understand many things you must reach
out of your own condition.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 5.48.26 PM.png

For how many years did I wander slowly
through the forest. What wonder and
glory I would have missed had I ever been
in a hurry!

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 7.07.40 PM.png

Beauty can both shout and whisper, and still
it explains nothing.

Screen Shot 2016-08-30 at 7.34.35 PM.png

The point is, you’re you, and that’s for keeps.

Stop and be astonished… ~Excerpt from Isaiah 29: 9 ✝

**All images taken by Natalie; the 3 collages by Natalie

Facts tend to take the punch out of a good hate rant and are therefore left best unsaid. ~John Ridley

by

26

Screen Shot 2016-08-29 at 8.36.59 PM.png

Is it OVER yet??? AUGUST, is it over yet??? Oh my but how I want it to be OVER! I’m so tired of being hot and coming in from the yard dripping wet down to my underwear. And we haven’t even had the usual bad ending to the month because strangely it hasn’t been over a 100 degrees in nearly 3 weeks. But when your temps are still high and the humidity is higher than the temps, going outside is like entering a sauna, and I have NEVER, NEVER, NEVER liked being hot or being in a sauna!!! I know, whaa, whaa, whaa! Nobody likes a whiny-assed crybaby! See! See what August does? This endless heat drives a fairly nice old lady to say not so nice things. And if you think that wasn’t nice, you should hear me when I’m outside in this heat. Okay, maybe I feel a little bit better now that I’ve gotten this off my chest. But I am soooooooooooo freakin’ glad there are only 2 days and a few hours left in this incredibly uncomfortable month.

**Image found on Pinterest

1242. I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun-not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else. ~C.S. Lewis

by

12

The following is a poem of belief by a Jewish prisoner in a Nazi Concentration Camp. It was written during WW2, on the wall of a cellar, by a Jew in the Cologne concentration camp.

Screen Shot 2016-08-29 at 7.39.44 PM.png

I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love,
even when there’s no one there.
And I believe in God,
even when he is silent.
I believe through any trial,
there is always a way
But sometimes in this suffering
and hopeless despair
My heart cries for shelter,
to know someone’s there
But a voice rises within me,saying hold on
my child, I’ll give you strength,
I’ll give you hope. Just stay a little while.
I believe in the sun
even when it is not shining
And I believe in love
even when there’s no one there
But I believe in God
even when he is silent
I believe through any trial
there is always a way.
May there someday be sunshine
May there someday be happiness
May there someday be love
May there someday be peace…
~Unknown

He(Jesus) came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through Him. ~John 1:7 ✝