Category Archives: Notes
Today’s Quote
1020. Come, see the north wind’s masonry… ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Through the sharp air
a flaky torrent flies…
and hides the gloomy skies;
the fleecy clouds their chilly bosoms bare,
and shed their substances on the floating air.
~George Crabbe
What a weekend weather wise it has been! We’ve been dealt nearly the full gamut of frequent Texas weather patterns in the last 72 hours–high winds, thunder, lightning, heavy rains, flash floods, hail, tornados. And then as if that were not enough, for good measure Mother Nature also threw in an earthquake and a white-out blizzard in the Panhandle and a few other places. On top of that I woke up here to find a smattering of snow on the ground which given that it didn’t freeze overnight nor was it 32 degrees or below when I awoke is very unusual. About the only thing that got skipped the last few days was the intense heat of summer although on Christmas Day the temperature did climb to almost 80 degrees. So hellooooo Winter! It seems you HAVE arrived ready to go, ready to wash off last year’s grime, and bringing nighttime temps right at freezing or below for the next 10 days. Makes me kind of wonder, and a bit fearfully I might add, what more Mother Nature could have up her perfidious sleeve for truly she’s demonstrated once again that she can be most untrustworthy at times.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ~Psalm 51:7 ✝
**Weather image found on Facebook; all other images taken by Natalie; collages created by Natalie
How Deep
How deep…
is the ocean,
that lies,
in your eyes,
like an infinite abyss…
of thoughts,
like fireflies.
at night,
you lure my heart.
poetry and image copyright neha 2015
1019. There’s not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice. ~John Calvin
We were always intoxicated with color,
with words that speak of color,
and with the sun that makes colors live.
~Andre Derain
By filling the earth with color the Lord has painted a kind of portrait of himself, and in so doing He has revealed an intentional path to His throne. This is no less true in winter for color is a continuous, rhythmic part of the mystery of God’s life and thus is deeply rooted in all four seasons. Winter may allow periodic breathing spaces for garden and gardener on forbidding days, cold and lacking in sunshine, but on days when the sun does make an appearance, there’s the usual soft, golden glow at sunrise, the sometimes pinky/purply bands low on the eastern horizon at day’s end, and the random blazing red and orange streaks of intensely tinted sunsets in the west. On occasional cloudless nights, there’s the white glow of the moon at times illuminating the deep indigo canopy overhead; on days when the bright yellow sun shines, there are the china blues of daytime skies, and when the sun doesn’t appear, there are the lovely, velvety grays of clouds filled with rain or in rolling fogs or mists. I’ve heard winter called the season of drabness of the spirit yet I find bliss and hope not only in the things I’ve already mentioned but also in the reds of winter berries and the cardinals at the feeders, in the white of snow when it falls, in the silvery sparkles of icicles and frosts, in the constancy of green on hollies, conifers, spruces, and such, in the beiges and browns of dried grasses, autumn leaves, and seed pods, in the magenta of hyacinth bean seed pods or ornamental grass seed heads, and on and on it goes, the glorious, never ending sacred voice of color.
Of all God’s gifts to the sighted man,
color is the holiest, the most divine…
~John Ruskin
…for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. ~Romans 11:29 ✝
**Images and collage by Natalie
1018. Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles. ~Edwin Louis Cole
Even if I know I shall never change the masses,
never transform anything permanent,
all I ask is that the good things also have
their place, their refuge.
~Richard Wagner
Scripture tells us that we are made in the image of God, and I expect that has nothing to do the with our faces and everything to do with our hearts. Therefore through us He can bring to fruition all that is within His limitless power to do. How?
Our hearts are able to feel another’s anguish, Our eyes can see the lacking needs of others, Our mouths can deliver His smile to light up darkness, Our voices can declare quiet, comforting words for ears to hear, Our hands can administer compassionate healing, And our legs can carry us wherever we need to go to accomplish such things.
How then can one who breathes the very breath of a Holy God, who bears His very image do anything less than deliver anything He asks of us. That is the purpose that should drive our lives. It has never been all about self, for truly what is love, and all humans yearn for and must have love, without a place to spend it, and where better to start spending than with someone in need. Honor the gifts you have been given, rejoice in them, and use them.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them male and female he created them. ~Genesis 1:27 ✝
**Image via Pinterest
One for the Holiday!
“In the sweetness of friendship
let there be laughter
and sharing of pleasure
For in the dew of little things
the heart finds its morning
and is refreshed.”
– Khalil Gibran
Photo credit: Waftings from the Ether https://www.facebook.com/Waftings-from-the-Ether-388467361318607/?fref=photo
In Jubilo
1017. Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax.
Glory in the highest to God. And peace on earth.
Hallelujah, the babe is born, the Messiah has come!
I wish each and every one of you the merriest of Christmases, and I pray that you have a blessed encounter with Emmanuel, the Christ. Be comforted that God is with us now and forever. Love, Natalie
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~Isaiah 9:6 ✝
**Image via Pinterest
1016. For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. ~W.J. Ronald Tucker
Let us remember that He(God) has given us
the sun and the moon and the stars,
and the earth with it forests and mountains and oceans–
and all that lives and moves upon them.
He has given us all green things
and everything that blossoms and bears fruit–
and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused–
and to save us from our own foolishness, from all our sins,
He came down to earth and gave us Himself.
~Sigrid Undset,
Nobel prize-winning Norwegian novelist
The babe born in a manger in Bethlehem was no mere human. He was the fully divine, blessed Messiah who was sent to restore the rhythm in Creation’s rhyme and to save the lost. Tonight as we worship and celebrate when the Word became flesh, I’d like to share with all of you an excerpt from a Max Lucado book. I pray that it touches you as it did me and that in so doing you feel the Breath of Heaven blow through your world.
MARY’S PRAYER
God. O infant-God. Heaven’s fairest child.
Bask in the coolness of this night bright with diamonds.
Enjoy the silence of the crib…
Rest well, tiny hands.
For though you belong to a king,
you will touch no satin, own no gold.
You will grasp no pen, guide no brush.
Lie still, tiny mouth.
Lie still, mouth from which eternity will speak…
Rosebud lips–upon which ride a starborn kiss of forgiveness
to those who believe you…
Rest, tiny feet.
Rest today so that tomorrow you might walk with power.
Rest. For millions will follow in your footsteps.
~Edited excerpt from
IT BEGAN IN A MANGER by Max Lucado
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. ~Luke 2:11 ✝
**Image via Pinterest
Sacred Touches 