2024. APRIL. SOFT

APRIL 2024  ****soft

Lambing and calving always give soft signs of  new life and hope.  They look so soft. Our mountain spring weather is still chilly so my favorite soft blanket is being used a lot these days. I chose the word soft for this month because it was the nicest version of meek I could think of, meek is one of the most misunderstood words, it’s real definition is gentleness under self control which makes me think of an elegant horseback rider, a picture of horse and rider as one.

Anyway, as you can see I have many thoughts running through my mind. There are so many signs of  spring, each being a soft, subtle hope in itself. The birds are coming back, my yard is popping with robins. Emily Dickinson said, “Hope is the thing with soft feathers, that perches in the soul and sings a tune without words. And never stops at all. “

APRIL is a great month to start getting ready for summer slowly as we still get snow and ski until the middle of April out here in Montana.  

There really is 50 days of Easter so you can slowly put your Easter decorations away I keep out bird and flowery plates as April is a great month for birdwatching and starting to garden and getting pots ready for summer.  Raking around the trees and having little bonfires cleans up really well outside.  Spring cleaning inside is almost daily as the weather changes every few hours from cold to muddy and wet.  I try to do it in little 20 minutes stints. April is also a great month to have a brunch, themes like “birds are back” or barn brunches are great fun. Appreciate the scenes of little calves and lambs as they grow up quickly.  April is also great for hiking just be aware of your surroundings and take a friend.  Enjoy the days becoming longer; so much to be thankful for in every day. This is the day the Lord has made we will rejoice and be glad. 

Here a couple softer paintings by Bailey.  Max Lucado said, “ we serve as canvases for His brushstroke, papers for His pen, soil for His seeds, glimpses of His image.”

So how can we live softly with self control?

 

2024 March. TREE

2024. MARCH. ****TREE

Have you ever imagined trees as people I can’t quite see it myself but in psalm 1,  it talks about a righteous man being a tree and in an Indian myth there were  some unkind stepsisters who were turned  into Aspen trees so you could hear their leaves Rustling each autumn.  Although, Aspen trees are a beautiful golden yellow in the fall of the year; they do have a specific sound as well. 

 I recently visited my sister in California and we went to the Joshua tree State Park and the legend of the Joshua tree was when settlers were moving through, they thought the arms of the tree were pointing to the promised land, I kind of  imagined it saying, “praise to the Lord for heaven above”

My dad‘s favorite tree was the Evergreen, Pine or Spruce trees because they always look green,  alive and well.  I guess if I could imagine people as trees or myself, I would want to be an Evergreen that gets refreshed by the snow on the branches  and usually resides by a stream always looking spruced up with greenish blue color and sometimes used for Christmas  

After the short days of winter, the longer days and sunshine brings hope to our hearts.  The trees bud and spring flowers peak through the soil and we marvel in the hope we see in creation.  This year we leap into March with so much hope and new possibilities. This March is full of spirit-filled celebrations.

Here are a few:

March 

2 Iditarod dogsled race starts 

3 National anthem day

6World tennis day

7 sock monkey day🙉

8 International woman’s day

9 popcorn lovers day🍿🍿🍿

10 daylight savings time 🕰

   (spring forward into longer evenings )✨

11 Johnny Appleseed day (eat an apple)🍎

13 National good Samaritan day😊

14  pi day  (I always make my favorite pie)🥧

17 st Patrick’s day☘️ (Delicious soda bread)

19 really 20th spring begins 🌷

24 Palm Sunday 🌴

29 Good Friday +✝️

31 my sister birthday and Easter 🐣 

Have a wonderful March in to spring!  🕊Be still under a tree somewhere some time. 

If a tree could talk what would it say?  

One of my favorite films is The Three Trees. 

Christ has risen 

We remember the cross where He conquered it all was made from a tree.  

There’s an Easter legend about the dogwood tree 

Back when Jesus lived the dogwood tree was said to be very large like a great oak tree but since it was used as his crucifixion cross God gave the dogwood tree some attributes so it wouldn’t be used again for a crucifixion cross or even for building.  The dogwood become a very little tree with crooked branches so it wouldn’t be good for building.  Its pretty red bark reminds us of the blood He shed on the cross.  Its pretty white blossom has four petals aligned like a cross and the tips of the petals are dented in with a touch of red to signify the nail holes.  The little yellow center is to look like His crown of thorns. Next time you see a dogwood you can look closely for these attributes. Hope you have a happy Easter  

2024 FEBRUARY ****hope

 FEBRUARY 2024. ****hope 

Where does your hope reside?  Do you need more hope?  Hope is a positive imagination. And Hope can activate faith. Abraham had it and God gave it to us also. It’s hope that fuels us here on earth and hope that keeps us close to the Lord.  

I love the mornings.  Every new morning is full of God’s grace and gives hope of new blessings.  So teach Us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Ps90:12. 

Have you ever been hiking up a trail and hoping you’re going to come to a beautiful place , a waterfall or mountain lake, yet all you can see is the horizon.  How do we live in the time between not seeing our goal and seeing it?  Sometimes you may be tempted to just stop where you are and call it a good hike yet you persevere  hoping it’s not too far and you hope it will be worth it.  We hike by faith.  Faith is not just hoping for something we cannot presently see; it is being sure we will see it.    This hope is a gift to us to enjoy the trail, a gift from God. Thank Jesus for being your horizons.  He came to give us hope and life that will last for eternity.

Hope tells us that heaven will surpass our wildest dreams.  The amazing gift of eternity hangs on a thin wire of time &space. Trust in the one who won the battle.  May your whole life radiate the help of Jesus Christ and the hope of His glory. Let’s pray and hope for our faith, family, friends, and the world.

What have you hoped for in your life?  what do you hope for now?  May your hope renew every day.💕

The hope of Jesus will be our anchor ⚓️

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul,” Hebrews6:19

And a prayer for your day:  

Oh Lord, You love me and by Your grace have given me eternal comfort and a wonderful hope.  Now, comfort and strengthen me in every good thing I do and say.  In Jesus name, amen (so be it)

2024 NEW YEAR

JANUARY 2024   year is our 4* word

On January 1 do you feel like it’s a new year.  For most of us the feeling isn’t there yet. No worries your feelings are not always that reliable, right?  Yet if you begin acting and speaking about the plans for a new year. Your feelings are quick to catch up with the whole scene. My word for the year is REFRESH. For awhile I have been thinking about it and since I have been restoring lots of things I thought it might be restore but I think the HS wants me to use refresh because that seems more relationship wise and God wants us to foster good relationships with his creations. So to use it with the monthly 4* word. We will refresh upon a new year or refresh upon a mountaintop  and be joyful of the day. We can refresh upon a new chair in the sunshine. We can refresh upon a dusty violet, golden sunset?  How else can we refresh ourselves ?

refresh

Or refresh with some well needed sleep like these two cherished companions 

The amazing gift of eternity hangs on a thin wire of time and space. Happy New Year. 

Try this:  Light a candle and say this prayer for strength:  

All powerful and ever-living God, source of strength in our weakness, grant me perseverance in the struggles of life. Revive and refresh my faith and help me to feel the power of your spirit burning 🔥 within me giving me all that I need. Enkindle within me this fire 🔥 of your love so that I may share it with all. Amen

Pondering ? 🤔 Who has been a good friend and what makes them so?

2023. DECEMBER NOTE

 2023     DECEMBER    

4* word  note

Have you ever looked for a note or sign in the skies above?  I’ve seen cotton balls, hearts, and horse tails in the daytime clouds. What do you see in this big cloud?

In the nighttime skies, I pick out constellations that I used to teach to my students; like Orion and the V-shaped bull’s face, Canis Major, the winter W, are all in this picture. what do you see?

But,perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in Heaven, where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy ✨✨✨💫🌟

   Advent begins this month  National Christmas lights day. Take a drive and look at the lights. The days are short so the nights are long. 

December 6  St Nicholas Day

December 7 Pearl Harbor rememberance

Christmas card day

December  Winter officially begins on the winter solstice December 22.  Christmas caroling day  go caroling or go to church or just listen to Christmas music

Christmas Eve and Christmas are in sight as well. Hope, peace, faith and joy (thanks and praise) will be in our prayers and found among the moments of  silence found in new fallen snow and long starry nights.  So let’s keep our focus on the one who gave us His grace and peace through the Holy Spirit. Love the morning for joy & hope come in the mornings ..every early morning 🌤

I love to send and receive Christmas cards I don’t always write a note so here’s a funny, little one from Sash, the blue healer.  We need to laugh more so the note is written from her sassy point of view. hope you get a smile or chuckle when reading it  

A recipe for a joyful heart:

Remember the reason for the season:  Jesus Christ brought so much joy to our heart even when we didn’t realize it 

 Listen for bells 🔔 or sing along with Christmas songs 🎶🎶

Spend time with the ones you love (reading with or playing games are my favorite activities). 

Help someone who needs help or just remember the saying “it’s better to give than receive “ All these things will bring peace and joy to our hearts  

Merry Christmas 🎄 

Post question:  what is the difference between good things and good works?

2023 NOVEMBER REST

NOVEMBER 

4*word  rest

I am thinking about the word rest as a deep “soul rest”found in the book of Matthew it says “and you will find rest for your souls”   It is doing what you can and letting Jesus do His part. I think 💭 abide in me as I abide in you 💭 as we walk. 

Here are four ways to find that kind  of rest :

*spend time in prayer 

* listen to worship songs ( like Oceans by Taya)

* spend time in nature 

* meditate on the word of God

God children are cool

 

 Since all the pictures are black and white we can give thoughts to light and darkness.  Who gave us light?  What is evil?  Pure evil is the absence of the God of the Bible.  And when we put God aside, out of our lives, our country, out of our world. He will leave.  He will never force his presence on anyone and when God leaves, a great big V-O-I-D is left for evil to fill and flourish.  So how can we stop evil?  We turn to the light , His word, here is Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.  So let’s be in the light and say the good news.  

Lots of love and light and gratefulness to you and yours this season.

In the midst of darkness light persists
Mahatma Gandhi

So long autumn...

Happy Thanksgiving 

OCTOBER 2023 lamp

 2023 October 

4*lamp

Owlet

Autumn color

The light of a child’s heart 

October is here  The last of summer will be an Indian summer and calves will be shipped to feedlots, winter feed will be made and stowed away for the snowy months to come. Bears are trying to eat as much as they can before hibernating.  Watering tanks are checked for insulation and heating elements. Birds are flocking up and some have headed south.  The chickadees are tough and are checking around for some early goodies.  

The candles are being lit and inside light reminds me of fireside moments mysterious and rustic.  The days are getting shorter and snow top mountains peak through fog or clouds early in the morning.  By dusk I am remembering my favorite scripture: His word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”

Happy October 🍂