2024 DECEMBER HOPE

                     December 2024 hope

Tis the season for hope. Time to reflect on past Christmas memories and the past year and hope…

I hope your home is filled with light, love and laughter, and of course a few moments of peace since the nights are very long. I love this season because it brings out the very best selves. There’s so much to be thankful for so I hope I can reflect the goodness of God every where I go. 

Merry Christmas 

                      

Look for Orion in the night sky, Taurus the bull ( a v shape) is to his right and on his left is Canis Minor and Canis major

2024 NOVEMBER love

NOVEMBER 2024 I love the thankful month 

 What are we most thankful for?  I think this month makes us think about that in so many ways. So love each moment and cherish the people you’re thankful for; blessings come to us in so many ways.  🙏😇

2024 OCTOBER gold

  

OCTOBER gold

What do think of  the word, gold ; Color, price, medal, weight, metals, jewelry, ?  What is worth more than gold to you?  Is Heaven paved with gold or does it just look like that because of the light from our father?  Autumn has been becoming beautiful with each and every moment. Although the days are getting shorter, they seem to be full of wonderful sights and sounds  A span of colors ranging from deep earth tones and glittery golds to brilliant sky blues. Leaves crunching to whistles in the trees are a delight on every walk in the woods.  Let’s make special fall memories with nature and remember who made it all.  Thanks be to God.

2024. SEPTEMBER holy

2024

SEPTEMBER 

season 

Holy

(the son will walk on the sea) 

This autumn season always brings reflection. What will you reflect on where will your thoughts rest. I always Try to keep my thoughts on positive or creative things.  “His word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”  Memorizing scripture helps.  “This is the day the Lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it.”  These are fun and easy ones.  

Just recently, I went to the movie, 🍿 Reagan. I thought it was very thoughtfully made; well done.  Patriotism and reverence to God are good character traits along with knowing your history. I recommend it for all.

Leaves and a rusty mauve are colors I am using in my decorating and paintings this season.  Love the season. 

Longhorn rust

2024 AUGUST GRIT

2024 AUGUST 

grace, grit, gratitude 

I love the word grit, I believe it is the essence of strength of character, mental and emotional tenacity. The “get r done” Perseverance that helps a person endure challenges. When August comes we need grit to persevere in all the last days or dog days of summer.  

When the summer heat persists we get thirsty and think of water. Hoping we get  refreshed at beaches, lakes, or rivers   These places always have memories and pictures to remember.   

grace

Grit

 I hope the dog days of summer don’t make you too tired or thirsty. I hope you find a way to be filled with refreshing water 💦 or even living water from Jesus. God is our oasis.  

Grateful 

Stay focused and on track. Think about things that are admirable and worthy of praise thus staying with His spirit.  “In this world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”  John 16:33.   When you determine to be strong in the Lord with your mind stayed on Him, He will give you the (grit) perfect peace and strength you need. 

“Have faith in me and you will have life giving water flowing from deep inside you.”  John7. We are crowned with favor and anchored in hope. John Eldredge quote: “we need Jesus like we need water. Like we need oxygen . Like a branch needs a vine. “  As for refreshing ourselves, we must have calm and quiet surroundings which will in turn humble us before the Lord. Dogs know how to do this, watch them jump in water and lay down quietly during the heat of the day.   Where or how can we humble ourselves before the Lord?  

I believe that each day is a gift and that everyday miracles are sprinkled about if only we have eyes and hearts to see them. 

Aryan

2024 JULY. Born

2024. JULY born

This July, 2024, is so green🍀. Very unpredictable weather is a measure of MONTANA and we are definitely in God’s country.  

All the land has a new born again growth and light.  Let’s enjoy the new season that is born from spring and spring forth with vigor,  passion and purpose 

July is the middle of summer and there is so much more fun to be had in this summer season.  Like haying, hiking, waterskiing on the lake, riding, picnicking, flower-picking, fresh fruit and farmer markets,   Let’s make the most of each day. Thanks be to God 

Summer springs

2024 June look 👀

2024 JUNE look

      Memorial day unofficially begins the 100 days of Summer.  Thinking of the year’s theme refresh; we’re looking forward and backwards for memories past and yet to come of summer.  There’s a lot of simple joys  to look at when it comes to summer. 

      Lately we’ve had the northern lights, the summer star Constellations have already moved into the night sky. 

      Whether it’s picking wild flowers and placing them in a pretty pitcher at the morning coffee bar or setting them on a summertime table inside the screen door, or sitting on a porch chair cherishing the mountain sunsets, or listening to a flag blowing in the breeze, or looking at the reflections on a mountain lake, or slipping-sliding over the waves, there are so many ways to refresh.  

      Where ever  your lens may be, I hope it brings a sense of wonder and a worthwhile refresher of what summer means to you. 

With Veterans Day 

And Flag Day 14th. Be sure to fly old glory 🇺🇸

And then for July 4th as well 

2024 MAY live

May 2024 live 

May 2 National day of prayer 🙏 

May 4 150th annual Kentucky derby race 🐎

May 5 cinco de Mayo 🌮

May 27 Memorial Day 🇺🇸

Well it’s May and snow flurries keep spritzing through our days so it will be a late start to summer. So much for our leap day trying to regulate the calendar. Yet the evenings are longer and usually warmer. The sun is a welcome addition to any day. It’s an El Niño year so dryer than we’ve had in the last ten years. 

I feel so alive in the mornings but Sometimes I try to live so much in these longer days that at night I have memorized this verse:  I have finished the race , I have kept the faith... good night 💤 🌙 

Have a memorable Memorial Day. If it’s sunny climb a mountain. If it’s rainy; here are a few good movies to remember our special soldiers:  Saving Private Ryan, Hacksaw Ridge, Lone Survivor, Glory, Dunkirk. And be sure to hang old Glory outside your home and have a great barbecue.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

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)