color

Happy Anniversary!

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways. Oscar Wilde

Would you believe that today marks exactly two years for me here on the blog? Another week and I’ll also reach two years and seven months sober. Praise God for that! Time flies when you’re busy making plans, that’s for sure.

Speaking of making plans, I had an epiphany recently. One of the students in my English class mentioned something about changing how society views a certain subject. I can’t remember what it was she was referring to, but that’s not really the point anyway—it’s what happened after. Grinning, our professor reminded the class that they were young, and that they had their whole lives ahead of them to change the world.

At first, I felt a little sad. There I sat, surrounded by teens and young adults—the oldest probably 26 years old—and I was… well… somewhere in my fifties. Somehow his words just struck me. It’s not often that I get discouraged, but the realization that I’m getting a really late start on a few things kicks in every now and then, and this was definitely one of those times.

A few days later, as the professor’s words drifted in and out of my head, I felt a little envious of those fortunate souls who “have their whole lives ahead of them.” That’s when I had the epiphany—or maybe it was that small, still voice that speaks to my heart—and I realized that no matter which way you look at it…

…I have my whole life ahead of me too!

We all do!
—Stay encouraged—

It’s never too late to be what you might have been.

Reckless Abandon

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Love with reckless abandon is a term that Gil uses often, and I think most of you know by now that he was NOT referring to it in the romantic sense. Not for now, anyway. At church this morning, while attempting to sing No Longer Slaves, the emotions I’ve been feeling these past few days welled up inside… and the waterworks began.

I knew it was going to happen the second that the music started. It was definitely a confirmation that today’s mood is LOVE. Just as it should be.

You split the sea
So I could walk right through it
My fears were drowned in perfect love
You rescued me
and I will stand and sing…

I am a child of God

God is great, and He is LOVE! ♥♥♥

Joy in Giving

My cousin is great at knitting and crocheting. She makes batches of scarves that are shipped out to women in shelters and she asked me to write something that could go on a card with each scarf.

The yarn she uses is nicknamed ‘Magic Yarn’ because it’s made up of remnants of old pieces of yarn—leftover scraps in a sense—so that no yarn is ever wasted.

So… I wrote a fairy tale in rhymes:

The Tale of the Magic Yarn

There once was a seamstress, who made garments of white. Everyone wore them, what a beautiful sight! She knitted, crocheted and sewed wonderful things. Hats, scarves and mittens, with tassels and rings!

The town looked so crisp, clean, shiny and bright. They all dressed the same, their garments so light! With pride they stood tall, as they strutted around. Not a blemish was seen, not a stain ever found.

Then one day by surprise, a great storm hit the sand. Thunder, lightning and winds…blew right through the land. When the chaos was over, they all came out to look. To their sadness they found, their white garments it took!

The seamstress looked up as she held back the tears. They lost all she had sewn, for all of those years! But this seamstress you see, could turn bad into good. She just had to bring joy, to this sweet neighborhood.

She collected the pieces that were split, torn and frayed. She found all that was left of the garments she’d made. Looking for answers, she let out a sigh… “I need a MIRACLE” she wept, as she looked to the sky.

In an instant she knew, she’d found help on that day. Her mind fresh with ideas, she had thought of a way! She picked up some yarn, and she washed it in soap. Then all of the sudden, it was colored with HOPE!

She stitched on another, KINDNESS tinted the string. It was awesome to watch, she’d never seen such a thing! With all of this color, the yarn came alive. STRENGTH and COURAGE brought texture, it made the yarn thrive!

She watched JOY and CONTENTMENT create glorious hues. Red, yellow and green, and the most wonderful blues! The yarn ball was growing, be it ever so big… it was vibrant and ready. She would zag and she’d zig!

She wove each piece together, with oodles of LOVE. She created a hat, then a scarf, then a glove! “This yarn is MAGIC!” she screeched with a smile. Then she went out to share, she ran over a mile!

She handed out garments to each person she found. And when word got out, they came from all ’round! Everyone called out “Your wonders don’t cease! We loved your white things but these- WOW! Masterpiece!”

So from that great day, not a soul left uncovered, with uniqueness and color…since that yarn was discovered. “Who knew that such beauty and strength could here grow?”…they sing, as they dance…

…like a giant rainbow!

The end.

The women in the shelters get a scarf and the story behind the Magic Yarn that they are made of. She shipped out her first batch this week, and she sent me a scarf.

That’s where JOY was found today!

Blessings-

(Hope you enjoyed the rhyme. I felt a bit like Dr. Seuss writing it!)

Through a Window

I mentioned to a fellow blogger that many of my photos from Colorado—of the sky, clouds and sunsets—were taken from our living room window which was on the third floor, facing the mountains.

This is one of those photos! I guess the main thing I had to remember in those days was to keep my windows clean! Sometimes I wonder why I was in such a hurry to leave there…

But then I remember all that snow…

Inside Our Ginkgo

inside-gingko

Our Ginkgo is too tall to get the whole tree into a good photograph, so I decided to get inside of it and look up. I kind of like how it came out!

Below is a black and white, from another angle. I’ve always loved black and whites, but there’s so much color around lately, it’s hard not to show it. I really DO like this one! Except it’s really hard to see the details or outline of the leaves.

I realized today that I lost my glasses awhile back and am so used to not wearing them that this is probably the reason I have a hard time seeing through the lens! Go figure.

ginkgo-bw