SNAP THAT

In the last few days I've gotten a head and chest cold. It has kept my body in pain and my head hurting. In addition, some other things I'm dealing with meant I didn't have a lot of energy or motivation today. But God's nature "paintings" always have a way of exciting me. I had gone down the street to purchase some produce and other goodies for a late dinner. When I returned to my suite, this is the scene that awaited me from my patio window. How spectacular! I haven't yet learned how to take night shots or even properly use my camera. Thankfully, I found my instruction booklet and managed to find the night setting and the largest pixel setting with which to capture this night. I absolutely love the way the sky looks. And I am so glad I could "snap that". I hope you had a good day today, the Day of Pentecost, when we remember the beginnings of the Christian Church. "The day of Pentecost was the birth of Christianity. It was on t

With the sun peeking through just to the upper right of the cross on the church exterior, it reminded me of this powerful hymn. AT THE CROSS At the cross, At the cross, Where I first saw the light And the burdens of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith, I received my sight And now I am happy all the day. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:22-24

I thought it might be interesting to capture the variety of buildings we have here in our part of the world for visitors from elsewhere to enjoy. Whenever I have travelled to other lands, I've observed that Vancouver has a greater variety of building styles throughout the city and there is very little of same style development in any given neighborhood. Part of this is due to the fact that Canadian cities are generally not that old and so the buildings we have do not have the same history as in many parts of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Nonetheless, I really enjoy the variety of building styles here. Combined with the natural beauty of the ocean, mountains and rain forest, the variety of buildings, is one thing I take joy in as I walk about in the different neighbourhoods. Recently, I took a lot of snaps of buildings right in the heart of the city. I would like to share a few of them with you. Oldies but Goodies (Above) Saint Paul's (Catholic) Hospital (Below) St.

Photo credit: http://community.webshots.com/user/sharonmyphotos/profile To realize The value of a sister/brother: Ask someone Who doesn't have one. To realize The value of ten years: Ask a newly Divorced couple. To realize The value of four years: Ask a graduate. To realize The value of one year: Ask a student who Has failed a final exam. To realize The value of nine months: Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn. To realize The value of one month: Ask a mother Who has given birth to a premature baby To realize The value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize The value of one minute: Ask a person Who has missed the train, bus or plane. To realize The value of one-second: Ask a person Who has survived an accident. Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when You can share it with someone special. To realize the value of a friend or family member: LOSE ONE. The origin of this letter is unknown

... a number of answered prayers . Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 1 Chronicles 16:8 News that my friend Pastor Jonah has obtained a visa for his first trip to South Africa to participate in a conference for emerging leaders in Africa. Pastor Jonah is a very humble servant of the Lord and he has a great heart for evangelizing the youth. I feel that God wants to bless him with this opportunity to go to South Africa. I've been praying for this trip. So today you can imagine how excited I was when I learned that he has just obtained a visa. This means that the trip is closer to a reality. A nice chat with Enock , a Kenyan student friend of mine who I haven't heard from in some time. He is back in college after a school break. That in itself is good news, but even better was the news that he received a generous financial gift from one of his papa's friends to help him enroll in college this term. God is so awe

Today was a simple day. I didn't sleep so well last night so I wasn't terribly energetic to do much.One of the simple joys of the day was organizing a few of my earrings that I had hurriedly thrown into my carrying bags when it was time to relocate to a hotel post-fire investigation. I didn't realize that I had so many singular and broken earrings with me. I spent a few moments to put them aside. Later, I will see if anything can be done to repair or re purpose them. I was pleased to see that some of the earrings I managed to bring with me actually matched. *smile* It gave me an idea for a blog about how even earrings have stories to tell. So here are some earring stories. I purchased the earrings (left) for myself so many years ago that it was difficult to remember where I bought them. While I was putting this blog together, my memories of the day were triggered. I also remembered that I had originally purchased a necklace to go with the earrings. The necklac

My condo building had a fire in a suite located two floors above mine about two weeks ago. There was significant water damage to my suite so I have been temporarily relocated to a downtown hotel. I'm grateful that my brother has been living with me over these past few years while I've been convalescing due to having multiple health conditions. He is my chief cook and bottle washer these days, but I wasn't always grateful for him and he wasn't always my chief cook and bottle washer. Currently, he has his own suite in the hotel where he cooks the majority of our dinner meals. We do each have a kitchenette in each of our hotel suites and for the most part my brother does the cooking for us, just as he does at home. I usually suggest what to make given the ingredients of the day, but only make general suggestions as he and I have different tastes when it comes to food combining and use of fruits and veggies. It is rather difficult to generate ideas for anything other

Photo Credit: http://community.webshots.com/user/anttisarki/profile After a week or more of blessed sunshine, it was pouring rain overnight and into the morning. Rain brings a freshening of the earth, in addition to a cleaning for our enjoyment on another sunny day. It just so happened that my reading for the day was also about rain. In Genesis, chapters 6-9, I read again about the flood that God sent upon the earth due to the evil and violence in the world. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Genesis 6:11-13 But God found in Noah, a perfect man for his generation. Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Genesis

This is the scene that greeted me today. I thank God for the beautiful day. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah. Psalm 68:2-7 This is a wonderful verse of scripture. I greet the day with gladness and I pray you have a wonderful day in Him. Remember He will never leave you, nor forsake you. No matter what the storm. He is ever near you. Hallelujia to His name.

As I wandered to town on a short errand, I captured these refreshing snaps along the way. The first thing that was a surprise to me was the new community garden built right on the corner of two very busy downtown streets. Entry to the garden Vegetables grow here And so do flowers The growing season hasn't been under way that long here as the weather has been rather chilly all spring. We are just now getting good temperatures. At last. How nice it was to feel the warmth of the sun without a jacket today. I always love to see the trees in the city. They soften the edges of the concrete jungle. These flowers are in front of the city hospital which is just around the corner from the city garden. And these lovely, refreshing fountains are across the street from the hospital at one of the city's newer and popular hotels, The Sheraton Wall Centre. These flowers are planted where there would otherwise only be concrete at the Sheraton Wall Centre. The concrete cobblestones m

I thought it would be fun to capture the sunset from my window through its different phases.

PSALM 100 1 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. 2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised. Psalm 113:3 Bruce Cockburn is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter who has written many songs and released about 30 albums ranging in styles from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston for three semesters in the 1960s but those of you in the United States may be less familiar with his music. Perhaps if you have heard of him, you're familiar with the album Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws (1979). One of the songs on the album, "Wondering Where the Lions Are" made it to #21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA and earned Bruce Cockburn a spot on Saturday Night Live . Bruce Cockburn was raised as an agnostic and he became a devout Christian early on in his career. Many of his albums reference his Christian beliefs and his concerns for human rights and the environment. His music also include

" There is nothing like walking to get the feel of a country. A fine landscape is like a piece of music; it must be taken at the right tempo. Even a bicycle goes too fast ." ~ Paul Scott Mowrer " One step at a time is good walking ." ~ Chinese proverb