Week 20

Tulips

"Faithfulness springs forth from the earth

and righteousness looks down from heaven."

Psalm 85:11 NIV

Here is just a sampling of the many tulips that are blooming in my city right now.  Tulips are so dependable to bloom every spring and their variety of colours bring such a nice contrast to all the lush green leaves and grass in the landscape during the month of May.  

The above photos were all taken while walking around Rockway Gardens in Kitchener on May 9, 2013.  I am enjoying using my new macro lens and even more than that, being outside and enjoying the beauty God has created.

Week 19

                                         Our house with neighbour's blossoming magnolia tree in the corner            May 5, 2013

"...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... 

as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15 NIV

                                                   Sweet-smelling hyacinth at the front of our house                                    May 2013

"Life a life of love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God."

Ephesians 5:2 (New Century Version)

Spring is full of beauty and sensory delights.  Don't hyacinths have a beautiful smell?   I  strife to live a life that doesn't just look nice from a distance, but that gives off a sweet-smelling scent as others get up close, and more importantly, that pleases God.

Week 18

Spring Has Arrived at the Lake

                                                                            The first time I have ever seen horses on our beach      April 27, 2013

       "And God said: 'Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear...'
                                 'Let the land produce vegetation...'
                                 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky...'
                                 'Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth...'
                                 'Let the land produce living creatures...'
                                 'Let us make man in our image...'

                     God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."       Excerpts from Genesis 1

                                                                      Dave watching the sun set over the lake         April 27, 2013

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked

 or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  

But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

Psalm 1: 1 & 2 NIV

                                                                                                 Sunset on Lake Huron         April 27, 2013

"He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down."

Psalm 104:19 NIV

Dave and I spent part of  last  weekend at our cottage.  We enjoyed the beautiful spring weather and marvelled anew at the beautiful world that God created.

Week 17

My First Spring Flowers

                                                                                                Daffodils are just so cheery!  April 23, 2013

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves is heard in our land."

Song of Solomon 2:11 & 12 NIV

                                                                                                                              Pansy  April  22, 2013

"Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven."

Psalm 85:11 NIV

                                                                         The bee arrived just in time for the photo!  April 23, 2013

"[to the One] who gives food to every creature - His love endures forever

Give thanks to the God of heaven - His love endures forever"

Psalm 136:25 & 26 NIV

     Isn't is refreshing to see signs of spring after a long winter?  When I look out of the back of our house from my kitchen table, it makes me happy to see a cluster of cheery daffodils waving in the breeze! (The waving in the breeze makes them very hard to photograph!) 

      I decided that the front of our house needed a little colour so yesterday I got my hands in the dirt and planted some little pansies in a "bunny" planter in a bed at the front of our house. 

      Speaking of bunnies, last evening I saw a wild mother rabbit nursing a tiny bunny on our front walk.  It was so cute to see the mother cleaning the little one while he/she sucked away.  The mother rabbit just sat up as she nursed.  I wondered what would happen if she was startled and had to dash away, but they finished and the little one was told to hunker down in my periwinkle ground cover and the mother scurried away.  

      The birds are busy making nests.  There is one robin who insists on trying to make a nest on a ledge above our front door.  She brings all these leaves and twigs and they just fall off or blow off and every day I sweep the debris off our step.  Hopefully she will soon realize that her spot is not a good choice and will find a nice tree somewhere. 

      The flower in the above picture with the bee on it, is a mystery flower.  The little yellow flowers look a bit like miniature dandelions.  They are tough little wild flowers/weeds as they are growing around stones and in cracks between cement at the side of my neighbour's house.  Every morning they look like they are wilted and dying and their petals are all closed up, but then as soon as the sun comes around in the afternoon, they open up again.  Perhaps there  is a lesson there to keep our eyes on the "Son."  John 10:10 says "I  have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

    I am looking forward to watching more new life  appear around my neighbourhood over the next month.  My family hears me say every year that "May" is my favourite month of the year and May is fast approaching!

       

Week 16

     I had hoped that by the middle of April, I would be posting some spring flower photos, but we are having a late spring in Southwestern Ontario.  The following are photos from the ice storm that we had last week on Thursday, April 11th and Friday, April 12th.  The ice coating everything was pretty at first, but when branches started breaking and some areas started to lose hydro, then the fun started to wear off!  Fortunately the temperature went up enough in the afternoon that the build up of ice stopped before any more damage was done.  In fact, within an hour of the temperature just going up one degree, all the ice had dropped off of the trees.

                                                                          Looking across to our neighbours backyard and beyond - April 12, 2013

"And who do you think is the father of rain and dew, the mother of ice and frost? 

You don't for a minute imagine these marvels of weather just happen, do you?"

Job 38:  28 & 29 The Message

                                                                Weeping Mulberry Bush looking like it is literally "weeping" - April 12,  2013

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning"

Psalm 30: 5(b) NKJV

                                                                                                   every twig covered in ice - April 12, 2013

"...He crowns you with love and mercy -- a paradise crown.

He wraps you in goodness -- beauty eternal..."

from Psalm 103: 4 & 5 The Message

                                                             The little berries covered with ice looked like jewels - April 12, 2013

"Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel."

Proverbs 20:15 NIV

                                    Looking through the ice-covered patio door to a tree in our backyard - April 12, 201

     "We don't yet see things clearly.  We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. [in this case, ice]  But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!  We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he know us!
     But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation:  Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.  And the best of the three is love." 

I Corinthians 13: 12 & 13  The Message

Week 15

                                                                                                                               Big decisions for a 17 year old!  Spring 2013

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge"  Proverbs 1:7a 

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding;

in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." 

Proverbs 3: 5 & 6 KJV 

     Our youngest son is heading to university in the fall. This will be tough for me.  Our oldest stayed at home during university (we have two universities in Kitchener/Waterloo) and our middle child hung around home long enough that by the time he started university, I was quite ready for him to go, and, he is only 1 hour away from us!

     Tim is my baby and he won't even be 18 until next December.  He only applied to Waterloo because I suggested that he keep his options open.  I think he has already thrown that acceptance letter out as I couldn't find it for this photo!  Tim's first choices are McGill in Montreal and U. of T. in Toronto.  He likes big cities; he certainly does not take after his mother!!  I am hoping he chooses Toronto because it would be an easier adjustment - same province and language - and so much closer to home.  What if he gets sick at McGill?  Who will help him? 

      I think I am "leaning on my own understanding!"

Week 14

                                                              View of Lake Huron just west of Forest, Ontario - March 30, 2013

"He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed."

Psalm 107:29 NIV

                                 Exploring on the ice near the shore on Lake Huron - photo by Mike  - March 30, 2013

"When people's steps follow the Lord, God is pleased with their ways.  If they stumble they will not fall, because the Lord holds their hand."

Psalm 37: 23 & 24 New Century Version

                                                                                                                                          Sunset photo by Dave - March 30, 2013 

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.

The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens."

Psalm 113: 3 & 4 NIV

The Saturday of Easter weekend was the warmest, calmest and sunniest day so far this spring in Southwestern Ontario.   Our family was fortunate to have scheduled that day to visit my brother and sister-in-law at their cottage, along with my sister's family.  As we were driving the 2 hour trip to their place we were debating among ourselves as to whether we thought there would still be ice on the lake or not.  We were all surprised to see how much ice there still was.   It was so beautiful looking out over the lake with the various colours of blue and white.  

Normally on a very calm day there is still some noise from the lapping of the water at the shore, but when there is ice on the lake it is very silent - the "waves are hushed" as the verse I quoted  says.  The open water is so far out that you can not hear the waves at all.

There are 88 steps down the hill to the beach at my brother's cottage, and because I am having "knee" troubles right now, I had to send my camera down in the capable hands of other family members.  Those who went to the beach had fun beach-combing, throwing a football around, and walking in the sand after a long winter.  Both my niece and nephew, who were  navigating  around on the ice near the shore, predictably ended up with wet shoes and socks!

After the fun outside, we enjoyed a delicious roast beef dinner together and then watched a beautiful sunset before heading back home.  What a great prelude to celebrating our Lord's resurrection the next morning!