tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5807561636437453452024-03-06T01:08:18.540-05:00The Secret Life of Beauty...finding glory in the common placeRosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-43209085151074463472014-01-01T11:06:00.001-05:002014-01-01T11:08:15.023-05:00The cross before me....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="userContent">I walked out into the morning and looked up at
the sky as it was being transformed by the light of the sun, and I saw
the cross formed by the vapor trails of two planes that had crossed
paths at just the right angle. I firmly believe in si<span class="text_exposed_show">gns,
and I firmly believe that God is in the details of our individual
lives, and so, I firmly believe that He gave this sign to me this
morning, on the dawn of a new year, to remind me of so many things --
but first, this:<br /> "To be a Christian is no light matter. It is a
call to a transformed life and to perseverance through whatever troubles
may arise. It may be the hardest thing anyone can do. Yet anyone can
do it, with Christ supplying the necessary strength. In the end it is
the only thing that really matters.<br /> Will you take that path?<br /> The
Master is going before you. He is looking back at you with a most
compelling gaze. He is saying, 'Come!' He is commanding, 'Follow Me!'"<br /> ~ J.M.Boice, Christ's Call to Discipleship<br /> Amen.</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">May 2014 be a year of following ever closer on His heels. </span></span><br />
<br />Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-85465227977969482272013-12-27T16:26:00.000-05:002013-12-27T16:26:40.548-05:00Stepping back and looking through<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxqrMuUZUlIDnfHdtSMJ6GLWNikugdI6TPPDsf3KzafI4OsY2B6AffV3kzjqWg4C5jZRawUwL8PjE-lwzoZZokMID7ygjhVXavZkC_LKOAOKtLld6svxcwc8rph7mUBHa8RObC5kBRHbA/s1600/Willow+abstract.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxqrMuUZUlIDnfHdtSMJ6GLWNikugdI6TPPDsf3KzafI4OsY2B6AffV3kzjqWg4C5jZRawUwL8PjE-lwzoZZokMID7ygjhVXavZkC_LKOAOKtLld6svxcwc8rph7mUBHa8RObC5kBRHbA/s640/Willow+abstract.jpg" width="439" /></a></div>
I stepped back from my wide angle view of the landscape in this morning's dawn and noticed at the same time the vapor trail in the azure sky just above the silhouetted branches of the curly willow tree. Below, there was the golden horizon, creating a gravitational pull on my eyes. I knew instantly that this was a momentary composition that I wanted to capture.<br />
My heart leapt as I rushed to shoot the picture before the plane flew out of the frame, moving so to catch the branches just touching the streak of light.<br />
Light and line and texture and color in God's palette to create a beautiful moment that could only be seen by one person at one moment. <br />
I believe in holy moments.<br />
I believe in a loving Creator. <br />
<br />Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-70162018486344019962013-04-30T10:03:00.000-04:002013-04-30T10:03:56.699-04:00Opening up the view<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffp61-7fyCYx7toydWhWnuGGkoIq99gDTuJpccfDL7wPpm1CYgNCUsZZZBbF8q3ktnJoStD_xCpmpwQuJbsRH1C43vn1M3pMNHKN-0GkRO8EBURGZWQ9dSUdvfxjR3YadxZSjgrs37Zo/s1600/Buffalo+Ridge+view043013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffp61-7fyCYx7toydWhWnuGGkoIq99gDTuJpccfDL7wPpm1CYgNCUsZZZBbF8q3ktnJoStD_xCpmpwQuJbsRH1C43vn1M3pMNHKN-0GkRO8EBURGZWQ9dSUdvfxjR3YadxZSjgrs37Zo/s400/Buffalo+Ridge+view043013.jpg" width="400" /></a><span class="fbPhotosPhotoCaption" data-ft="{"type":45}" id="fbPhotoSnowliftCaption" tabindex="0"><span class="hasCaption">WHY
do we ever get over being amazed at God's love for us, at what Jesus
has done for us?? Sometimes I think we purposely obstruct our view of
the glory of these truths simply because our hearts might burst if we
tried to take it all in at once -- it's just too much, just too
wonderful, too amazing, so that we have to find a way to contain it so
that we can move on with the daily mundane-ness. But if we step over
the fences and move out into the bigness of God that surrounds us, we
just might be able to do things we had not ever imagined that we could,
we might be able to love each other better, we might just be able to
fly.....</span></span><br />
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Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-31856894538235165532013-04-10T12:27:00.000-04:002013-04-10T12:28:05.065-04:00Sensory overload: the face of God<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwTA6UBhxZcYpGHF8MFzJfdHI7T96Nu2HLyTVDcAOToraOu1mTnR67xw5HiGFbkjkYoYKes_YokZap27wBkTDDuXSgG8e9va_6dmTD3Snm6KRzr_RaGV2W23YsSgFE3i7Gi2cUGBCfCw/s1600/cherry+bliss2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEwTA6UBhxZcYpGHF8MFzJfdHI7T96Nu2HLyTVDcAOToraOu1mTnR67xw5HiGFbkjkYoYKes_YokZap27wBkTDDuXSgG8e9va_6dmTD3Snm6KRzr_RaGV2W23YsSgFE3i7Gi2cUGBCfCw/s400/cherry+bliss2013.jpg" width="273" /></a><span class="userContent">On days like today when the world has come
alive in the warmth of spring and every one of my senses is flooded with
the beauty of creation, and there are not enough words to express it. .
. .<br /> I think about how it is God who made it all and <span class="text_exposed_show">how utterly amazing and sensory-overloading it will be to look on His face.</span></span><br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> I long for that day.</span></span><br />
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"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in
part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."<br /> ~ I Corinthians 13:12</span></span>Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-84016435772986523952013-02-04T10:37:00.001-05:002013-04-10T12:30:05.158-04:00What is seen is temporary...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhtOCcl_XmazKGyfqjlI-QPWi7T5q54WPaiCIoR0MdGU7uo34lvaLxNYR8tFuYUFL4xvBRnmcUR2FcichQrsrXfl-VlOgTeq3XLJT7ZLEVM04a4V7h3exfnJ4RzX7TQCQI0UJnFE2WtA/s1600/February42013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDhtOCcl_XmazKGyfqjlI-QPWi7T5q54WPaiCIoR0MdGU7uo34lvaLxNYR8tFuYUFL4xvBRnmcUR2FcichQrsrXfl-VlOgTeq3XLJT7ZLEVM04a4V7h3exfnJ4RzX7TQCQI0UJnFE2WtA/s400/February42013.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I
awoke to this: orange light in my eyes. I rose and went to the window,
and my heart quickened. It was one of those mornings when I rush to
find my camera and throw on something to keep me warm, run down the
hallway to the back door, and out into the sunrise glow of a thousand
unnamed colors. And I begin recording, as fast as I can all the ways the
light makes a miracle of the world around me -<span class="text_exposed_show">-
quickly, quickly before it vanishes. Because it will, because it
changes as rapidly as the earth spins and the clouds move, and in a
matter of moments it will turn gray, and those who missed it will only
wake to the dull colors of the overcast sky. But today I have had my
eyes filled to overflowing with color, and I will carry it with me
through the doings of my day, remembering how life is beautiful, but
fleeting. And I am grateful....<br /> <br /> "So we fix our eyes not on what
is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but
what is unseen is eternal."<br /> - 2 Cor.4:18<br /> Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us
run with perseverance the race marked out for us, FIXING our eyes on
JESUS, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he
endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from
sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show"> ~ Hebrews 12:1-3</span></div>
Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-85700481336086901292011-02-05T14:31:00.001-05:002011-02-05T14:50:20.777-05:00Winter's grace<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcOHfvRhiYVU1eYfjOPAKr8PqhUTUMOy-wFNaPriHvTKEMXSO3ItY2Iif72S8MfTftMWYmwtA7xDhfGdHKBhX_tCWNBXf-ACblNXMD1kKtq8HgwQSybSceGMbEGaqNhCN0HPpmGy_zN0/s1600/winter+bird+food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikcOHfvRhiYVU1eYfjOPAKr8PqhUTUMOy-wFNaPriHvTKEMXSO3ItY2Iif72S8MfTftMWYmwtA7xDhfGdHKBhX_tCWNBXf-ACblNXMD1kKtq8HgwQSybSceGMbEGaqNhCN0HPpmGy_zN0/s400/winter+bird+food.jpg" width="400" /></a>Winter's brown-ness and bare-ness is often not seen as beautiful like spring or fall's vibrant colors. But closer inspection usually yields quiet surprises of beauty. The elegant profiles of deciduous trees are revealed after losing their cloaks of leaves. And the texture of the bark, the gnarliness or gracefulness of branch growth, the abandoned bird nests, and the late fall cocoons with metamorphosing caterpillars wating for the warmth of spring to burst forth as butterflies or moths, clinging fruit or seed that feed the birds in the cold months. What beauty is added to it when a colorful bird perches there, or snow sticks to the branches making them look magical especially in the moonlight, or rain drops cling in rows, looking like a string of diamonds glistening on a gloomy day.<br />
These are moments that stop me in my tracks and tell me to give thanks for such beauty emanating from earth's dormancy - a vision of Eden in a raindrop - and a promise of what is to come, for every seed that falls to the ground dead in winter holds the promise of new life in spring.<br />
Promise, new life, rebirth, renewal -- all is held within the barrenness of winter, showing us that God has not abandonded us but is quietly at work in us to bring this all about for us, for the Kingdom, for His glory.<br />
Quiet grace.Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-72054346546317541842011-01-29T22:58:00.001-05:002013-04-30T10:15:09.541-04:00I want to be surprised<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwfD2cLG2XKvEEmD-hcIqB-R-KhQSWuVGGITZXyP6AY3lxjgIeyTHOO8qDNkIC8wIrvkBJMsUZ2Ev6WwnHEBH8ki5zBM7q4_pytgFnHvTdSSgQcZ2oYDHa7YDsjNI_ZqYjS7XjwhA_JI/s1600/Autumn+Drizzle+-sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvwfD2cLG2XKvEEmD-hcIqB-R-KhQSWuVGGITZXyP6AY3lxjgIeyTHOO8qDNkIC8wIrvkBJMsUZ2Ev6WwnHEBH8ki5zBM7q4_pytgFnHvTdSSgQcZ2oYDHa7YDsjNI_ZqYjS7XjwhA_JI/s400/Autumn+Drizzle+-sm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Sometimes it's as if God literally places books in my hands and says, "here, I want you to read this -- I think you're ready for it now." I came across a book on Amazon about a week ago that caught my attention because of the cover -- it was beautiful. I wasn't looking for it, or anything like it -- it just suddenly was there in front of me, drawing me in closer to see what the subtitle said... "A dare to live fully, right where you are." Wow. Did that ever strike a chord in this rusty heart of mine.<br />
I bought three copies. One for me and two to give away, and I hadn't even read more than the synopsis.<br />
I just knew that God had put it in my hands, and that I was supposed to share it with others.<br />
Now that I've had it for a few days and have actually read part of it, I know for certain why He put it in my hands. It's about gratitude --- gratitude for the everyday, small, quickly-passing moments in our lives that are gifts from God -- as every breath we take is.<br />
The moments of beauty that we pass quickly by, and maybe they capture a second look from us, but without stopping and giving thanks for it, we miss out on the opportunity for praise and for joy.<br />
And these are the moments that help to make sense of the hard things, because they give us a glimpse of what life will be when Eden is restored, when sin and pain and grief exist no more.<br />
Beauty is a gift from God, and being deliberately thankful for it whenever we see it, will bring joy that will surprise us.<br />
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I want to be surprised by joy.</div>
Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-580756163643745345.post-70062142580639978632010-08-10T11:56:00.000-04:002010-08-10T11:56:51.132-04:00The secret life of beautyThe banner for my blog features a couple of photos that I took this summer when my hydrangeas were blooming in all their glory. The blue of this particular kind is akin to periwinkle, and quite vibrant. On the weekend of the 4th of July I cut a few stems and brought them in to brighten my kitchen. As I was arranging them in the vase, suddenly out crawled a ladybug from the middle of one of the blossoms, and soon after another followed. The brilliant red of those dear little creatures against the vibrant blue of the blossom just took my breath away, and it was, I must say, one of the most delightful, serendipitous moments of my life. In that moment was a glimpse of glory -- once hidden and suddenly revealed. If I had not taken the time to bring those blossoms into my home I never would have seen that secret beauty, hiding in the middle of all that blue.<br />
So here I make my first entry into this space where I want to record more of the beauty I discover each day, the glory of the common place.Rosannehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16040414117922160928noreply@blogger.com0