Scaredy cat (actually "scaredy kitten" is more accurate).

Treasuring. Pondering. Slowing down. Listening.

 

But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

- Luke 2:19

 This verse has always "struck me", I think because I don't find treasuring and pondering things in my heart all that easy to do. I tend to fill up my time with busyness of one sort or another, and find it difficult to slow down enough to truly reflect on the day-to-day miracles that my life is full of.

Slowing down. Listening. Absorbing the wonder. Allowing myself to be so aware of the day-to-day graces that I actually reflect them to others.

What about you?

Are you able to slow down and listen?  Are you able to "treasure and ponder things in your heart"?

Emotional Reunion for Locust Grove High School Graduate: MyFoxATLANTA.com

A few pix from the past week...

I'm still indulging my new hobby of photography, and went for some brief strolls during the past week. Here are some of the things I found. BTW. the first one I'll submit to Hear It On Sunday, Use It On Monday and Scripture and a Snapshot. These hops pair Scripture verses with photos. It seems to me that Hosea 14:5 is appropriate to the first shot:

"I will be like the dew to Israel; He will blossom like the lily, And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

A lily after the rain

No, this is NOT a rose. It's a fungus of some sort that I found in a shady woods. Way cool!

Cows on neighborhood watch

Taken at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham NC

Star of Bethlehem blossoms

Memorial Day, 2011

If you want to say "thank you" to a member of our military, check out A Million Thanks, which is "is a year-round campaign to show our appreciation for our U.S. Military Men and Women, past and present, for their sacrifices, dedication, and service to our country through our letters, emails, cards, and prayers".

Operation Shoebox has numerous ideas of how to support our troops; check especially the bottom of their website for a number of suggestions.

And Support Our Troops offers a whole host of links to sites that you can check out...

In other words, there are many ways to give thanks for our freedom. And one is to thank those who serve to help us maintain it.

Molasses cookies - "These cookies are like crack cocaine."

Crack cocaine? That's how a coworker described them when I brought a batch into work one day. They're so well received that I typically make a double batch. The directions below are for a single batch... in print and in picture.

MOLASSES COOKIES

Ingredients:

3/4 C butter

1 C sugar (and some more to roll cookies in)

1/4 C molasses

1 egg

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

2 C flour

In a mixing bowl, cream butter & sugar.

Beat in molasses & egg.  Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to creamed mixture. Batter will be thick!

Chill for 1 hour or til firm so it will be easier to work with. Once batter it chilled, shape into 1" balls, roll around in granulated sugar, and place on greased baking sheets. (That's what the recipe said, but I have non-stick baking sheets and haven't needed to grease them.)

The recipe says to press them flat til baking: I just let 'em spread out on their own, and they wound up pretty uniform in size (although it took a bit longer than 8-10 minutes to bake them in a preheated 375 degree oven). 

Bake 'em til they're lightly browned. Cool them on wire racks.

Then watch out for the cookie thieves, because they'll be coming! 

  I'm sharing this recipe for Savory Space,Sundae Scoop, Mouthwatering Mondays, This Week's Cravings, Sunday Showcase, LEM Photo Challeng, & Two Maids a-Baking.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday

There's a great photography challenge held each Sunday here. 5 prompts are posted the week prior, and those participating are asked to take pictures that "speak to" each prompt. This week I'm sharing some and inviting you to check out other peoples' pix.

Classic Still Life -Ashley allows participants to post one picture taken in the past; the rest are to be taken the week prior to the challenge. This shot was taken in January 2009 on a cruise. I'm fascinated at the beautiful watermelon carvings the staff made!

Self-Portrait - I hate having my picture taken. Absolutely hate it. But for the sake of the challenge... and to share at Shoot Me...

On the Floor - My husband posed for this shot. (He hates having his picture taken, too.)

Lines- This may not have been exactly what Ashley had in mind! But interesting nonetheless... I'm also sharing this shot at Straight Out of the Camera Sunday.

Fresh - I wonder if this heron felt fresh and clean after taking a dip in the pond?

Peter Sellers does the Beatles? Really?

In 1964, Peter Sellers (who had starred in "The Pink Panther") was asked to read the lyrics of the Beatles song, A Hard Days Night. He was asked to read it in a style reminiscent of Laurence Olivier performing Shakespeare.

The idea sounds whacky as heck, but I've got to say I enjoyed his rendition!



H/T to Open Culture for pointing the way to this clip!

She's shooting again!

I'm sharing a few photos on some sites that have lovely photography. I hope you'll check them out. First is Blogging from Bolivia, where Laura hosts Macro Friday. For hers, I'm sharing this detail of a Star of Bethlehem blossom. I'm also sharing it at Simple Sunday.

Next, wander on over to Blueberry Craft and Hobby Time. Each week, Ewa hosts Flowers On Saturday. I'm sharing a picture of one of our neighbor's lovely roses with her today:

Hen Jen hosts the L.E.N.S. Photo Challenge on Saturday. Today she asks for photos that demonstrate "comfort". In addition, there's a great hop for pet lovers each Saturday. And so...

 

And I'm sharing this one for Straight Out of the Camera Saturday:

If you enjoy photography - even if you're brand new at it like me - try visiting some of the great photography challenges. I've got quite a few listed on my "Blog Hops for Every Day of the Week" page. The link for that can be found just beneath the header.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend! Me? I'm grateful for a 3-day weekend with my hubby!

OK, I admit it. I'm a dinosaur.

I have to say, sometimes I feel like I’m a dinosaur. I look at our society and wind up shaking my head so often that I practically wind up with a concussion.

My latest reason for shaking my head and wagging my finger is in response to this news article, which reports that a Washington state health board apparently needed public protest to help them discern what was in poor taste.

The health board wanted to promote awareness of colorectal cancer and the importance of screening for early detection. To do so, they put up billboards that said, “WHAT’S UP YOUR BUTT?” And apparently it was a public outcry that convinced them to come up with a different tactic. The signs have now been removed.

If you need further proof that I’m a dinosaur, go to some earlier posts here and here. And please – please – let me know if I’ve gone the way of the dodo bird or if there are other folks like me out there somewhere. Sometimes I get real lonely.

Your tax dollars at work? AAARRRGGGHHH!

I have an uncle whose theory is that we should ALWAYS vote against incumbent candidates. He just may be right. Notice how our current office-holders are spending your money.

A Friday photo (or two)

My new addiction has the merit of not being bad for one's physical health. I'm really enjoying playing around with the camera. And I've found a few wonderful photo challenges hosted by people with lots of experience and talent. I'm hoping by submitting some of my photos, I'll receive some constructive criticism. And looking at the shots others have taken is a great way to see with a new eye.

On Friday, there are a couple of photo challenges I enjoy, and I'm sharing some of this week's shots there. Please stop by Fabulous Friday and Foto Friday to see some grand photographs!

One question for experienced photographers: all these pictures seem darker once they're published online. Should I be using Photoshop to "overexpose" them before I post them? Do you have any suggestions?

Here are mine:

This photo challenge was titled "on and on". This shot works, huh?

Back to the butterfly house again. These butterflies were enjoying a fruity meal.

I did a wee bit of editing on this picture of a weathered tobacco barn, and I'm submitting it to Before and After this week.

Dreary sky, but converting this picture from color to black & white seemed to make the whole thing more interesting.

This cow-ish critter has such sorrowful, soulful eyes!

2 final sites you should visit... I'm submitting the final shot of the little guy from the butterfly house for their May photo challenges. It's my favorite of the bunch.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Question for reflection

Since the heart is the source of our actions, as the heart is, so are they.

- St. Francis de Sales
Introduction to the Devout Life

This puts me in mind of Matthew 23:27-28:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

These thoughts are both so meaningful, and both lead to an important question:

What do my actions reveal about the state of my heart?

Please read this.

Today a reader asked me to pass on a request for people to consider being a bone marrow donor for a child in need of a transplant. Coincidentally, as a nurse, I work with adult patients receiving this sort of transplant. Before I direct you to her post for additional information, though, I wanted to point out a few things:

Rarely are "bone marrow transplants" done any more. Bone marrow is a rich source of stem cells, which are biological cells that can differentiate into a variety of different types of cells - red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, for example. But bone marrow is not the only source of stem cells.

Today stem cells are far more commonly obtained from intravenous (IV) lines. The donor's lines are connected to a machine that looks much like a dialysis machine. Blood passes through tubing in the machine and stem cells are selectively removed. At one time, many people were reluctant to be donors because the bone marrow harvest can be painful. The technique I described is far more comfortable.

Another way the stem cells can be obtained is through umbilical cord blood. After a baby is born, the umbilical cord is tied off and cut, and the placenta (afterbirth) is delivered, blood can be drawn from the placenta and processed to select out stem cells. Women are frequently asked to consider allowing stem cells from the placenta to be harvested. There is no risk to the baby, as blood is drawn from the placenta, and not from the newborn.

Now that I've told you a bit of background, please follow this link and consider being a stem cell donor.

You may save a life.

This is one of the most moving videos I've ever seen.

I can't watch it without tears.How about you?

Just so, our heavenly Father will lift us up.

Praise God!

Different strokes...

The Lookout recently published an article about a Canadian family who recently had a baby blank.

What's a baby blank, you might ask?

It's a baby whose gender is kept secret. Even the baby's grandparents haven't been let in on the secret. Only the diaper-changers know... and they're not telling.

The parents named the child Storm. They've explained the reasoning they've followed in not revealing the child's gender as follows: "We've decided not to share Storm's sex for now--a tribute to freedom and choice in place of limitation, a stand up to what the world could become in Storm's lifetime (a more progressive place? ...)" They went on to explain, ""If you really want to get to know someone, you don't ask what's between their legs." By withholding this information, the parents feel that Storm will have the freedom to choose who (s)he wants to be.

Evidently Storm's folks had read A Fabulous Child's Story, by Lois Gould. This is a tale of a child, X, who was raised as neither a boy nor a girl, and who is now described as "well-adjusted".

I used to think I was "well-adjusted" too, until I read this story. Now I worry that I may have been irrevocably harmed by my parents' decision to divulge my sex prematurely.

This couple's older two kids, Jazz and Kio (ages 5 and 2 respectively), have been allowed the freedom to choose whether or not to grow their hair and whether to dress in boys' or girls' clothing. They wear their hair long and love to dress in pink, so they're often mistaken for girls. Their parents don't correct those who incorrectly identify the children as girls; they leave it up to the kids to do so if they wish.

The children are also educated unconventionally. Rather than being homeschooled, they are unschooled. This means that the child's learning is guided by their curiosity. The parents didn't want their children to be educated by "something that happens by rote from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays in a building with a group of same-age people, planned, implemented and assessed by someone else".

What do you think? Are these parents allowing their children freedom, or are they abdicating their parental responsibilities? Do you think the children will be better adjusted than those raised more conventionally?

Wordless Wednesday: Garden glory

Here are some shots taken yesterday at Sarah P. Duke Gardens. I'm sharing them at Wordless Wednesday, Texture Thursday, and WWW.

Wild strawberry

Peony

Iris

Honeysuckle

On the way to a garden wedding

I also used Photoshop to render a closeup of a magnolia blossom into a black-and-white shot for Black & White Wednesday and a new challenge I just found, Finding Form:

Perceptive Perspectives

Have you ever visited the Perceptive Perspectives photo challenge? It's worth a look! Here's my submission for this week's challenge. I'm also submitting it for Shadow Sunday.

What else should we expect?

I know I've used this picture in a post not long ago, but it seems more pertinent than ever after reading this MSNBC news article. It is a report of a newborn who survived being tossed down an 8-story trash chute because the child landed on a giant pile of garbage that had accumulated after a trash compacter jammed.

The baby - a boy - not only survived, but was uninjured in the fall. He has been taken to a New York hospital, where he is in stable condition. The mother, who is 18 years old, hid her pregnancy from her family. A neighbor is quoted as saying, "It's a shame because she's a very sweet child. She was probably scared to death."

The baby was probably a "very sweet child" and "scared to death", too, but that wasn't mentioned.

I contend that tossing a newborn into the trash is a logical outgrowth of a society that values life so little that abortion on demand - even late-term abortions, and even the ghastly "partial birth" abortions - are considered legitimate medical procedures. As I said in another post, found here, "When scissors are used to kill a baby whose head has not yet emerged from the vaginal canal, we call it a late term or partial birth abortion; when they are used after the baby fully emerges, we call it murder."

Charles Schultz's philosophy

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.

4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.


How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.These are no second-rate achievers.
They are the best in their fields.But the applause dies..Awards tarnish..Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one :

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.


Easier?

The lesson :

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money...or the most awards.They simply are the ones who care the most.

These are REALLY cool uniforms!

Since the 15th century, Swiss soldiers have served as guards for palaces and ceremonial events and as bodyguards for European courts and for Vatican City. According to the official website of the Swiss Guard, their primary task today is to "accompany the Holy Father in his movements; to guard the entry points to the State of the Vatican City; and to provide a guard of honur and security services as indicated in the regulations".

The picture you see here is of Swiss guard recruits being sworn in earlier this month.

Although the uniforms would seem to fit quite well in King Arthur's court, the uniforms you see in this picture were actually designed in 1914 by Commandant Jules Repond. According to Wikipedia, "The regular duty uniform is more functional, consisting of a simpler solid blue version of the more colorful tri-color grand gala uniform, worn with a simple brown belt, a flat white collar and a black beret."

But if I were going to join the Swiss Guard, I'd want to wear those super-cool uniforms they've got on in this picture. Wouldn't you?

What's cooking? Waldorf Salad!

Check out Saturday Stalker!

Waldorf salad brings back childhood memories for me. My grandmother made the very best Waldorf salad. Mine never tastes QUITE as good as hers; I think it's because of the one ingredient I can't replicate - her special brand of grandmom love!
 

2 apples, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
Lemon juice, to taste
Mayonnaise, to taste
Raisins, 2 Tbsp
Walnuts, 1/2 C, chopped

Chop up apples, celery, & walnuts, mix with raisins, lemon juice, & mayo. Let this stand in the frig to allow the flavors to "marry".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since Waldorf salad is easy on the calories,
head over here for a sinful dessert idea:

Simon's cat is at it again!

Sunday shot

Please join me over at Straight Out Of The Camera Sunday & Macro Monday - they're a lot of photo fun!

Here's my contribution for this week. It's a macro shot of flowering grass. Isn't it astonishing sometimes the amount of detail God puts into even the tiniest and most "insignificant" bits of his creation?

Non-classroom learning about God

Father John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy:

Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the day I first saw Tommy. He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders.

It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn't what's on your head but what's in it that counts; but on that day. I was unprepared and my emotions flipped.I immediately filed Tommy under "S" for strange... Very strange.

Tommy turned out to be the "atheist in residence" in my Theology of Faith course.He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father/God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew.

When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a cynical tone, "Do you think I'll ever find God?"

I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. "No!" I said very emphatically.

"Why not," he responded, "I thought that was the product you were pushing."

I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then I called out, "Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!" He shrugged a little and left my class and my life.

I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my clever line -- He will find you! At least I thought it was clever.

Later I heard that Tommy had graduated, and I was duly grateful.Then a sad report came. I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer.Before I could search him out, he came to see me.

When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe.

"Tommy, I've thought about you so often; I hear you are sick," I blurted out.

"Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It's a matter of weeks."

"Can you talk about it, Tom?" I asked.

"Sure, what would you like to know?" he replied.

"What's it like to be only twenty-four and dying?

"Well, it could be worse.

"Like what?”

"Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real biggies in life.”

I began to look through my mental file cabinet under "S" where I had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification, God sends back into my life to educate me.)

"But what I really came to see you about," Tom said, "is something you said to me on the last day of class." (He remembered!) He continued, "I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me. Then you said, 'But He will find you.’ I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time."

(My clever line. He thought about that a lot!)

"But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, that's when I got serious about locating God.And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened."

"Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success?You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit."

"Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn't really care about God, about an after life, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said:

'The essential sadness is to go through life without loving.’

"But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.So, I began with the hardest one, my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him. "Dad. Yes, what?" he asked without lowering the newspaper. "Dad, I would like to talk with you."

"Well, talk.”

"I mean. It's really important."

The newspaper came down three slow inches. "What is it?"

"Dad, I love you, I just wanted you to know that."

Tom smiled at me and said it with obvious satisfaction, as though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him. "The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me.We talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say that he loved me."

"It was easier with my mother and little brother. They cried with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been keeping secret for so many years."

"I was only sorry about one thing --- that I had waited so long. Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to. '

"Then, one day I turned around and God was there.

He didn't come to me when I pleaded with Him. I guess I was like an animal trainer holding out a hoop, 'C'mon, jump through. C'mon, I'll give you three days, three weeks.Apparently God does things in His own way and at His own hour.But the important thing is that He was there. He found me! You were right. He found me even after I stopped looking for Him.     '

"Tommy," I practically gasped, "I think you are saying something very important and much more universal than you realize. To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love.You know, the Apostle John said that. He said: 'God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.' Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to me now. Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the same thing it wouldn't be half as effective as if you were to tell it.”

"Oooh.. I was ready for you, but I don't know if I'm ready for your class."

"Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a call."

In a few days Tom called, said he was ready for the class, that he wanted to do that for God and for me.So we scheduled a date.However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more important than the one with me and my class.

Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed.He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined.

Before he died, we talked one last time.

"I'm not going to make it to your class," he said.

"I know, Tom."

"Will you tell them for me? Will you ... tell the whole world for me?"

"I will, Tom. I'll tell them. I'll do my best."

So, to all of you who have been kind enough to read this simple story about God's love, thank you for listening. And to you, Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven --- I told them, Tommy, as best I could.

If this story means anything to you, please pass it on to a friend or two.

It is a true story and is not enhanced for publicity purposes.

With thanks,

Rev. John Powell, Professor, Loyola University, Chicago

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How about you? How did you learn about God's love for you? 

I reread Psalm 139 at least once daily for a while until the message sunk in: God knew well in advance every unkind, evil, unloving, or sinful thing I would ever do, and yet he chose to give me the precious gift of life anyway.

What a wonderful God we have!