Only God ...

I think that I shall never see
a poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
a tree that looks at God all day
and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
a tree that may in Summer wear
a nest of robins in her hair;
upon whose bosom snow has lain;
who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
but only God can make a tree.
~ Joyce Kilmer ~ "Trees" (1914)

I drove out to Meijer Gardens today to purchase a membership! Dylan and Kelly gave me a gift certificate to the Gardens for my birthday this year, and I only had to add just a little more to become a member ... so I did! I'm so glad! Now, no matter what the weather, I can go visit beautiful flowers!

It was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day today, almost 80 degrees here in Grand Rapids. After walking around the Gardens for awhile, I drove out to Ada Park to walk in the woods out there too. I've been in love with trees all my life ... no matter what the season ... but aren't they especially beautiful this time of year?! Thank you, God, for every single amazing tree!

A few fall flowers ...

Earth is crammed with Heaven
and every bush aflame with God.
But only those who see
take off their shoes.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning~

The most beautiful story ...

This is essentially the card I sent out this Christmas. I mounted these pictures on deep grey/blue sparkly card stock. I began memorizing Ephesians during the fall of this year and happened upon this verse in chapter four as I was working through the text in preparation. And I love this quote from my very favorite author. It brings me to tears almost every time I read it. Who could ever make up a story this beautiful? The story of Christmas. Such love. Such mercy. Wonderful hope. God with us!

Every year I receive a Christmas card from the best friend of my childhood. Her name is Laurie and we were close friends from sixth grade right through high school. We do not see each other very often, nor do we communicate on a regular basis. But she closed her Christmas letter this year this way ... and I thought it was so beautifully written.

"My wish for you ~ some time amid the holiday bustle when you can actually hear the quiet of the Season and reflect upon its magnificence ~ to think that God revealed himself to us with such humility ~ as we give our gifts to the ones we love, let us never lose sight of the greatest gift ever given ~ God's perfect love manifested through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior."

With love, I wish you all MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Only in October ...

I love autumn ... once I'm convinced that summer is really over. Driving home from Minneapolis all day Monday, we had the prettiest drive ever I think. Saturday, we had awakened to SNOW on the ground that thankfully disappeared by noon. Snow will pretty much shake all thoughts of summer out of me! And the first few hours of our drive home to Michigan Monday morning was a drive through snow showers. But then the sky cleared and we had such a beautiful drive all the way to Michigan. I've been re-reading some of L.M. Montgomery's books and she describes it this way:

"October that year gathered up all the spilled sunshine of the summer and clad herself in it as a garment ... you may never know what scarlet and crimson really are until you see them in their perfection on an October hillside, under the unfathomable blue of an autumn sky. All the glow and radiance and joy at earth's heart seem to have broken loose in a splendid determination to express itself for once before the frost of winter chills her beating pulses."

(The Golden Road by L.M. Montgomery) I wish I could write like that, because I wouldn't need my camera so much if I could paint such beautiful pictures with words.
Since none of my pictures on the road turned out, once we were home I took a walk through the woods close by our house and snapped a few pictures along the way.

We had an unusually cold summer ... and I think that's why the autumn colors are so vivid and amazing this year.

I love to wear these colors, don't you?

I can't even pick a favorite!

And I love to shop at outside markets and just drink in the joy of the harvest, don't you?

I bought the sweetest of sweet corn right here the other day and Mr. Jones and I have enjoyed roasting it in the oven like Aunt Kathie did when we were in Ohio ... delicious!

" ... it is the LORD God that gives you bountiful harvests
and blesses all your work." DEUT. 16:15

I am really thankful today that my computer survived being infected by no less than 106 viruses! How this can happen when I have anti-virus software on my computer is beyond me. Mr. Jones ran scans on it all morning and did his magic ... and I am now able to use my faithful old computer! Happiness! I'm going to get started on some cards that need designing. Have a happy October day!

Day Ten: Simply a fun, rainy day in Bandera

I'm not exactly sure what the boundaries are of Texas Hill Country, but Kerrville and Bandera are definitely in it. It was pouring rain as we traveled the "truck route" to Bandera on 173S this morning, so I couldn't take any pictures to show you how breathtaking this part of the country is. On the way back to Kerrville this evening, I snapped just a few pictures because it had finally stopped raining.
The road to Bandera is a beautiful one. You pass beautiful sprawling homes perched high on hills overlooking rugged ranch land, horses grazing, little clearings where deer wander around in broad daylight ~ it's idyllic. We crossed over thirsty little creek beds with names like Camp Meeting Creek, Turtle Creek and Bandera Creek and passed by "River Ridge Ranch", "Rattlesnake Springs Ranch" (no thanks!), "Watering Hole Ranch" and many others with interesting names ...

This picture is of the Medina River, right in Bandera. What a beautiful place! I took this picture on our way to dinner tonight, after the rain had ended. The river looks happy to have gotten a refill. I looked through the Scriptures I keep in a notebook for various topics and liked this one for this river: "I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry." Amos 5.24.

We had thought that perhaps this morning we would visit an orchard and let the little ones pick fruit, just for the fun of it ... but it was a hard rain that fell throughout most of our day. So we stayed inside for most of it doing the simple, repetitive things that little kids like to do. But isn't that the richest part of life anyway?

Grandpa Jones was just thankful to be here and cuddle up with these precious little children.

We enjoyed a yummy macaroni and cheese lunch, and baby Lottie was fed the traditional ice cream by her Grandpa Jones, who absolutely LOVES to feed ice cream to babies ... especially GRANDbabies.

Nia Madelynn was happy to feed herself the ice cream ... she has a real good appetite and loves to eat!

Later in the afternoon, the rain turned into just a light drizzle and since we had been inside all day, we went outside and enjoyed the fresh air. Nathan (wearing his daddy's shoes) decided to retrieve his bike that a friend had ridden down the driveway. He "flopped" on down to the bike wearing those huge shoes, got on the bike, realized he couldn't pedal wearing the shoes, took one of them off and put it in the little trunk on the back of the bike but held onto the other shoe. Then he changed his mind and decided he needed to hold onto BOTH shoes, so he reached back into the trunk and held the other shoe and tried to pedal his way back to the house. He did very well, except he kept dropping one shoe and then the other ... finally, Grandpa Jones came to his rescue.

Lottie enjoyed getting some fresh air too. She is a very contented little child, very very social, and easily entertained. She decidedly likes her Grandpa Jones.

And now and then Granny Jones (me) gets a turn to hold Lottie too ...

There is always a lot of activity swirling around Lottie and she just watches it all go by and smiles her sweet smiles. Nick and Rachel did a lot of reading to and playing with the kids inside the house. Grandpa Jones and I helped out when needed ~ but it was just a simple day of play and hanging out around the house. We were very happy to be there and enjoy it with everyone.

We ate tonight at the Chili's where Nick is manager over in Kerrville. Nia really really got into her corn on the cob. There was a cuter shot where she pulled the corn away from her face and gave me a gigantic smile ... but my camera was on the wrong setting (again) and the pictured blurred terribly.

We had a table outside tonight, which works out well with squirmy little ones. There is a nice grassy area where they can play while they wait for the food to arrive. Nathan and Nia enjoyed playing there tonight.

"It doesn't take long to learn that it is the simple things children love best; and their joy brings these experiences into the importance they truly deserve. Sharing laughter and wonder and fun with children, seeing the world through their eyes, helps me to understand what is really important in life, and what is not." J.L. Nixon

Endless glory!

I am presently reading Lilith, a novel by George MacDonald, and just this morning read the following: “... God created me ~ not out of Nothing, as say the unwise, but out of His own endless glory …” [Lilith, pg. 147 (Eerdmans 2000)]. I stopped at that phrase, “out of His own endless glory” and felt overwhelmingly thankful.

The subject of creation versus evolution has always fascinated me. I firmly believe that God is the Creator of everything … “God made the earth by His power and He preserves it by His wisdom. He has stretched out the heavens by His understanding … He is the Creator of everything that exists … the LORD Almighty is His name!” (Jeremiah 10.12 and 16). Wow. What a great passage of Scripture. What wonderful truth it proclaims!

Ruthanne and I talked about this while up north just a few days ago. I told her that I remembered arguing the origin of life with my tenth grade biology teacher … him with all of his college training, a complete atheist, and rather antagonistic to my Christianity, which he referred to as a “crutch.” I told this teacher that having a Creator gives me dignity: I was not an accident. I did not come out of nowhere, from a dark impersonal hole in the universe! Being 15 at the time, I vehemently denied that I believed in God because I “needed” Him. But being far older now, I like the picture of God being a “crutch.” Definitely! God is my crutch. And I thank Him for it! I’m not one bit ashamed to admit my need of Him! I can lean on Him completely and continue to walk with Him without falling. I’m thinking my son, Jesse, can relate to the use of crutches right now and his dependence upon them, following his knee surgery yesterday!

“So God created people in His own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) We have such incredible value, such worth, being His children. We can trust Him as Father. Our relationship with Him is total dependence for every breath we take, every day of our lives! I am made in His image, patterned after “His own endless glory.” I will never get tired of thinking about that! And hopefully meditating on that truth will cause me to imitate Christ ...

Why I love lighthouses ...

Just the other day I was asked why it was that I loved lighthouses! I have lots and lots of reasons actually. But foremost is because God uses lighthouses to remind me of Him. I can't look at one without thinking of His wonderful Light ... and all of the beautiful images in Scripture about light versus darkness. A. W. Tozer said, "The only safe light for our path is the light which is reflected from Christ, the Light of the world!" Yes! Only in Christ is safety, security, hope, a way out, direction ... a pathway! "This is the way ... walk in it!" God says.

I haven't really come home yet from Little Point Sable. I took a lot of pictures. It was difficult to take a bad one ... because God made everything so perfectly beautiful ... and He is SO beautiful, isn't He? So I'm editing these photographs and just staying put ... where I can think about Him, rejoice in His love, and rest safely in His direction for my life.

winter worship ...

"Nature is God's tongue. He speaks by summer and by winter. He can manifest himself by the wind, by the storm, by the calm. Whatever is sublime and potent, whatever is sweet and gentle, whatever is fear-inspiring, whatever is soothing, whatever is beautiful to the eye or repugnant to the taste, God may employ. The heavens above, and the procession of the seasons as they month by month walk among the stars, are various manifestations of God." Henry Ward Beecher.

unassuming ... undefiled ...

elegant ... innocent ...

spotless ... untainted ...

"Grant me purity of heart, that I may honor you."
PSALM 86:11b

I woke up this morning at 6:15 ... no new snow! The weather folk had predicted 4-9 inches by daybreak. Perhaps it had passed us by. I went outside at 8:20 to fetch the paper for Mr. Jones, who has been ill for the last four days. Our driveway was completely dry and there were only remnants of snow here and there, where it had been shoveled into piles.

But less than an hour later, the snow started and really hasn't stopped all day. I went outside and cleared the driveway at 1:30 and we'd gotten that 4 inches and possibly a little more. I walked up Samrick to see if the horses were outside and snapped these pictures.

I love these words by Mr. Beecher. I love all four seasons and what they reveal about God. How great He is! I will say that winter gets a little bit stretched out here in Michigan, but God is in charge of when it snows and when it doesn't ... not me! "This is the day the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!"

A love poem ...

Oh Lord, I do not ask for much ~

eternal beauty or youth or such
Just give me a little hand to hold
and I'll forget that I'm growing old
I do not ask for cloudless skies
a life that's free from tears and sighs
Just give me a little face to kiss
and anxious moments will turn to bliss

For what is there, really, that means so much

as little hands that reach and touch

As little eyes that search and see

only the best in fragile me?

So let me grow more loving and wise

by looking at life through their wide eyes

For through these little ones, You have given

this grateful grandma a glimpse of heaven.

A GRANDMOTHER'S PRAYER by Barbara Burrow