Winter Winds

Day 19. A picture and a letter.

I knew that I would use this picture for today as soon as I saw the description. This is probably one of my favorite pictures ever and I took it with a crummy little digital camera!

Story: I was taking pictures of things that looked like letters so I could spell out the names of my family members and frame the pictures to give as Christmas presents this past year. (I had no clue that apparently this was a seasonal hot item as Oprah had featured a similar idea on her show.) I got the idea from the Alphabet Photography website but it was far too expensive to order the professional photos and frames so I opted to take my own pictures and scour department stores for frames with enough space to hold between 5 and 9 5x6 photos!

I was walking along on my lunch hour and taking pictures of just about everything. I stood up from where I was squatting on the ground to get a great picture of the letter 'H' in a garbage can (hehe) and BAM! I saw the most brilliant letter 'B' formed by these tree branches when I stood in just the right angle to get this clear perspective. I edited it only a little with Picasa to make the picture B&W and put the center in focus and blur the edges (there's a tennis court and fences in the background anyhow and I wanted the tree and 'B' to stand out as much as possible). So pleased with this and I'm pretty sure my sister (who has a 'B' in her name and therefore received this picture in her frame) loved it, too. <3 One of my best and most fun present ideas ever! Now I have to top it for this coming Christmas....

"And if your strife strikes at your sleep

Remember spring swaps snow for leaves

You'll be happy and wholesome again

When the city clears and sun ascends"

("Winter Winds", Mumford & Sons)

Where You Invest Your Love, You Invest Your Life

Day 14. A picture of someone who inspires you.

Ok, again, another tough answer to choose. I have been inspired at various points in my life by quite a number of people: my parents, mainly, and my grandfather for his dedication to preaching the Word of God. I am inspired by the men and women who so bravely put on the uniform of the US military and sacrifice so much, as do their families, in order to protect and preserve the principles on which our great nation was founded.

Last July my family and I had the privelege of attending the Defending the Faith 2010 conference hosted by Answers in Genesis. One of the keynote speakers during the week was Dr. Voddie Baucham, a powerful Bible-believing, apologetics gold-mine of truth and defenses for the hope that is within us. He was one of the best speakers I have ever heard (and the Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to hear and study under some of the most incredible public speakers/preachers) and his presentations were so amazing as he broke down more complex terms and concepts into an easily understood and retained message.

One of my favorite talks by Dr. Baucham is "Why I Choose to Believe the Bible". Definitely click on the link - it takes you to SermonAudio.com where you can listen for free to many of Voddie's sermons and also read the transcripts of the messages (if they are available). I'm hoping to share this particular sermon with my unsaved coworker as it clearly breaks down why we can/should believe in the Bible. None of this "Well, that's how I was raised" or "I tried it and it works for me" garbage! We can readily defend the Word of God's accuracy and validity as the infallible Word of God, penned by over 40 authors who were divinely inspired through the Holy Spirit, describing historically accurate events, delivering prophecy which was, or in some cases, has yet to be fulfilled, and is the account of many eyewitnesses.

Thank God for blessing us with men like Dr. Voddie Baucham who have devoted their time, education and ministry to defending the Christian faith and God's Word and ministering to other Christians that they may be equipped to do likewise in their daily lives.

"Awake my soul, awake my soul

Awake my soul

You were made to meet your maker"

("Awake My Soul", Mumford & Sons)

It's Empty in the Valley of Your Heart

Day 11. A picture of something you hate.

I seriously hate and loathe spiders. Especially the big, hairy ones. In fact, I'm so scared of them that I debated not including a picture for today's post because I was so reluctant to do a Google image search and see something gross and scary!

In other news, I got to spend a few hours talking with someone who went through a situation similar to something I went through and it was so refreshing to know I'm not alone or nuts! And also to have another person understand exactly how frustrating, hard and sad it was to go through that. Here's to old friends - may their lives be turned towards the Lord and walking in His ways - and to new friendship - may they encourage each other to be all they can be for God and share many a laugh together over the serious, the painful and over all commonplace happenings in life!

"Cause I have other things to fill my time

You take what is yours and I'll take mine

Now let me at the truth

Which will refresh my broken heart"

("The Cave", Mumford & Sons)

Leave Behind Your Diamond Bracelet

Day 7. A picture of your most treasured item.

I understand that there are two different rings in this picture but so what. My blog, my rules.

The ring on the left (my right hand) is from my baby brother (the youngest of my three brothers). He gave that to me for Christmas when he was probably three years old. As our family expanded (and we were all two little to have jobs and a plethora of spending money), our parents began a tradition of picking each other's names out of a hat and buying that family member a nice gift for Christmas. The first year we tried out this plan, Jonathan got my name in the hat and even though he was pretty young, wanted to get this ring for me when him and Mommy split up from us in the department store to find a nice present. : ) It's one of my prized possessions and I only take it off when getting my hands in batter and sometimes when I'm playing the piano.

The ring on the right of the picture (my left hand) is a purity ring from my parents. I had one prior to this but after losing about 30lbs in high school, the ring grew way too big for my finger and kept falling off. After one particularly epic snowball fight down the park, I could not find the ring anywhere and despite my friends' and my best efforts, we just could not find it again. There were trips made down to the location throughout that winter and spring but to no avail. My parents got me a new one for Christmas the next year and, as with the ring from my brother, I only take it off for baking and piano playing.

Today was a lot of fun: 50th birthday celebrations, fire alarms going off in the restaurant and watching the firemen go in and out of the kitchen as we attempted to enjoy our meals (the people who had received their food already), owning that E minor chord on the guitar again and discovering Mumford & Sons (um, how did I make it this long without hearing any of their music??). Being with the family and close friends is always a good time, despite the normal peculiarities and quirks! We love each other with all the faults and idiosyncrasies =) "That one's p...."

"When winter comes

Along these shores

Old Hollywood

We're knocking down

We're sifting through

We are the actual tigers

When winter comes

They leave behind us"

("Ice Age", Pete Yorn)