February 29, 2012 (need to pray)

need to pray
photo by FD

Spiritual growth continues.

“We say we are too busy to pray.
But the busier our Lord was,
the more He prayed.
Sometimes He had no leisure
so much as to eat (Mark 3:20);
and sometimes He had no leisure
for needed rest and sleep (Mark 6:31).
Yet He always took time to pray.
If frequent prayer, and,
at times, long hours of prayer,
were necessary for our Savior,
are they less necessary for us?”
- Author Unknown

February 28, 2012 (give a smile)

give a smile
photo by Lee Keefer

“A smile costs nothing but gives much.
It enriches those who receive
without making poorer those who give.
It takes but a moment,
but the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.
None is so rich or mighty
that he cannot get along without it
and none is so poor
that he cannot be made rich by it.
Yet a smile cannot be bought,
begged, borrowed, or stolen,
for it is something that is of no value
to anyone until it is given away.
Some people are too tired to give you a smile.
Give them one of yours,
as none needs a smile so much
as he who has no more to give.”
- Author Unknown

February 27, 2012 (to enjoy)

to enjoy
photo by Patrick Frey

“Our Creator would never have made such lovely days,
and given us the deep hearts to enjoy them,
above and beyond all thought,
unless we were meant to be immortal.”
- Nathaniel Hawthorne

February 26, 2012 (enjoy Him)

enjoy Him
photo by Patrick Frey

“The chief end of man is to glorify God
and enjoy Him forever.”
- John Piper

February 25, 2012 (trust in the Lord)

trust in the Lord

“You will guard him and keep him
in perfect and constant peace
whose mind
[both its inclination and its character]
is stayed on You,
because he commits himself to You,
leans on You,
and hopes confidently in You.
So trust in the Lord
(commit yourself to Him,
lean on Him,
hope confidently in Him) forever...”
- Isaiah 26:3,4 AMP

February 24, 2012 (remembrance)

remembrance

Yesterday was the anniversary of our first date...
44 years ago.
It was a blind date with another couple
(friends who introduced us)
to see “Guess Who's Coming To Dinner”...
and a butterscotch sundae later at The Ramona.

“Memory is a way of
holding onto the things you love,
the things you are,
the things you never want to lose.”
- From the television show
“The Wonder Years”

“Pleasure is the flower that passes;
remembrance, the lasting perfume.”
- Jean de Boufflers

February 23, 2012 (good medicine)

good medicine
photo by Lee Keefer

"There is no medicine like hope,
no incentive so great,
and no tonic so powerful
as expectation of something tomorrow."
- Orison Swett Marden

February 22, 2012 (common white clover)

common white clover

I have used this image several times
in the SonRays DD's (daily devotionals).
It is one of my favorite images and the message
it conveys is, to me, very clear and so very worthwhile.

“The great lesson is that the sacred is in the ordinary,
that it is to be found in one's daily life,
in one's neighbors, friends, and
family, in one's backyard.”
- Abraham Maslow

February 21, 2012 (Presence of God)

Presence of God
photo by Patrick Frey

“All I have seen teaches me
to trust the Creator
for all I have not seen.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The root of all difficulties
is a lack of the sense
of the Presence of God.”
- Emmett Fox

February 20, 2012 (fathomless mystery)

fathomless mystery
photo by Patrick Frey

“Listen to your life.
See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.
Touch, taste, smell your way
to the holy and hidden heart of it
because in the last analysis
all moments are sacred moments
and life itself is grace.”
- Frederick Buechner

February 19, 2012 (to be creative)

to be creative

(from Shirley Roth tea party)

“Every day is an opportunity to be creative –
the canvas is your mind,
the brushes and colours
are your thoughts and feelings,
the panorama is your story,
the complete picture is
a work of art called, ‘my life’.
Be careful what you put on
the canvas of your mind today –
it matters.”
- Innerspace

February 18, 2012 (gifts of God)

gifts of God
photo by Patrick Frey

“Above all else, know this:
Be prepared at all times
for the gifts of God
and be ready always for new ones.
For God is a thousand times more ready
to give than we are to receive.”
- Meister Eckhart

February 17, 2012 (climbing your mountains)

climbing your mountains
photo by Patrick Frey

“No matter how steep the mountain -
the Lord is going to climb it with you.”
- Helen Steiner Rice

February 16, 2012 (which way to look?)

which way to look?
Skyrim screen shot

“REGRET looks back.
WORRY looks around.
FAITH looks forward.”
- Author Unknown

February 15, 2012 (loving)

loving
(from Shirley Roth tea party)

Valentine's Day is over but
never stop expressing and showing
your love toward others.

“We must pray that God
will fill us with His love
and enable us to exercise it
without dissimulation toward all.”
- A. W. Pink

February 14, 2012 (love?)

love?

“The more excellent something is
the more likely it will be imitated.
There are many false diamonds and rubies,
but who goes about making counterfeit pebbles?
However, the more excellent things are
the more difficult it is to imitate them
in their essential character and intrinsic virtues.
Yet the more variable the imitations be,
the more skill and subtlety will be used
in making them an exact imitation.
So it is with Christian virtues and graces.
The devil and men's own deceitful hearts
tend to imitate those things
that have the highest value.
So no graces are more counterfeited
than love and humility.
For these are the virtues
where the beauty of a true Christian
is seen most clearly.”
- Jonathan Edwards

February 13, 2012 (idol worship)

idol worship
Skyrim screen shot

“The God of this world is riches, pleasure and pride.”
- Martin Luther

“Either we will love and serve God,
or we will love and serve our idols.
Idols exist in our lives
because we love them and invite them in.
But once idols find a home,
they are unruly and resist leaving.
In fact, they change from being
the servants of our desires
to being our masters.”
- Edward T. Welch

February 12, 2012 (heavenly minded)

heavenly minded
Skyrim screen shot

“In one sense it is possible
'to be so heavenly minded
that we are of no earthly good.'
But in a much deeper sense,
it is impossible to be of any
real earthly good unless
we are heavenly minded.
Only the heavenly minded
will have the patience to continue faithful
in God’s work when it becomes hard,
unappreciated and seeming unending.
There is no greater cure for discouragement,
fatigue or self-pity than to think
of being in the presence of the Lord one day
and of spending eternity with Him.
We should make no apology
for being heavenly minded.”
- John MacArthur

“If I find in myself a desire which
no experience in this world can satisfy,
the most probable explanation is
that I was made for another world.”
- C.S. Lewis

February 11, 2012 (beautiful moments)

beautiful moments
photo by Lee Keefer

“It is a comforting thought
that beautiful moments never die.
One can collect them, store them away,
and they are always at hand
to bring forth again and appreciate.
There are many of them,
and all one needs
is an awareness to have them.”
- Gladys Taber

February 10, 2012 (fear)

fear
Skyrim screen shot

“The worst evils of life
are those which do not exist
except in our imagination.
If we had no troubles but real troubles,
we should not have a tenth part
of our present sorrows.
We feel a thousand deaths in fearing one,
but the (the Christian)
cured of the disease of fearing.”
- C. H. Spurgeon

February 09, 2012 (cleansing)

cleansing
photo by Lee Keefer

“The Bible encourages us to draw close to God
and allow our hearts and bodies to be cleansed.
This is the first step in our spring cleaning project.
We can't clean ourselves.
Instead we must draw near to God
and ask Him to do the cleansing.”
- Mary Fairchild

February 08, 2012 (a faithful friend)

a faithful friend
Skyrim screen shot

“May God give you...
For every storm a rainbow,
for every tear a smile,
for every care a promise
and a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
a faithful friend to share,
for every sigh a sweet song
and an answer for each prayer.”
- Irish Blessing

February 07, 2012 (wisdom)

wisdom

“While we try to teach our children all about life,
Our children teach us what life is all about.”
- Angela Schwindt

February 06, 2012 (destination)

be sure
of your destination

“If one does not know
to which port one is sailing,
no wind is favorable.”
- Seneca

February 05, 2012 (all things)

all things
photo by Lee Keefer

“We must view all things as . . .
arranged by His wisdom,
dependent on His will,
sanctified by His blessing,
according with His promises,
and flowing from His love!”
- James Smith

February 04, 2012 (blistered feet)

blistered feet
photo by Lee Keefer

“In life as in dance:
Grace glides on blistered feet.”
- Alice Abrams

February 03, 2012 (time and commitment)

The Lord loves us...
photo by Lee Keefer

Do you want an intimate
relationship with the Lord?

How much time, as a Christian,
are you willing to spend?

Saying that you are saved
and that is all that matters...
is like saying that I'm married and that
is all that is needed in a successful,
growing and loving relationship.

It takes your time and your commitment
to love as you were meant to love.

February 02, 2012 (turn toward the light)

turn toward the light
photo by Lee Keefer

“Flowers don't worry about how they’re going to bloom.
They just open up and turn toward the light
and that makes them beautiful.”
- Jim Carrey

And that is a lesson for all of us...

February 01, 2012 (silence of contemplation)

silence of contemplation
Skyrim screen shot

“Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness.
It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs
when we let our minds rest on a rosebud,
a child at play, a Divine mystery, or a waterfall.”
- Fulton J. Sheen