Sweet Delights Made Sweeter

What better way to keep the delights of this morning's labours, then to perserve them as jam?
When the cold of winter locks us into its grip, we can stir memories of the gift of a warm summer sun in these jars of jam.

I wonder what other delights the Lord has in store...

Pflücken

It may sound like a swear, but 'pflücken' means to pick in German, and pick we did.

This morning, as the sun rose in the sky attempting to restore warmth to the earth below, we trekked to a local berry farm.  There, surrounded by fields of strawberries, we sat in silent admiration of the glory of the morning and the offerings of the earth.

How great is our God to make available to us this sweet delight!

Mom and Babies

Light and Shadow

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:3

We are commanded to be light in this world to others. Light allows us to see the work of God in this world. Light allows us to show others this light.

With light, there is also shadow. Take time to look at the shadow side and discover more of the beauty that  the Lord has prepared for you.

Turtle Race

This guy was sunning himself on the road as we drove past.  When I got out of the vehicle to take a photo, he became suddenly camera shy and dashed for the bushes at the side of the road.

Contrary to popular belief, turtles can move very fast if they want to.

A Tale of Two Funerals

Today, I attended two funerals.
One for a friend who's young life ended tragically, the other for the mother of a friend.

One funeral was formal, and perhaps almost impersonal because of the large crowd paying tribute to a 'colleague' who died in the line of duty. The other funeral was a true celebration of a life well lived.

Both funerals were presided over by a female. Each of these women spoke well, with compassion and with humanity, born of an understanding of  the human spirit. Their messages expressed a clear understanding of the human relationship with God as healing in times of loss.  Their messages were rich with meaning, clear in delivery and reach deep into the experience of being human.

I am grateful for the words and compassion expressed by both of these women. Both left me wishing that I too could share such a gift of love and left me wondering why the faith tradition that I live has excluded women from this life of ministry.

I cannot imagine that my God would not welcome the ministry of these women and others.

In the Details

While gardening this evening a found this pair of Luna Moths.

Nestled at the top a long-dead flower stalk, these two moths could easily be mistaken for a flower bud.

While the larger male was well over 4" wide, both moths displayed the same delicate colour patterns resembling a stylized leaf on a pale green background framed in dusty pink.

Even their antenna resembled spring foliage.

Isn't the Lord marvelous?  He has created such detail in even the smallest of his creatures - imagine the detail and attention paid to the creation of each of us.

What treasures the Lord has made! Let us rejoice!