Goldfinch

"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." (Matt. 10:31)

Flowers aren't the only thing I can see from my porch perch; I love watching these brightly plumaged finches dart in for a repast at our feeder; God's eye on each of them.

Appointed for Seasons

"He appointed the moon for seasons:" Ps. 104:19

I admit I can't resist the glory of the moon. Its daily changes as the dark side slowly makes its rounds from our perspective while showing the same face to us because it somehow rotates exactly the same speed as the earth turns. I'm fascinated with its varied features of dry seas, Tranquility and Serenity most prominent, its cratered surface, and its faithful reflection of the distant sun as it fulfills its appointed duty to reflect the seasons to all Creation.

So this one is a just past First Quarter, waxing gibbous, that I took a couple nights ago.

Burst

This is mostly about keeping a promise from a previous post.

These beautiful Asiatic Lilies grow just a few feet from my perch on our front porch, a favorite summer Saturday morning refuge.  God is infinitely creative and it's a never ending challenge to find ways to capture images that reflect just a glimpse of that creativity.

"Consider the lilies how they grow:" (Luke 12:27)

Till the Ground

Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." (Gen. 3:23)

From the earliest days, man has tilled the ground, by the sweat of his brow, in hopes of a crop.  I've been blessed to know many farmers, indeed am descended from a long line of them.  It's honorable work and a wonderful heritage.

This little guy in the farmer cap was a gift in memory of Cindy's dad -- the quintessential farmer and "red tractor" man. Tomorrow would have been his 80th birthday.

By Any Name

I think it was Shakespeare who commented that a rose would smell as sweet by "any other name".  Yet words (and names) mean things.  We attach meaning and significance to people, experiences, locations, even pets, by the names we give them.

"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches;"  (Prov. 22:1)

Bursting

The first word that came to mind when I shot this image of an "expectant" pod of soon to be glorious blooming Asiatic Lily didn't seem appropriate as the title for a blog.  I hope you enjoy the thrill of beholding the potential represented in this shot.  Stay tuned for the "birth"!

That's like comparing...

You could probably argue that apples and oranges have more in common than what makes them different yet we hold them out as the example of contrast, as if it were ridiculous to speak of them in the same sentence.  I wonder how often our words suggest we have focused solely on what separates us to the neglect of great similarities.

"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." (Prov. 25:11)

In Memory

We're all missing Dad Herrmann this Father's Day.  This little angel was given in his memory by our Chicago Church family.

18

Can a dad be forgiven if he is partial to his little girl?  This beautiful young woman came into our lives 18 years ago today and we haven't been the same since.

We had a bit of a start that day when the doctor showed us the perfect knot our new daughter had tied in her umbilical cord in utero.  We gulped hard to think of the outcome had she pulled it just a bit tighter.  Cindy worded plaintively what I was afraid to think, "Is she OK?".  The answer resounded in that little room from a doctor sensing our fears, "Very, very OK!".  Truer words never spoken.  She has brightened our life at every turn.

Love you so much, Julie!  Happy Eighteenth Birthday!

Oh, and she graduated high school this week too.  :)

Beating the Heat

We've had some "dog days" and it isn't even summer yet.  This displaced polar bear seems to have the right idea!

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. (Gen. 8:22)