Inspiration Thursday

1. My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you.

2

Keep my commands and live,

And my law as the apple of your eye.

3

Bind them on your fingers;

Write them on the tablet of your heart.

4

Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"

And call understanding your nearest kin,

 

Proverbs 7:1-4

 

 

Wordless Wednesday

Easy Rider

Ruby Tuesday Too - Mystery Flower

I planted this flower in one of my planters this spring.  I have no idea what it is called and I have lost the information card.  It provides an incredible splash of color in the landscape and blooms into September.  I'm pretty sure that it is a perennial as well, since I don't care for replanting all new flowers every year.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - Too Cute

This week found me at one of my favorite local flea markets browsing for something that one of our grand daughters requested, but I am having a terrible time locating.  That's another story for another day.  What I did find was three of the prompts for this week, so I'll do them first.

Stripes

You just never know what you're going to find in a flea market in Northwest Arkansas.  These are stripes, pin stripes to be exact.  They are not the world famous New York Yankee pinstripes.  These belong to the Toledo, Mud Hens!

 

Packed

One of the booths was packed with western gear.  No rhinestone cowboy stuff here.  This is real, honest to goodness ridin' & ropin' stuff.  Most of it looked too new to be true flea market finds, but I's sure someone does their shopping here.

 

Too Cute

I have to admit, I don't normally do "cute".  It really doesn't wear well on me.  However, when I saw this toy rocking horse, SHS was the first thing that I thought of.  He's only about 8" tall and I'm pretty sure this qualifies as "too cute".  Am I right?

 



Trip

Just a short trip back into the archives finds me at our Alaskan cruise.  It was the trip of a lifetime and I'd do it again in a minute.

 

Favorite

This painting can be found at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  I fell in love with this piece the first time that I saw it and it remains my favorite painting in the collection.  There is a new exhibit opening next week, I plan on attending.  If photography is allowed, I'll give you a tour.  That's all for this week.  See  you next Sunday.



Tulsa State Fair Entries Photography

Saturday morning I am headed to Tulsa to enter two of my photos in the Tulsa State Fair. I take ninety nine percent of my photos for my own pleasure and share them with friends and family, including my blogging/facebook friends. I do like to ocassionally see how my images compare to others who consider photography a relatively serious hobby. Based on my knowledge and equipment, I would consider myself to be a the low end of relatively serious. Still, when I go through my photos, I find a few that I think are interesting enough to enter into competition. Last year I entered four photos into the competition and won three ribbons (click here to view them), two seconds and a third place. The fair runs from Thursday, September 25 through Sunday October 5. As of now, I am not planning on attending the fair, which means it will be Monday October 6, when I return to Tulsa to pick up my photos, before I know the results of my entries. The fair does not send you the results of the competition. If you don't go to the fair or show up to retrieve your entries, you will never know if you won anything. Here are the two images I will be entering this year.

Ozark Spring

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you've probably seen this image, in part or in whole.  I use a portion of it as my blog header for a few weeks.

 

 

Gold Glove

I know that I have also posted this image on the blog.  It was probably for a Wordless Wednesday.  Well, these are what my ribbon hopes are hanging on this year.  Wish me luck.



Skywatch Friday

Autumn is just around the corner and the leaves will soon turn from green to shades of red, orange, yellow, brown, even purple.  Our temperatures are going to drop into the high 40's tonight and rain is on the way...all of the ingredients for great color in a few weeks.  I'm ready.  Bring on the cool temps, hot cocoa, and a warm fire.  Have a blessed week-end.

Inspiration Thursday - Wisdom & Understanding

If there were any one or two things that you could have in this world that you believe would make your life much better, what would they be?  Some people would might say that a better job in a more desirable location would make their life complete.  Others might say that having their mortgage and the kids college education taken care of would make them sleep better at night.  Still, some would tell you that a secure retirement income would be the best thing that could ever happen to them.  All of these are honorable and desirable things and all of us would be thrilled if these things came to pass in our own lives, but they are not the ideal solution to life's issues.  So what should we want for our lives to be complete?  God's word says that two things are more valuable than any other possessions that we might have.
"Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom.  And in all your getting, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:7)  Wisdom and understanding are the two most important things that a person can possess. Where does one get wisdom and understanding?  It rarely comes from other people, it doesn't come from most books, and it doesn't come from media sources like the Discovery channel.  Wisdom and understanding comes from God and God alone.  How do we start getting the wisdome and understanding that we need to live the life that God has planned for us?  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understand have all those who do His commandments..." (Psalms 111:10) We can get some wisdom from other people who know, love, and obey God, but it all begins with God.  When we acknowledge that we need God and accept Christ as our Savior, we begin the journey of wisdom and understanding.  When we trust Christ as our Lord and Savior, we should be willing to read and trust the book that He inspired to guide us. The Bible is life's instruction book.  One of the best books in all of the Bible to read and gain wisdom and understanding is Proverbs.  There are 31 Proverbs and reading one each day is a great way to begin your day and focus on how we should conduct ourselves.  Just how important are wisdom and understanding"
"The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; By His knowledge the depths were broken up, and clouds drop down the dew."  The Bible is life's instruction book.  If you want to know what is best for you, read Gods word.  The best thing that you can ever do in this life is to establish a relationship with Jesus Christ, read His Word, trust and obey what you find in His Word.  You are the most important thing in all of creation to God and He wants to lead you through this life and into an eternal relationship with Him.  When you have Christ in your heart, the God of all creation is available to you each and every day.  The God of Angel Armies goes before you everywhere.  Whom shall you fear.  Great are you Lord! Have a blessed day.