Wednesday, July 27, 2011

My Fascination is Never-Ending

An Egret Checking Out His World

God's Imagination Is Endlessly Amazing

These Two Looked a Little Eccentric, However

He Was Elegant-Looking

And This One Was Stylin'

Photos Taken at Flamingo Lake - Jacksonville, Florida
and at
Sarasota Jungle Gardens - Sarasota, Florida
June and July 2011
(Oddly enough, the egret photo was taken at Flamingo Lake, but not the flamingo shots)

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Someone is Thinking of You Today


Someone is thinking of you today
and praying you will find strength and peace.

Dear You ~
I've wanted to write for days, but I've been afraid 
to trust my thoughts to paper.
What encouragement or comfort would I be able to offer?
In moments when dreams seem shattered
and relationships appear broken,
what words of mine wouldn't wound you more,
or sound like advice,
or feel like salt being rubbed in a wound?

You know I have saved quotes since I was in my twenties,
and so I choose today to send you the thoughts of others;
thoughts that encouraged me in moments when I felt broken.
If even one encourages you or gives you hope,
cling to it until you no longer need it.
That day will come.

And please, always remember 
that someone cares very deeply about you.
Actually, there are more of us 
than perhaps you can see at the moment.

"God give me strength to accept a fact
though it slay me."
Thomas Huxley

"You are tougher than you think.
All the strength you'll ever need 
to handle anything is within you now.
It was put there by your Creator, 
who knew very well what you would be
up against in this life ~ and made you equal to it."
Norman Vincent Peale

"In the midst of winter
I finally learned
that there was in me
an invincible summer."
Albert Camus

"When I am low, oh God,
feed me on small pleasures...
sunsets, a small word of praise...
for frustration can be faced when I am fed."
Richard Wong

"We are slow to believe
what hurts when believed."
Ovid

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart,
and try to love the questions themselves,
like locked rooms, and like books that are written
in a very foreign tongue."
Ranier M. Rilke

"Acceptance is not submission;
it is acknowledgment of the facts of a situation,
then deciding what you're going to do about it."
Kathleen Theisen

"When something intolerable is in my life,
I head for the water.
It leavens me in some way.
Some middlemost part of me
is soothed and silenced by it."
Alice Koller

"Life makes tremendous silent statements
where sand and saltwater meet."
Arthur Gordon

"In all my perplexities and distresses,
the Bible never failed
to give me light and strength."
Robert E. Lee

"God's word has always been the best source of advice for me."
Tony Dungy

"The only constant thing in life
is change."
Heraclitus

"Better is the end of a thing
than the beginning thereof."
Ecclesiastes 7:8

"But if anyone has caused grief, you ought rather to 
forgive and comfort him,
lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up 
with too much sorrow.
Therefore, I urge you to reaffirm your love to him."
II Corinthians 2:5~8

"You cannot always have happiness,
but you can always give happiness."
Unknown

"The hardship I was bearing today
was only a breath away
from the pleasures I would have tomorrow,
and those pleasures would be all the richer
because of this I was enduring."
Louis L'Amour

Love, Linda

Monday, July 25, 2011

On the Lookout for Wonder



"Always be on the lookout for wonder!"
E. B. White









Wonder delighted my soul and my curiosity
Saturday on a day-trip to Gainesville, Florida.
Following E. B. White's advice was easy!
I am so grateful for my camera.
So much wonder would be lost, forgotten,
or taken for granted
 without it.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

An Alcove of Peace





Converted the dining room into an oasis this morning.
A place to motivate myself to 
answer a letter, write a poem, make a journal entry.
A place to dream, a place to pause long enough
to capture the moments and preserve the memories.
Just a few favorite books, a favorite cd to set the mood,
a favorite quote, a cup of tea, a pen and paper.
I think it will inspire me to allow more time
for quiet thoughts and gentle pursuits.
I've only written one paragraph in this alcove of peace
but already I am enriched.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Two Sources of Food


Jessi sat down in a chair by my table 
and noticed the two books lying there.
She mused out loud,
"The Bible and a Cookbook ~ that's as it should be."
Food for the soul and food for the body.
She understands that at sixteen years old.
That moment cemented a certain confidence for her
within my heart.