All Good Things

They say that all good things must come to an end, but I just don't believe it. Not on a day like today at least! 

A warm, southern wind is blowing ever so gently through the air causing the snow to melt. There is no sunshine but this weather is so nice that you can almost feel it's rays!
It's days like these, stitched throughout the drury winter months like a rainbow after a storm, that remind us of the green Spring just down the road. I can already smell the smoke from the grill as hamburgers sizzle to perfection. I can hear the camaraderie of the birds as they chirp atop bud laden branches. I can almost feel the cool, softness of the fresh cut grass beneath my bare feet. Yes, I am anxious to set my eyes upon a new, fresh earth when I awake in the mornings. 

Soon, soon. I can feel a new season beginning to pour into the atmosphere. Just a drop at first, and then a trickle.... until it overflows the glass like a river that has been freed from it's frozen stillness. 

It seems to me that in this life the end does not exist without being proceeded by a beginning. 

I could be wrong but I justify this thought with one word... Season. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"

Brains

I found this picture on Facebook. What a beautiful illustration of the two hemispheres! I think they should have made the Left side squiggles a maze or something more ...well, you know, Lefty. ;)

The Black Forest Cake

I like most any kind of cake. I'm not picky. ..but I especially like Black Forest "Cherry" Cake (a.k.a black forest cake). It's not only delicious but it's really quite fun to make! 

The frosting makes excellent walls to hold in the delicious cherries. :)

The center all prepared and ready for the second layer of cake.

 

It's a large Oreo!!!! 

I decided to try something new with the left-over cherry filling. I took a small zip-lock bag, cut a hole in one of the bottom corners and filled it with the oozy juice. Then I held the bag onto a frosting tip and it worked like a professional pastry bag... for a while. Towards the end it got a little messy but it served it's purpose. Unfortunately, the cherry sauce was a bit more fluid than regular icing and drizzled out of place a bit. =( 
It was, nevertheless, an enjoyable baking experience!

20 Years On

Well, it's been two decades since that cold, dark morning in January when I was born. 5:25 a.m. to be exact and something like 30 degrees below zero on my day of birth! My poor parents. I would say that life goes by fast but I really feel pretty young. I wonder, do people feel younger as they get older or do they simply just realize how little they know the longer they live? 

20 years on..... 80 to go, I'd like to think. One has to plan to be around a while. That way you don't get disappointed when life isn't as short as you thought it'd be. 

Psalm 139:13-14

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

WWW. ...World Without Web?

If you are at all curious about all of the recent SOPA/PIPA bills you're hearing about then you should watch this video by Sal Kahn (creator of Kahn Academy).
If you're Not curious about all of this recent 'stuff' that you have been hearing about.... then you NEED to watch this video. 

Protection against piracy is a good thing but not when it means the loss of freedom. Which is exactly why we, the people of the United States of America, are in an uproar.  Our dear government is once again trying to over step it's authority and extend it's long arm of control. We will not have it.

I Can't Believe It

Well, I succumbed to the popular flow of change. 

I created a "tumblr" account. 

I justified it by turning it into my photograph collage. Since I have a poetry blog and this is my general (dear, and most favorite) blog, I decided it would be only right to have a photography blog as well. We shall see how it works out. 

You are welcome to visit it:

Mary's Tumblr

Regarding Unpublished Posts

It's been some time since I've posted anything of great significance. Rest assured there is hope. It may take some time but I have a few blog posts that I am working on right now. Maybe the problem is that I'm simply juggling too many posts at once... but I can't help myself! There is so much to write about and you can't put off inspiration for a later date when you have indeed been inspired! 
Also, I am still working on the "Princess Project." It has turned out to be a bigger task than I thought. ...it will come eventually. 


Here are some verses that I stumbled upon while searching the Bible for something else last night. It is sure amazing how God works out his wonderful plan!

1 Corinthians 1:26-29
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
That no flesh should glory in his presence.

God is Love

Life leaves you lots of things to ponder at the end of the day. Bittersweet, melancholy or merry musings. It makes me think of one of my favorite songs, "The Heart of Life," by John Mayer. It captures the truth about living in this world. I'm thankful for "the circle of [my] friends [who] will defend the silver lining" and I'm especially thankful for my Lord... "for God is love." (1 John 4:8)

Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good

Oh, January, Oh

It's January today. I like this month.... January. This year's first month seems especially wonderful as the weather has given our chilled bones a reprieve from the usual piles of snow winter heaps upon us. It reminds me of "January Hymn", by The Decemberists:

I hope you are staying warm, where ever you may be. Happy January. =)

Happy New Year!!!!

As last year turned to the next,
to you and yours I wished the best.
Curious of what will come to be,
We allow ourselves new hopes and dreams.
So celebrate this year's new day,
for "auld lang syne" is what we say.

Today, the 1st of January, we start another year. Some people are looking forward to beginning new trends, setting resolutions and creating goals for the future. Others, while they may do some of these things anyways, see today as 'just another day.'
I would say that this is a definite attitude difference between youth and aged adults ...but I have noticed that this has to do with maturity of the mind rather than maturity of the body.  It also has to do with a person's fear of the future or of the unknown.
As Christians we do not worry that time is slipping away. We do not fear the future because God's word tells us what it will be like. It is not unknown to us. We know that though our time on earth will come to a close we will spend eternity in the heavenly places with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In all reality a new year isn't much to get excited about. It's a way to number the days and a time to remember the past and hope for the future but it isn't 'the end of  the world!' Really, considering the fact that the human race has been around for quite some time it is amusing that we see ourselves as so innovative and progressive.  "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity." Ecc. 12:8

Ecclesiastes 1:9, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." 

We just continue in our little cycles... the good times and the bad, the ups and downs, the ebb and flow. If you get a chance read Ecclesiastes... we are not on this earth to be innovative or progressive but to live for Christ. It is in him that we find all of the fullness of life, the answers to all questions and the reason to live. 

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."  

So with that, as Paul the Apostle would say, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen."

Have a wonderful 2012!!!