Weekly Photo Challenge:One

 

One Man Paid It Forward For All

The artistic side of me loves this banner that hangs in our church each Easter. It draws me in to look at each piece that makes the whole. Last Saturday I took a picture of the banner for no particular reason other than I like it and thought that someday like everything else it will be gone and I will try to remember what it looked like hanging on the wall.

The heart side of me loves this banner because it speaks to me of one man’s sacrifice so very long ago for the lives of many. One of my favorite movies in the past has been Pay It Forward. A story of a boy that takes a school assignment to heart with a plan to change the world for the better. His plan was that if each person did something good for three people without expecting anything in return except that they would do something good for three other people, the world would be a better place. 

In my eyes and heart the greatest Pay It Forward act was Jesus dying on the cross for the sins of all so that we could all have salvation and eternal life with Him if we confess our sins and believe in Him. The question has been asked before.Who do you love enough that you would lay down your life for them? I love my husband, children, family and friends. I would hope that if I were put in the difficult circumstance of protecting someone I love that I would be able to lay down my life to protect them but you never know until you are there.

In this Easter season I am once again reminded of His sacrifice for me and desire for a personal relationship with Him. I am not a seasonal Christian attending church only on holidays as some do but that doesn’t make me better than anyone else. I am there in church each Sunday as a reminder of His love for me and to spend time with others in this difficult journey we call life. The more I know about Jesus, the more I want to know.

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  John 10:10 NIV

I am not a bible scholar or as knowledgable as I should be for someone who has been a Christian for nearly 35 years but I do know this, that whether my circumstances are good or bad, I have a peace that resides in me that allows me to wade through the most difficult days. I am not rich beyond measure in material things but all my needs are met daily. I am not without trouble but through Him I am able to make it through life’s trials.

Jesus paid it forward for all.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge:Spring

 

It may not look like spring to most but here in Minnesota when the snow starts melting during the days and refreezes at night you see a lot of ice that looks like this.

My favorite ice in the springtime was the ice that was along the sidewalks that we would walk on as we walked to school just to hear it crunch.

This morning we woke again to thick fog which also reminds me that it is spring. As hard as you may look across the lake you cannot see the other shore.

Soon the snow will be gone and all that will be remembered is the Sunday afternoon that I went for a walk across the lake in thick fog in search of some signs of spring.

Just couldn’t end without a little bit of green spied just below my livingroom window this afternoon.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Shadow

While out on an afternoon walk near our hotel I took a picture of this palm tree and its shadow. I loved the color of the stripe on the wall and the beautiful blue skies. If only I could figure out a way to have a palm tree in my yard in Minnesota. It would certainly feel much warmer if I could look out my window and see a palm tree with its branches blowing in the wind.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Curiosity

This evening when we came home I looked up and saw this beautiful moon surrounded by clouds and I am reminded of all the beauty that has been placed on this earth and in the heavens for our enjoyment and wondered why? 

It certainly wouldn’t have to be filled with the extensive number of colors, textures, flora and fauna that cover the earth.  If the world contained any less of anything, would we have noticed or imagined it to be any less spectacular than we know it to be?

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Boundaries

This week I decided to take the challenge of the Weekly Photo Challenge.  Each week WordPress will post a theme for the photo challenge. This week’s theme is boundaries.  Fences have alway been a structure defining boundaries.  They come in many shapes and forms.  Some have even become invisible like the ones used by pet owners. Sometimes fences are a structure for enhancing your surroundings in landscaping designs but convey an image of a boundary depending on their placement.