Symbols

What if the reflection in this photo is a symbol created by God to tell us that it is possible to reach what seems unreachable. 

Think about it.  The sun is sometimes seen as a symbol for the Son, Jesus Christ, right (sun/Son)? And in this picture, the sun is reflected in the water on the sand; on the ground where it is easily attainable.  Granted, it is a reflection so there's not really anything to "attain", but bear with me.  One of the most unique qualities about Christianity is that God humbled Himself.  He sent His Son (a part of Him) to earth to walk among us and ultimately to die on the cross for our sins.  What if God purposely created reflections like this to remind us that Jesus, the Son, came down to earth?  Jesus is the mediator between us and God.  Through Him we can have a personal relationship with our Father in Heaven.  How can you ignore the intimacy and power of this story?  So, this may have or may not have made sense, but I'm just thinking out loud so sorry, if I was confusing. This picture reminds me that God is not just far away up in Heaven looking down on me, but that He is with me, He walks with me,  and He is among all of us.

So that's my story and I'm sticking with it :) I like thinking symbolically.  It creates an entirely different world.  And as my Dad would say, we are meant to be a symbolized people.  Instead of apathetically viewing the world as its surface image, we should be uncovering God's purpose in all of His creation.  You never know what God might be trying to tell you through His creation even if by a mere reflection.

Hope you all have a restful Sunday!

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14

Clouds

Clouds. 

Big, fluffy, white, happy clouds?

OR

Big, dense, dark, sad clouds? 

Does anyone know where I'm going with this (because I'm not really sure either, haha.) I've been thinking about clouds today.  "Why?" might you ask?  Because it is August 1st and August 1st means summer is almost over.  The last thing I want is summer to be over and so I think it would be nice to hop on a fluffy little cloud and float away for awhile.

I started looking for quotes about clouds and most of them gives clouds a negative connotation. They are usually used to represent a bad time in your life.  You know, those big, dense, dark, sad clouds that sometimes we feel are shrouding our life? But what about the big, fluffy, white, happy clouds?  Do we just forget about that side of a cloud? It kind of reminds me of people.  Once people see the "dark" side of another, they forget about the good side.  *Sigh* I don't know where I'm going with this.  Perhaps it is an issue of optimism vs. pessimism.  Perspective.  When days feel like a dark cloud is covering you, turn it into a happy cloud.

I love clouds.  Clouds are so dreamy... I love looking up at them and making them into shapes.  I've always wanted to spread out on one and take a nap (They look so comfy!)  ... until I watched Dumbo and saw how the little baby elephant kept falling through.  It would not be very nice to fall asleep and wake up falling through the air (Ooh! But maybe I would be like Dumbo and fly against all odds!)  I also think about in Sleeping Beauty, in the end when Aurora and the Prince are dancing in the clouds singing, "Once Upon A Dream"  I can't help but swoon.  Haha, as you can see, Disney teaches me many things :)  I have a big imagination.

Well, if you actually decided to continue reading this nonsensical post about clouds, I thank you.  I wish I could have made more sense of it.  If anyone has any way of better explaining what I was trying to say, feel free to comment :)  Here are some pictures of clouds that I have taken over the past few months.

Just looking at them makes me happy! "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die! IT'S SO FLUFFAYYYYYY!" ~ Agnes (A little Despicable Me humor )

Tornado cloud.

Rows of clouds.

I love it when the light seeps it's way out!

Surround yourself with these clouds! This one reminds me of The Lion King.

I feel like this post was just a game to see how many Disney movies I could refer to.
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. <-- Mary Poppins :D
Have yourself a wonderful Tuesday :)

Insert Quote, Picture and Random Ramble

"I'd welcome the chance to meet my Maker and fly into the sun, fly into the sun, fly into the sun..."




Imagine yourself flying into that.

If I could choose one superhero power, I would choose to fly.  Lame, I know.  Of all the amazingly awesome, and useful powers, I would choose flight.  And, you know, any other really cool side powers are welcome. ;)  Now, I just need a flying squirrel to attack me or something.  Ooh! OR in Meet the Robinsons (The new animated one), in the future, everyone uses bubbles as transportation which is also really awesome.  So that is my dream: either to attain flying powers or a floating bubble.

This concludes my random ramble of the day.
(Ha! Try saying "random ramble" 5 times fast) :D

Pictures Galore!

 It's been a very eventful weekend! Thursday was Naomi's birthday.  Naomi is my forever friend (cheesy term, I know, but it fits :)  So she spent the night and we had a lot of fun staying up till 6am!  Next day, my cousin and her husband came to visit and it was Eowyn, my niece's, birthday!  She turned 5-years-old and we had a big cookout.  Over the weekend I took quite a lot of pictures and have enjoyed editing them and exploring the many ways of Picnik. 

Ooh!  While Naomi was over I had a very defining moment in my music life.  I played her the song that I'm writing, and she told me what the song made her envision.  And guess what?  She said exactly what I had in mind when writing the song! I was beyond excited and very encouraged.  So then, I played it for my parents and they told me they know that tune from another song.  Good feeling gone.  I'm still not sure I believe them (one can only hope they are wrong).  I'm not really sure how I'm going to figure out if I "stole" the melody of another song, but I'm still going to finish it. I've worked too hard on it to just stop.  So anyways, that's my weekend in a nutshell. 

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  I'm hoping our neighbors will do fireworks again this year; they're so pretty. I think my camera has a firework setting, so I plan on putting that to use :) Here are some of the pictures I took this weekend.

I went out to get more shots of the sunflowers after getting some inspiration from another photographer's blog. 

I took this one a long time ago; before I was even into photography.  I'm not sure why I love this picture so much.  After all, it IS a dead sunflower, but I still think it is beautiful.  I think of someone who is lost, dead, and without Christ, humbled to the point of bowing their head to their Creator and receiving the sun (Son) shining down on them.  This picture is what made me realize that I wanted to do photography.  Not necessarily as a business, but for the purpose of getting myself in the habit of acknowledging God's beauty and worshipping Him all the while. 

This is the most amazing bread ever.  And my church bakes it :)  This loaf was made by my sister.  There's a long story that comes along with this bread, but that's something you should ask my pastor ;)

This picture was an amazing accident.  Naomi was hitting the balloon up in the air for me so I could try and get a picture of the balloon but I couldn't really see (the sun was too bright) and I snapped it and this is what I got (Well, after some editing)!

Greeeeen!

Random, I know... I played Yahtzee and was impelled to take a picture of the dice.  I think it came out well!

Waterfall into our pool.

Water drop on a pool float.  Vibrant.

You know that nest I took pictures of last week with the egg still in it and an unknown number of babies?  Well, here they are!!  This is the only one that would really poke its head out.  So cute!

Nice and cozy in 90 degree weather. I don't know how they do it. Especially when the Mama Bird comes and sits on them!

Same one as up there.  He moved around and was looking right at the camera :)

As if I wasn't lucky enough, we found ANOTHER nest! These babies were more lively, but smaller.  If you made the slightest noise, they would skyrocket up with their mouths wide open.

I told you they skyrocketed :)  Loooove this one!

  Wishing everyone a relaxing day off tomorrow and fun celebrating your freedom with your loved ones.  Hopefully next post will include firework pictures :)

Sunny Grass and Bunnies

I got really bored today and I noticed the sun was setting so I headed out to get some shots.  Most of these look the same, but I am really loving the whole grass and sunshine pictures :)  OH and bonus! One of our little bunnies was out!

"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive." ~ Eleonora Duse

A gnome's home.  He recently moved in. ;)

"May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step along the way. May a rainbow run beside you in a sky that's always blue. And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through."

All of these have Pride and Prejudice written all over it. I loove it!

Grass.  It's all around us yet we forget to really LOOK at it and acknowledge its beauty.

As I was walking inside I looked up and saw this.  The clouds looked like a mountain, it's awesome!

He was such a poser!

A while back we let two baby bunnies free.  I'm pretty sure this is one of them.  So happy to see he is surviving the forest :)

Our backyard is infested with bunnies.. Ever since we put the dogs in a fence (and our rabbit-catching dog, Patches, died)  they've gotten very brave to wander out of the woods.

Miniature effect

^"Since you have, in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For,

'All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass.  The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.'

And this is the word which was preached to you."