Today

Photo from Google Images

Today, somewhere, it's someone's birthday.
Have you ever thought about it? Everyday is someone's birthday. Someone was born today. Maybe we know them, maybe we live with them, maybe we only know about them, or maybe we've never seen or heard of them at all - but it's their birthday. On the 18 of August, it's someone's birthday. Today's someone's anniversary. Somewhere.

Everyday someone is born, someone turns a year older. To them, I say
Happy Birthday.  I hope that you'll see His light.

Summer Days

Photo from Google Images

 

The Summer days are quickly fading; daylight is faster leaving, deep green takes over, signaling the beginning of death in the trees.
      The gray clouds are covering the sky right now, making everything look even deeper than it normally does. The wind has been blowing by, flowing through the woods. Things have cooled down.
      This morning I parted the white curtains on my window, pulling the glass down and letting the breeze whisper in. I stood there, feeling a little sad. Summer was dying, and Autumn would soon begin. Not that I don't like Autumn - it's my favorite time of all; but the death of this Once in a Summer was cold. It will never come again. Good things happened - but they're gone now. The change of seasons is emotional, whether we realize it or not. Not only does everything around us change, but we change.
      I was walking up to the barn yesterday, and stopped in the middle of the driveway, breathing deeply that smell of Summer. It blew past me in the cool breeze, and I stopped. Summer. If anything would be Summer, this was it. It's all amazing, and it's all changing, always in motion.
     Voices in my head that I can't get rid of, and it's changing. The voices of people, the voices of Summer, of seasons. It's all changing. Somehow.
      Why is it so beautiful? So wonderful? So... sad, in lots of ways. So far away, but still so close. I sit at the open window and wonder, watch the road, feel the cool air. The pen slips from between loose fingers, falling onto open book, filled with feelings. Taking a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh. Here I am.
    

We can take it slow, let's take it slow




Isaiah 41:10

Hey, Honey!

We extracted honey today for the first time! Our bees finally gave us a super full.
It was really good, sticky sweet stuff. And yeah, we ate some of the wax. ^.^

Sticky sweetness! Fighting!

Small But Beautiful, or Gentle Giants

 Photo from Google Images

Dragons are amazing. I love dragons. And yes, I do believe they were once roaming the earth!
      Fear the Dragon!!! ^.^ 

In every shape - Small but Beautiful, or the mighty Gentle Giant.

Photo from Google Images

God speaks of a dragon in the sea in the book of Job - Leviathan; might monster of the deep. Some footnotes say "alligator" - let me say this: someone needs new glasses. Alligator's don't breath fire! They don't have skin like chain mail!
And what do you think about that sea monster a Japanese ship pulled from the depths?

Photo from Google Images

I don't know about you, but that looks like a dragon to me! Leviathan is real - and who knows? Maybe there's still some out there!

Fighting!
- Hannah

Of Rainy Days and Sketches

I love the rain. The rain is a beautiful thing. It reminds us that He brings it in due season.
        As it rained yesterday, pattering against the corner of the house where I could hear it well, I sat at my desk, lamp glowing, sketching away. Drawing is an amazing art. I love it so much. It's a wonderful way to express your feelings. I'm the type that enjoys looking at pictures to draw them - that's one of my favorite things to do.

It's cloudy now, and I wish it would just pour!

Fighting!
- Hannah

It All Started With a Letter

Photo from Google Images

I love to write letters.
I've written funny letters, serious letters, letters to people I don't even know, and very important letters - letters that mean a lot. As I write a letter to a friend, I know she can read my fast hand writing, but to others that have never seen my writing, I print, slowly, carefully, watching the ink spill away. I pray about it, every stroke, that it would mean something, make sense.
      Letter writing is a lost art. An art that needs raising from the hidden depths and foggy swirls of e-mail and phones. You can keep letters forever.

      Sometimes it makes me sad that I'll never see a meaningful letter again, an enclosed photo or drawing, and my heart hurts when I think that my special words might be lost on deaf ears, might be tossed into a nearby trash can as the receivers laughs at me. But then I realize - it was in my heart for a reason. It was sent for a reason. And I won't give up.

Revive the art of letter writing. I challenge anyone who reads this to take a full week to send letters to their friends. E-mail won't be around forever. Letters, they will. They're something you can hold in your hand and realize, "My friend held this" or "That special person held this." You can only look at e-mails on a computer screen. You can't touch it, you can't tuck it away carefully, and you can't treasure the sender's handwriting.

Send letters. The written words is far more powerful than the glow of a character on a computer screen.

Fighting.
- Hannah

Fearless

Photo from Google Images

 

"Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
                                                Isaiah 41:10

The days tick by, and I find myself enjoying seventeen. It's already the 8th of August - I can hardly believe it. Soon fall will breeze in, casting bright leaves in front of it. Her breath will be cold, but I'll enjoy it, because Autumn is my favorite season.
        The above verse I've posted is one I've been memorizing. I was sitting out on the front porch a couple of days ago on the sing, back and forth, back and forth, watching the gray skies. I had the card in my hand, quoting it over and over until it stuck. The clouds were dark, and soon it began to pour. I so enjoyed sitting there with Jesus. I talked to Him about a lot of things.
        I have a feeling that seventeen is going to be a full year. Who knows? Maybe something really amazing will happen. But, after all, it's just a feeling.
        I've also found that already, I'm enjoying writing very much - I'd lost my touch a while back, but I'm getting the hang of it again, and the sound of words mingling with emotions is amazing. I love the way it laughs, the way it cries. It's enchanting.
     
          Life is good, but above all, God is good - He's showing me things that "the eye has not seen nor the ear has heard" - the "wonders that He will do for us."
          As I carefully wrote a letter yesterday, making sure the print was clear so the person getting it could read it, I thought about this. He's working in me - maybe He's working through me. I hope so. Do I sometimes worry? Yeah, you bet. But when all's said and done - I'm fearless through Him who strengthens me. Will I offend someone with the words I confront them with, only because I love them? Probably. Will they be tossed in the trash? I don't know. But I do know this: they were placed in my heart for a reason - and I'm going to give those words to them, even if it hurts, because I know that He has a plan. I felt God prompting me, so I obeyed. He's the potter, and I'm the clay - and with God, all things are possible.


Fighting.
- Hannah

Pussy Cat

And there's Shina, ready to pounce at my camera. ^.^ She's adorable.

But In Dreams

Photo from Owl City Blog

 

Think about dreams.
I found this picture on the Owl City blog, and it started a train of thoughts.
I think dreams are tightly tied to reality, whether we realize it or not. Sometimes they can be so crazy, we don't wanna know where those came from! But, think about it... sometimes they're so real, we must know where they came from, or we think we'll go crazy!
God created dreams for a reason. As soon as the lights go out, and we slip into the dark realm of sleep, there's things we see, things we hear, feel. They're there for a reason. I don't know what that reason is. But God is a God of order - and He doesn't create things that have no meaning and purpose.
I hear real voices, I see people I love, I get to be with them and laugh with them, and then I wake up. I come back. I tell my journal, "Guess who I went to see last night?"
Sometimes, even though it was a happy dream, both with people I know, people I don't, and people I still have yet to meet, I'm often sad, because... it was just a dream.
Then I have to remember that the God that made the stars also, can do anything. Maybe it wasn't a dream. Maybe it was a glimpse into what will happen.
Does it sound crazy? Yeah... but hey...
I Dream. 

He created dreams for a reason - and I'm going to forever believe that.

"It's just - was it a dream? What should I do? 

I don't know why - never thought I'd be dreaming of you." 

Evening Prayer

Photo from Google Images

 

Father, I thank you for this wonderful day.
I got a lot of things done, and it was very nice to talk to You.
Thank you for my friends, my family, that I'm loved, even though I'm a little crazy. (Okay, well, REALLY crazy!:)
You are SO good to me, Father! I don't deserve You, your mercy.
Thank you that you made me who I am - and, oh Lord - use me. Use even me. Someone so undeserving.
I want you to be glorified in everything I do. I want you to have the glory.

Please help me to shine with Your light. May people look at me and see you!
You're might and your power are so... humbling.
I was up petting my horses earlier, and quoting Job about the horses as I watched my own, her strong neck stretching with muscle.

May you be praised, Father. Teach me your word.
In your most awesome, amazing name,
AMEN.