Reflecting on Love

As I was driving this morning, I was listening to Graham Cooke. He said something that answered a question I'd uttered merely an hour ago.

" Our purpose here on earth is to be loved by God and then to pour out that love to others."

Can it be that simple?

The complexity comes in our resistance to Holy Spirit whether it be because of busyness, hurt, disappointment, idolatry or countless other barriers erected over our hearts.

God has been bringing down many walls in my life this past year. Now I want to begin seeing things through the filter of my purpose-'being loved by Him.

Over on Wings Open, our photo group is participating in August Break.
Here on Extravagant Purse I would like to make August about the Love of God. I may just share a photo, perhaps a writing, or even a guest post.

If you have something you'd like to share on this blog or a link to yours, either leave it in comments or email me personally and if it is in line with this theme, we'll see how we can make it happen.

Graham said that God is the Initiator and I am the responder. Beautiful thought to reflect on this Monday.



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Sunday Ramblings...

I am standing at the laundromat in the campground, waiting for the rain to stop. It's Sunday and hubby just left for home and it's raining again.

Boo Hoo. . . Whoa stop!

It's only water coming from the sky, unfrozen at that! I'm walking back to a nice camper with a heater that works and a good book waiting for me...oops, I left the book outside on the table on the deck! Oh how I hope this rain is coming straight down and the awning will cover my book enough.

Where was I? Oh yes being grateful.
It's a warm rain. It's still July for a couple more days. I have food on the cupboard... Oh darn I need to run into town for something for supper or I can have a rice cake again.

Gratitude. Right!

No wonder my scripture from Hebrews 12 this morning told me to get a grip!
"Get a grip with your tired hands and strengthen the weak knees..."

Get a grip on this clothes basket. You won't melt. And the clothes will dry...again...eventually.

It's Sunday afternoon here in Maine.




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Bird feeders are Back

The bear is gone. Bird feeders are back! Happy birds are singing. Beautiful Saturday in Maine.
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Rainy Day

Chasing Sunsets and Rainbows

The three of us had lunch at a delightful restaurant in Bar Harbor, my daughter, her daughter and myself. Afterwards we spent a leisurely evening strolling through the stores, finding small treasures as reminders of our day together. As we were leaving, shimmers of color caught my eye. 

"Turn right." I spouted. 

There was a rainbow radiating like northern lights behind the sailboat. We stopped and hopped out for a few photos.

On the drive back, we could see the sun would soon be setting so we drove down to Hadley Point beach for a closer look. It wasn't quite time for sunset, but beautiful light on the water.

Deciding we didn't want to wait for the sunset, we continued our departure, but a little drive up the road, the sky had turned golden. Cars pulled over to view this extravagant beauty.

In her photography course, Amber's professor taught her to always look above her and behind, because some of her best photos may lie there. She turned around to behold a full rainbow, our second of the day.

If you look closely, you can see the outline of a double rainbow. What are the chances? Rainbows have always symbolized hope and change for me at the end of a long struggle. 

Three rainbows! Who can miss that message? 

They were chasing us down today.

A Peek

I've tried all morning to load pics from my laptop to blog with no success. The Internet connection here at the camper is terrible.

So on this rainy day I will give you a peek of yesterday's beauty from my iPhone and BeautifulMess app.


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All of creation points to our Creator. He is real, his works are tangible, and he is here. Liz Curtis Higgs

What's Next?

This is my last day in the County for awhile. 

Ten days ago I traveled home - unexpectedly for me, but no surprise to God. It was all in His plan.

 I was able to get into my eye doctor, dentist, doctor, and hairdresser. I had new tires put on the car and two very worn wheelbearings replaced.

Today the dentist worked me in for an emergency crown on a cracked and fragile tooth. I am praying the nerve remains okay and no root canal is needed!

That's amazing in such a short period of time. I am marveling at God's care and favor in this season.

I miss my girls and will head back in the morning, God willing.

My journaling course ended today as well. What a joy it was! I'm not into the same spiritual sources as Susannah but besides that, I gleaned every bit of knowledge and inspiration that I could. i had written some intentions for the course, which I may share in a later post. Everyone of them were met!

Next week my "Anything" study over at GoodMorningGirls will end. I have made some great connections there and the study itself was perfect timing. Who knows what's next? :)

Black Flies in July

Ever since I got home a week ago, I have wanted to take pictures of the lavender flowers growing beside the road. An hour before sunset is the perfect time to take pictures outside, so last night hubby drove me to the spot I directed, but they had "ditched" the sides of the road, according to him. This meant digging up the purple flowers in order for the rain to run off better. I don't fully understand this concept but in order to get my picture, I had to climb the hill they made and take photos of the ones left in the field. I kept slipping on the straw they'd thrown down and couldn't climb the hill. Hubby, still in the car, motioned to me to move farther down the road where the hill was less steep. 

By this time, I was being swarmed by Maine black flies. In a normal summer, black flies are gone by mid July. This year they seemed to have increased, possibly due to the rainy June.

I snapped a few shots reluctantly, realizing that these weren't the same flowers I had been looking for. 

The sun was nearly setting behind me, so I crossed the road to take a few pics of the potato field and the sunset. Hubby stayed in the car with the windows up! It was that bad. The flies were swarming the car as well.

Here's the first field- my letdown pic.

I would like to figure out how to watermark my favorite photo before I post it. Check out Wings Open for one of the sunset photos.

More tomorrow from Black Fly capitol of the U.S. I'm not sure of that fact. If you are from somewhere other than northern Maine and have these annoying pests, leave a comment.

P.S. I really didn't get many bites, when all was said and done. It was worth it.

A Lifetime of Brave

I was sick the whole nine months. Then she pressed into the world within an hour of intense labor. Huge trusting eyes stared at me in the moonlight, a quiet moment in between colicky cries that went on for hours.
Barely five, she boarded the bus for school. I was young and foolish. If I'd known how time flies, I'd have kept her at home another year.
School was a challenge but she never backed down.
Young working mother going to college, raising a child.
Marriage and moving and more heartache.
Always an uphill battle. Always courageous.
More moves, work, military, motherhood.
A minute of happiness.
Betrayal of trust, divorce.
A new path, a child with needs, a teenager spreading her wings...
Alone.
I remember those eyes that trusted me, my own eyes filling with tears. I would have spared her much, if it were up to me.
She was an answer to prayer from the start. I don't understand His path. He trusts her with a heavy load that I want so much to lift.
 Only He can.
She doesn't know it. But I do.
She has lived a lifetime of Brave.


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Thoughts for the Sunday Heart

THoughts from Beth Moore's Heart.

http://blog.lproof.org/2013/07/rain-down-revival.html

True Connection

Several years ago I found this bracelet at a craft fair. At the time I was going through a season that was focused on the heart. Heart connections in ministry, following my own heart, hearing the heart of others, and I needed a visual reminder. 

I have found that there is no visual reminder needed where there is a true heart connection. My heart is connected by the design of God to my husband, even when we disagree. My heart is bound to my daughter, often bowing in prayer for her when she doesn't speak a word. I have friends who see my heart, sometimes better than I.

Noone knows my heart like Jesus. He breaks it at times and he heals it. He knows all its secrets and idols and knows exactly what is needed to return my heart to Him, for it is my true desire.

There is no substitute for the heart of God in relationship, vertically or horizontally. He gives us visual reminders at times, speaks to us daily through His word. We can use our minds to receive His voice and let them renew our thinking, but we must move beyond. We must let His Holy Spirit penetrate the hiddden places of our hearts in order to fully know the extent of His love. 

It is only then we will experience true connection. With God and others.
It must be a God thing, a supernatural work. we can strive and strive or we can bow and yield and let him bind our hearts to His love and His plan for our lives.

I can't but Christ can.

The Original Artist

My heart on Wings Open this week originated from an artist's painting. When thinking about connecting the theme to this blog, my mind went right to another artist, The Artist, our Creator. I have been reading in Genesis this week with new eyes and loving the thoughts of God creating all this beauty and companionship for us.

I could have posted a picutre of the ocean for this post or a view from Cadillac mountain, but there was something about this picture that spoke to my heart. Have you ever really looked at a spider web? When I got home this week they were annoying in the corners, ceilings, everywhere and I quickly brushed them down. Yet when I was sitting on the deck of the camper and the sunlight hit this one, I left it where it was. Not only are spider webs skillfully woven, they are strong in a certain way.

I have been reading this week how God plans our lives, how He weaves both the bad and the good circumstances of our lives into His plan, as we surrender to him. Job 42:2 says that nothing can stop His plans for us. What a promise to breathe fear from our lives!

He has allowed me to glimpse that weaving this week, which he doesn't always do. Suddenly I was headed home and four appointments were lined up in a matter of two days. Today my car is in the shop getting much needed work and ironically the mechanic had the entire day free and thinks he can get the parts. I love it when a plan comes together!

Actually God's plans are always coming together. He doesn't always let us see the process so we think He is doing nothing. But He is moving. He is alive and breathing over us.

If you are wondering where He is today and why you are where you are, join the club. I have been there often over the past months, but He was breathing and speaking over my life. He was moving.

David wondered too. Read Psalm 42 in the Message Bible today. David questioned, but He knew that God had made a promise to him. Can you find that amongst David's words in this Psalm? 

He ends the Psalm with "God puts a smile on my face."

 I am smiling today and believe me, I am not taking that for granted. 

Love Letter

Yesterday morning was busy with back to back eye and dental appointments. I am trying to squeeze in all my checkups while at home for a few days. I wanted to clean house and blog and pay bills etc. but instead I chose to drop over and see a friend. I felt like I had stepped into God's garden. Her yard was a masterpiece of love, filled with flowers, fountains, singing of birds and chimes ringing in the wind. We sat outside in the cool day and caught up. 
I wasn't feeling that great and my mood was low because of news the dentist gave me, but her hubby brought me a hot cup of peppermint tea and she gave me her hearing heart. 
One statement stayed with me for the rest of the day and this morning.
I look at the Bible as a whole as a love letter from God.
Maybe those aren't the exact words, but the meaning is clear. With that thought in mind, I opened my Bible this morning to Genesis 1 and Revelation 1, with purple pen in hand, marked verses or the chapter with a purple heart, standing for God's love toward me. 
When I read Genesis 1 in this light, I saw a loving Father creating a beautiful earth with His child in mind. Even the day and the night. He didn't need sectioned days, but He knew that we would, for we would need to know the fresh start of "His new mercies every morning." 
I left the pages of His word feeling loved this morning. I want to make this a regular practice.
Unrelated note: I missed blogging to connect with yesterdays pic on Wings Open. I couldn't find the time. I posted that pic in the dentist office waiting room. Aren't iPhones grand?

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Loving the Journal Process

Even sandals are too hot in this past week's heat. I posted on Sunday about spending the afternoon working in my visual journal. Did I mention that I was sitting on the deck at the camper sweating? It wasn't that long ago that I was in flannel pjs and running the heater :).

Today I had a few minutes to spare so I ran into ACMoore as mentioned on Wings Open(check on the side for link. Sorry I can't create a link here from blog press). I nearly bought that cute pencil case, but instead I stayed on target and bought my UHU glue stick and fine point black sharpies.

I love AC Moore but I am beyond excited that Bangor will soon be getting a Hobby Lobby!

I said all that to say that I love this journaling process in Susannah's class. She taught us a technique called mind mapping for our journals and I used it last night for finding purpose. Wow, it was so cool! If you look it up on Amazon, the books are overwhelming so I think I will stick with the simple picture Susannah shared. I will post later about it but for now just sharing a few tidbits from my neck of the woods.

What does your journal process look like these days?



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Heart of a Grandmother

Ben

Isabella & Kobi

McKenna

Lily

Over on Wings Open this week, our Life Lens 2013 theme is hearts. I am challenging myself to link this blog theme with the pic I post over there. It should be fun. Join us if you like. Add your link in the comment section.

Above are pictures of my precious grandchildren. I carry them in my heart everyday with pride, love, joy, concern, worry and sometimes downright fear in this day and age. God has given me scripture verses for each of their lives which I return to often in prayer.

Heart of a Grandmother

joy

pride

delight

laughter

impatient

at

times

worry

anxiety

fear

prayer

petition

praise

easily

broken

always

love

you

more

forever 

Lily

Ben

Bella

Kobi

Kenna

by Mammy

Sunday Afternoon Journaling

My hubby was the last to depart today. I must admit I was dreading the lonely feeling when all my family left to return home, but the transition was smoother than I thought.

I have been taking a journaling course with Susannah Conway and a camper week full of life to be enjoyed interrupted my writing process :). This morning I watched our weekly video and was delightfully inspired so when the last car pulled away, I pulled out my Creative Dream Journal or Visual Journal as I call it and got to work. Jamie Ridler's suggestion of writing in the white spaces of images got my creative juices flowing.
I am sharing a few of the results instead of a week in review.

 I was so intensely focused in this process that a couple of hours passed without my realizing it.

Part of this exercise for me was going back through my written journals of the past few weeks and pulling out words or phrases I had highlighted and adding them to my Visual Journal. (Jamie also mentioned this in the video.) They are more accessible to me this way and it re-affirmed some of my thoughts as I did this.

I can't say I don't miss my big crew, but it was a pleasant afternoon spent with myself and my journals.

What I Did Today

Photo Credit to Amber Walker

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Happy 4th of July

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Sparrow Sighting

A friend sent this to me this morning. I am blessed.

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Camping

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