Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Wednesday Nature Walk: Just Breathe


Just
breathe.





Sometimes




we
need
a
reminder


Be still
and
know
that 
I
am
God.

Be still.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Wednesday Nature Walk: Today's Color Palette


It's Wednesday.
I walked this morning.
So that I could share it with you.
Visit my other artist friends for their perspective:

Photo: Welcome to week 3 of our virtual nature walk!

****************************
Four artist friends invite you to take a virtual nature walk with them in their neighborhoods. Every Wednesday in November, visit each of their sites and enjoy the rich colors, the play of light and shadow, the hidden treasures and the simple beauty that help us rekindle a sense of awe and wonder. See you soon! (Scroll down below this post to see the latest entry...)
Studio JRU
Paulette Insall 
Jodene Shaw, Mixed Media Art & Photography
and of course me!

Search for #naturewalk to see ALL the posts...

This morning
the
color
palette
was
all
browns
grays
and
shades
of
white.


I have discovered the poet Mary Oliver.

And her words . . . 

about nature . . . 

He or she, who loves God, will look most deeply into His works. 

about a deer . . . 

But only that she was born into the poem that God made,
and called the world.

Her words seem to 
bathe my mind 
in beauty and grace . . . even 
in the color palette
of grief
of rest
of cold
of quiet.






The color of this morning
reminds me of something I wrote awhile ago in a hard season.
 Lately I have had 
grief
and new, deep, un-beautiful emotions.
It has permeated every fiber
of my life
and
I am slowly
walking through
it
with God
in unexpected ways.
Facing unexpected brokenness
un-reached hopes
causes me to look deeper into 
my soul,
my identity,
my beliefs,
my faith,
and
grasp
for something 
truer and stronger,
more real,
more solid
than
what I had
before.
Challenged to find faith
in times of
unanswered questions,
unresolved relationships,
unfulfilled hopes,
unachieved goals,
uncertainty,
letting go of 
making it all work out
and 
perhaps
I am finding more and more
what trust and faith
are all about...
clinging
to
God
in
the gray.



Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Wednesday Nature Walk: Eyes Wide Open


It's Wednesday.
In western South Dakota, on this prairie, it is 2 degrees F.
My #naturewalk photos are from yesterday 
when it was a balmy 10 degrees.


You may take a peek at these pages for
glimpses into nature.

You can check out #naturewalk on facebook to find more images.


Here's a bit more of what I have to share with you today:




It feels more like February than mid-November.
The sandhill cranes are shocked into flying south.
Thousands flew over us yesterday feeling fooled by last week's
nature walk in the 50's and 60's.
They flew low enough to see their colors.
Stragglers coming later.
Calling
"Wait! Wait! We're coming!"

But the cold is altogether
different
in the minds
of
youth.

Before school,
usually
she drags feet.
But not at the sight of snow.
Snow is fire
lit beneath her
to
play.



She's the one who told me once,
"I'm going to go outside and live my life!"



And that is exactly what she does.
Pulling her sister and me out the door
to
live life
too.





Last week,
a dear friend
was laid to rest.

I was driving on the Interstate alone
the day I learned of her passing.

There was a nagging thought of guilt
creeping in and shaming me
for not getting there in time to see her again.

As the thought was about to settle over me
in a dark cloud of condemnation
I glanced at a semi-truck
on the opposite side of I-90.

Against a black trailer,
the letters rolled before me:

G
R
A
C
E
.

My breath caught.
I looked again.
GRACE Transport, Inc.
on the side of the truck.
And then it was gone.

But I got the message.

Grace.

With grace, the truck swept the condemnation cloud
down the highway
until it
dissolved.

GRACE.

Receive it.
So you can
Live it.
Live life like you mean it.




Sometimes . . . usually,
The Message 
pops up
where I least 
expect 
it.



Live life.
Wholly,
Fully.
With abundant love.
In all
the
seasons.






In the early morning
and
just
before
dark.



This morning I read from Mary Oliver's poem In The Storm.
Here is a verse to share with you:

Belief isn't always easy.
But this much I have learned ------
if not enough else -----
to live with my eyes open.


Eyes wide open.

In memory of Gaylene Morell.