Getting Gruff on Graffiti!

The big granite rock had been defaced!

It changed the climate of my childhood beach!

The "Big Rock" was a well-known and well-loved fixture - 

not only to our family,

 but also to the entire small Canadian community who still live near here.

It was large enough to block the chilly wind that came off the lake,

and to give shelter when hovering around campfires

while roasting marshmallows and hot dogs.

The Canadian lake water was often extremely cold, so after a swim,

 if we didn't have a fire to chase away the chill bumps off our bodies,

 we could climb on the rock to soak up some of its stored up warmth from the sun.

So, recalling these pleasant childhood memories,

it was distressing on our recent visit to find graffiti painted on the rock.

My younger sister suggested a plan for removing it.

Her husband bought us some "Graffiti Remover".

Taking her grandchildren with us,

we went to work!

Her granddaughter tackled the smaller rock.

Her grandson was our "water boy",
bringing us the necessary liquid to do our cleaning.

Little by little we could see our progress.

Breaks were needed for a little skipping of rocks...

...or demonstrating the skill of underwater handstands.

It was hard to keep flip-flops on while doing the stunts!

Back to work...

Great job!
And the kids were ready to head back to Grandma's house!

Maybe we didn't get all the graffiti off,
but we made good memories,
and the partial restoration of the lake scene was worth the hard work!

Thinking about that big rock, reminds me of another ROCK

and a song:

"On Christ the Solid Rock I stand...

All other ground is sinking sand..."

Speaking of  ROCKS,

have you checked out my most recent Rock4Today

which features the Names of God on Rocks?

(Click on the highlighted link above to take you there.)

Skewed Visual Perception!

As the mountains of the Glacier National Park came in sight,
my excitement mounted.

Getting nearer the Park,...
Gary laughed at me when I thought these might be wild horses...
Well, they could have been...
After all, this was Montana...

The views were beautiful...

...Until the clouds began rolling in.

From moment to moment the weather changed...

But that wasn't all...
I discovered something about myself.
At times I have skewed visual perception.
I was certain that we were going downhill instead of uphill!

When no one was behind us, my husband put the truck

 in neutral gear to show me

that we would roll backwards.

So odd!!!

It had happened to me before when we visited
Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills.
On a recent visit  there Gary did the same thing,
and immediately the truck began to roll backwards.
He reasoned with me,

showing me the streams of water

and lovingly pointed out the fact that the creeks don't run uphill!
This made me feel like I was really losing it!
(Click on the highlighted letters to see a post of our visit
to Spearfish Canyon two years ago)

Maybe it had something to do with the way
 the rock formations were beside the road,
whether they were slanted or straight up and down...
...because this looked uphill to me...

...And this was shortly verified by the sign
which denoted the elevation!

The temperature outside had dropped down to 41* F.
With the wind and rain, it felt REALLY CHILLY!

Coming back down the mountain,
we caught a little glimpse of the Jackson Glacier
between cloud bursts of rain.

This wrong perception on my part
of the uphill/downhill thing
made me think about how easy it is for us
to get a wrong perception of Scripture facts as well.
Fortunately, like my husband, God gently shows us
when we have wrong thinking!
He says in Isaiah 1:18:
"Come now, and let us reason together...
Though your sins are as scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool."

And in Luke Chapter 15 He tells us over and over
how He not only reasons with us,
but looks for us and pursues us.
I'm glad He doesn't let us stay where we are
with our skewed up perceptions and messed up thinking!


And, in case you are worried about me,
please don't!
If I have continued weird symptoms,
I'll go see a doctor and get checked out!


Speaking of checking out something,
have you dropped by Rock4Today lately
to see what Name of God I have posted?

Alumni... Alumnus... Alumna???

According to a popular education site on line:

"We used to have “alumnus” (male singular), “alumni” (male plural), 

“alumna” (female singular) and “alumnae” (female plural)...

Many avoid the whole problem by resorting to the informal abbreviation “alum.”

Well, anyway, I am a graduate from Prairie College,

formerly known as Prairie Bible Institute.

On a recent visit my husband and I were privileged to be given a tour
by Director of Student Development Shannon Weiss.

Old Prairie grads that have not been back to visit for awhile

might enjoy taking the "virtual tour" as seen

through the lens of my camera!

This impressive building
 (which is named after founder L.E. Maxwell)
 immediately caught my eye.

And that is where we met our "Tour Guide".

Many changes had taken place
 with the passing of time
since I was a student.

It was a pleasant surprise to find some things much the same.
...like the dining hall.
 Although it had a new name...

...Inside it looked very familiar...

...Like this verse that remains over
the kitchen doors.

Inside the kitchen
memories swirled in my mind.
I could almost imagine Mr. Geiger
with his white apron,
standing beside one of those large kettles.
stirring up
some of the delicious soups he used to make!

I missed the tabernacle...
Age and deterioration
had forced its retirement and demolition.
But here in the little chapel
I felt a sense of peace,
a place where students could come
and quietly spend time with God.

The stained glass windows added to the atmosphere.

The old dormitories that I used to live in were gone.
How fitting for the new buildings to be named
after two ladies who gave their lives to
teaching music and Bible!

But wait!
Look at the building on  the right...
Could that be the old gymnasium
where I spent countless hours
as a gym teacher?
(Two years as a student teacher,
and one year on staff.)

Yes, I recognize this place!
Many memories... exercise classes... friendships..
intense volleyball games... basketball games...
and sore muscles!!!
Now a profitable thrift store!

The old motto was still there!

Do you recognize this building?

...Or how about this one?
Could that be the old music building?
Or was it "A" Domitory,
where I stayed the year I was on staff?

Programs have changed so much since my graduation!
The addition of flight school and nursing are two of the major changes I noted.
As stated on Prairie's website,
"Prairie is a leading Canadian Christian post-secondary institution
 that integrates applied education, biblical literacy & spiritual formation
 in order to equip students to help address
some of the world’s greatest needs."

I bet you were wondering how many years have gone by 
since I attended this school..
It's been 48 years!
I'm happy to see the changes that have occurred. 
I would have loved to have been in the nursing program...
Well... I think I would have,
 BUT
maybe I wasn't ready then...
My husband has been used by God to build my confidence.
It took him a few years to convince me that I could become a nurse
when I didn't think it was possible.
I had two children and a third on the way when I graduated
from nursing school here in Arkansas!
As it says in Ecclesiastes
God brings about beautiful things in His time!

Do you have unfulfilled goals?
It's never too late to see what God can do!

To check out my other blog, 
CLICK HERE
to take you to "Rock4Today"
featuring the Names of God on Rocks!

A "Flower in the Master's Bouquet"!

I haven't posted much lately on Joy4Today.

This might be one of the reasons...

On July 11th, "The Master" came to my sis,

and picked her to bloom in His bouquet!

Last year about this time we had fun taking photos.

I loved her idea of us taking pictures of each other through this knothole!

And how appropriate that not that long ago she would sing this

song as she was practicing for her

"Pickin' and Grinnin'" music group that met on Monday nights!

I'm so thankful to have a few little songs she recorded.

My thoughtful niece placed them on You Tube!

This was one of her favorite things to do...
Get together and make music with her
"Pickin' and Grinnin' Group"
on Monday nights at the Community Center.

Thanks for dropping by!

You might also like to check out my link to

Rock4Today

where I post Names of God that I've painted on Rocks!

Weird Clouds and Freak Storms!

A very unique storm dumped over 2 inches of rain on us last week.

What made it unique?

No rain was in the forecast for that day.

Channel 7 KATV's News Personality Todd Yakoubian stated that it 

"... created its own area of low pressure aloft and is spinning.

 If this storm was over warm ocean water,

 it could develop further and become tropical...

You really don't see this often at all."

(Click on Todd's FaceBook page link HERE to see the radar image.)

I wasn't aware of the storm's uniqueness 

when I took the following photos of the cloud formations. 

To see them better, click on them to enlarge.

The clouds looked so heavy...
but I'm not sure if they fit the description of
Mammatus Clouds or not.
(Click on highlighted link above to view photos
and description of Mammatus Clouds.)

Some of the clouds looked rather sinister...

If I used my imagination I could conjure up all sorts of things!

But instead, I thought of a few Bible verses.
One was from Nahum 1:3 that says,
"The LORD has His way in the whirlwind
and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust of His feet."

Another is from Daniel 4:35, and says,
"He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back His hand or say to Him;
'What have You done?'"

Psalm 97 says of God, that
"Dark clouds surround Him...
His lightning flashes out across the world...
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD...
and Psalm 104:3 says,
"You lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds Your chariot;
You ride upon the wings of the wind."

But let's go back to the prophet Nahum.
In Nahum 1:7-8, he says,
"The LORD is good,
a strong refuge when trouble comes.
He is close to those who trust in Him.
But He will sweep away His enemies
in an overwhelming flood..."

... And then I ran inside...

The lightning was flashing...

The thunder was booming...

And giant rain drops began pelting me!

Cow Birds in the Bible? Yes...

 I've been enjoying watching juvenile birds this spring!

Some mockingbird babies have been frequent visitors.

Looking out my kitchen window,
I thought at first I only had one,
but then saw two together,
...and then surprisingly enough, a third one!

They were very curious...

...seemed to enjoy climbing on my lawn furniture...

...And came close enough that they seemed to watch me
when I was by the kitchen window.

But imagine what a surprise it would have been
if their mother had found this bird in that batch of babies.

I found it interesting what God had to say about "Cowbirds"
in the Book of Jeremiah 17:11 via The Message Translation:
"Like a cowbird that cheats by laying its eggs
in another bird's nest
Is the person who gets rich by cheating.
When the eggs hatch,
the deceit is exposed..."

The verses just above this are featured in today's Rock4Today,
Are you curious what they say?
Just click on "Names of God on Rocks" to take you there!

Thanks for your visit!

Drop back by any time to see if I've done a new post.

Your comments are welcome!

Eagle Watchers!

Yesterday as my husband and I were coming back from church,

I asked him if we had time to swing by the eagle's nest on Lake Norfork.

Last year each time I had visited their nest I had failed to see them,

and therefore presumed the pair of eagles must have deserted this nest.

A fellow "Eagle Watcher" was there,
and we visited with her for awhile.
She assured me the nest was occupied,
and invited me to come back and watch the eagles
with her on the following day.
She stated she had been watching them and photographing them
for the past seven years!

An instant bond was formed
as we shared our love of these magnificent birds,
and also found we had a mutual relationship with their Creator.
We hoped to catch some photos of the parent eagles
bringing in food to the juveniles who were still in the nest.

While we waited for their arrival,
my new friend showed me some of her photo albums.
I was so impressed with her beautiful photography.

Not only did she have some superb photos of eagles,
but many other subjects as well.

I enjoyed perusing through her beautiful photographs
and visiting with her as she continued shooting with
her "Fine Pix S" camera and 50x lens
that she had purchased for less than $400 from Walmart!

As we talked, a flock of large birds flew overhead,
and she quickly positioned her camera to focus on them.

She shared with me that she had health problems,
but this hobby was something that seemed to bring
the presence of God nearer to her,
and give her enjoyment and peace.

I had been so busy looking at her photos
and visiting with her,
that I hadn't focused my own camera on the nest.
Two juveniles seemed like they themselves were
having a conversation.
Unfortunately, the parents didn't show up during this visit.

One of the young ones stretched his wings as
he perched on the edge of the nest.
He looked as if he was testing them,
...checking them out
to see if they were ready for that first daring flight!

I returned home to check the flight status
 of the little juvenile Mockingbird
that had taken up residence in my back yard.
He, too, was making progress,
but still not getting too far from home!

The Book of Job in the Bible

has some interesting comments about birds:

"...Ask the animals what they think ---

Let them teach you;

Let the birds tell you what's going on.

Put your ear to the earth ---

Learn the basics.

Listen --- The fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.

Isn't it clear that they all know and agree that

GOD IS SOVEREIGN,

That He holds all things in His hand ---

Every living soul, yes, every breathing creature?"

Job 12:7-12 from The Message

"When times get bad, people cry out for help.

They cry for relief...

But never give God a thought when things go well,

when God puts spontaneous songs in their hearts,

When God sets out the entire creation as a science classroom,

USING BIRDS AND BEASTS TO TEACH WISDOM."

Job 35:9-15 from The Message

Thank you for your visit!

(My Rock4Today blog featuring the Names of God on Rocks,

should have a new post before too long.)