The Dove doesn't handle the cold well. They hunker down over their legs, fluff up and then they go into a strange sleep where their body slows down to block out the thought of cold.

Christian healing is a little like this. When tragedy hits us, we most often go inside of ourselves. Then, as God begins warming us with his healing light, we turn towards it. He radiates his foundational love through our cracks and allows us ministry opportunities. When we are at our coldest points in life God provides a way for us.

Matthew 10:16 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."

Fresh Find: What a great Gaberdine dress...just like we use to wear in the 70s. We sure should have kept ours! 

Last night, at about dark, I was nudged to go fill a bird feeder for God's little birds that call our neighborhood home. With the cold, snow, and ice it would be good to leave them a treat.

Matthew 6:25-34

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

God does not need me to feed them; the birds. What he needs is for me to listen and to be obedient to the Holy Spirit's nudging to care for his creation.

From the comfort of a warm home (blessed, so blessed) I watched through a screened and glassed window as the Sparrows fluffed, the squirrel gathered a seed or two, and she (the female Cardinal) came today to visit. She was there less than a second, but my eyes got to enjoy her beauty. What a gift I got today!!!

And, he stopped by, as well!!!

Fresh Find: I like this bird feeder!

I got my first car in 1973. It was an avocado green 4 door Chevy Nova. I remember first driving it around and around Thomas Blvd. Park. My dad gave me the keys and told me that is where I could drive it. I loved that car. Nothing electric on it. I don't remember it having power steering, but it could have. I remember that I loved the feel of the oversized hard plastic steering wheel. I do enjoy the luxuries offered in today's cars, but the feel of driving an old classic must be great, too!

Fresh Find: Think Twice!

God has certainly blessed my life through the direction of the Holy Spirit. He has blessed me in that I can self-publish a few books to share God's beauty through pictures and words with our near and dear.

A few years ago I published Ushka's Book for Christmas gifts. It is full of Eyes to See photographs, poetry, and quotes.

In 2014, two more books were shared, both for children. Friendstones is a story God gave me many years ago that was tweaked for this publication. It was a first for me, as well, to partner with a favorite local artist, Sally Gubser, to illustrate it for me. The story is about a young girl who travels to the market with her Babushka. Along the journey, the stones they walk on take life and the young girl and her Ushka discover how many help us along our way. In the end, there is a big lollipop in store for her because she is a good little girl; a girl every Babushka would want in her life.

The other book, My Learning Book About ... God, goes through the alphabet with scriptures and shares an Eyes to See picture that correspond with each letter.

Fresh Find: What an unusually pretty pearl ring!

We are home and home is a wonderful place. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve with our son and his sweet family at their home. On Christmas Day Night, we celebrated with our daughter's sweet family in their home. A very special time, too. What a wonderfully GREAT Christmas.

Here is a picture from Christmas Day as the grand-sisters attempt their stilts!

and from our son's...glamour-girl!

Fresh Find: This looks like it would be fun...Gramovox Bluetooth gramophone.

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." John 15:1-2

Today when I saw this mailbox it reminded me of the seasons of our lives. Our leaves may wither and die off during a cold season, but if our root was planted firmly in the Salvation Story, God will bring us through with new life and a beautiful legacy story.

I saw this and loved what it says...

We celebrated Christmas with our third little jewel.

I am blessed that God placed me with my parents who filled my life with roots that created a legacy of faith for me. I pray I am doing the same for others.

Fresh Find: I kinda want this mobile for my sunroom. Too cute. Maybe baby!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas! It always seems like they start pushing holiday items early, but then all of a sudden Christmas is here, and it is perfect timing for a peace filled day of celebrating the Savior's birth. 

God certainly has blessed my eyes to see his beauty all around me this year. My wish is that you will be blessed as you stop and see it, too! 

Fresh Find: What a fun bed idea!!!

As Christmas draws near I find myself thinking about family. After all, it is what we do, gather with family. This Christmas will be our first without my brother. Even though I did not see my brother all that much, I knew I would see him at Christmas.

This year is our mother's second heavenly Christmas, and I find joy in knowing my entire family, father, mother, and brother, are in such a beautiful place; their eternal home. I must say that I am a little jealous that I am not with them there, but I am thankful, too, for another day to serve God and enjoy my little family.

The picture above is a sweet picture of my mother & brother. They did not always see eye to eye, but she loved him the mostest! ;o) I loved seeing her excitement when he would call and talk in their last years. I'm not sure who did the most talking on the phone ends, but he liked to visit, and she liked to have her son in her life! God's relational peace restored. 

Holidays are the most challenging time for one with Aspergers. God's revealing of my exceptionality was not unplanned. His timing was perfect. Add this to the always growing list of how God has always provided for me. I may be "alone," an "orphan," as the world describes one without their parents & siblings, but I have never been alone. I am blessed with God's constant presence in my life. It doesn't look like most people's, but it is wired up with His beautiful presence. I fall; he picks me up. I crack; he mends me. I am the clay; he is the potter. The Artist's eye.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!!! 

Fresh Find: Look, what a fun egg cooking mold! Kids, young & old, would love it. (I would probably cook those yolks a little more though...LOL)

For fifty plus years this bookmark has been in our family. I remember seeing this bookmark in our Bible drawer at 313 Irene Street when I was little and peeked over the top into the drawer to see the "big" books!

It was in my mother's Bible for many years and it is priceless to me because it is the rule my parents held close as they raised my brother and me. The Golden Rule: Matthew 7:12, So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

Fresh Find: No dog poop left behind, please! You can even shine it up with the flashlight! Or, when you need a little trash bag!