Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows (2)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any digital doodling.
For one of this week’s “Windows” challenge entries,
I decided to add a “glowing edges” filter to several photos.

The original photos were taken in daylight.

I think the application of the filter makes the design of the windows pop against the dark background.

Hope you enjoy!

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
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Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows

We often use the expression,
“The eyes are windows to the soul.”

This is a portrait of my mother when she was 8 years old.

It has been one of our family treasures for many years,
but only with the recent use of digital technology
have I been able to enlarge it and really look into her eyes!

As soon as I saw the subject of this week’s challenge,
I knew that I wanted to use this as one example of “windows”!

=)

How often have you talked with someone on the phone and thought,
“If only I could see her face to face…”
– or –
“If only I could look into his eyes…
…then I could really tell what’s going on”?

Our eyes give away all kinds of secrets about our emotions –
whether we’re happy, sad, angry, worried, frightened, confused, mischievous, tired, enthusiastic…
and the list goes on!

Not only do our eyes reveal what’s going on in our heart and soul,
but they also serve as windows through which stimuli get inside
to influence our heart and mind for good or evil.

 Your eyes are windows into your body.
If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light.
If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar.
If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
Matthew 6:22-23
THE MESSAGE

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit Little Things.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!
♦
I’ll leave you with words from a song our children sang when they were 8 years old –
“Be careful little eyes what you see!”

May we open our “windows” always to see the light and beauty around us.
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Has Your $ecurity Been Downgraded?

We work hard during our lifetime to put money into a retirement plan
that will probably benefit us for twenty or thirty years at the most.

By “laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven,”
we are contributing to God’s ETERNAL, FOREVER retirement plan!

Which is more important in the long run?

 …the reward of the godly will last.
Proverbs 11:18b

The country’s credit rating has been downgraded.

The nation’s finances are in disarray.

Our elected officials don’t seem to have a clue how to work together to resolve the problems.

Where does one turn for some security these days???

How ironic that we have only to look as far as our nation’s currency for the answer!!

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Thank y’all for stopping by to visit.
May your life be filled with little blessings, little chuckles,
and little deeds of kindness (both given and received)!

I’ll leave you with these wise words from the late Dr. Adrian Rogers:

If you want to know how rich you are,
add up what money can’t buy and what death can’t take away!

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Waiting…

My daughter posted this on her blog last night, and I found it very meaningful. 
If you — like me — have ongoing prayer needs that seem as yet unanswered, 
you might find this message helpful, too…

“WAIT”

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What Is Home??

I have recently taken on the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge.
This week’s theme is “Spring.”
Last week’s theme was “Home.”

I didn’t get involved in the challenge in time to publish a photo for the “Home” theme,
but I decided to make a little graphic anyway, because I really like this verse:

I enjoyed looking at some of the other postings for last week.
Here are a few that were special to me:

http://ensummerfield84.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/weekly-photo-challenge-home/

http://romceg.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/weekly-photo-challenge-home/

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/weekly-photo-challenge-home/

There were interestingly different interpretations of the theme — not all were about human homes!
They included a spider web and bird houses, similar to these that I photographed in our back yard.

 

                         

Last week I shared a blog by the Bennetts, an American missionary family living in Tokyo.
They were instructed by their mission to travel 700 miles south to an area of Japan
that would be safer for their family.
This turned out to be a challenging trip,
due to a shortage of gasoline and earthquake damage to the crowded roadways.
I was thankful to read that they got safely to their destination,
although they miss their Japanese neighbors and hated to have to leave their home.
Hopefully, this will be only a temporary situation for them.

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE BLOG

Many of us take our homes for granted.
The size and beauty and value of all of our homes are relative terms.

There will always be people who live in more stately and magnificent homes than we do –
and sadly there are millions of people who live in habitations we would hardly even consider to be a home(!)

Within a few miles of our home are houses with partially dirt floors
AND a house for sale for almost $20 million!!
All of them are “home” to somebody!

The link below is to a post from “We Are THAT Family.”
It fits right in with my thoughts today.
I’d like to share it and recommend that you take time out to read what Kristen has to say
about what’s really important in making a home.

“HOW TO REALLY MAKE A HOME”

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from Friday…

My Friday began with thoughts of the Bennett family in Japan.  I blogged about them earlier:

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE BLOG

…and now it seems they are somewhere on their 700-mile journey across Japan…

“Our leadership has officially asked us to evacuate to Fukuoka today. They are asking us to drive, and that is a very long drive,1129 KM (701 miles).  This is not interstate roads like we’re used to in America, especially in the southwest. It will be quite a challenge…” 

Read more about their evacuation below:

EVACUATION

Next on the agenda for Friday was a water-heater repair project for my husband the engineer and “handyman extraordinaire.”  The project was completed without complications (which sometimes DO happen at our house where plumbing repairs are concerned!).  The work did, however, involve one trip to the hardware department of our local home improvement store.  We hardly ever do a plumbing project without having to make at least one run to the store for extra parts!  As you probably have guessed by now, I’m just the gofer, but I have learned a lot of interesting and helpful info through the years. 

Would you believe, when we walked in the door and headed for the plumbing aisle – this is what we saw??  Mr. Hydro was ready to greet us; he looked a lot spiffier than our old water heater in the attic, but at least we knew we were headed in the direction of the parts we needed!

Two more items I want to mention before signing off for now…

If you are a dog-lover, or like animals of any kind, you might enjoy looking through these pictures from the recent annual dog show in Birmingham, England.  I don’t know how long this slide show will be archived, but you can check the link below if you’re interested.  It has some great behind-the-scenes shots of the animals AND their humans:

CRUFTS DOG SHOW

The other thing I want to mention is the BIG moon rising in a few hours — the best time to view it will be at sunset — which is much better than those ‘in the wee hour’ times that are usually optimal for moon viewing.  Check out this link for further info:

Tonight’s super perigee moon a rare treat

I’m sorry I didn’t get this posted earlier.  Most of you are probably already aware of the moon view.  If you miss it, you can check out tomorrow’s viewing.  Perhaps it will be almost as good!

I hope you all are having an enjoyable weekend and getting in a little rest along with whatever projects are on your agenda.  If I don’t get too bogged down with income taxes, I will see you next week!    Here’s a preview of one of our neighbors I hope to feature sometime soon:

Japan Earthquake Blog

This is a blog being written by Mark and Sharon Bennett and their boys – a Southern Baptist missionary family in Japan. It provides a window into the daily life of one family and the people around them, following the horrific disasters they have experienced.  The post for Thursday explains that they are being encouraged to relocate to a safer area of Japan; right now it is a recommendation; they say it’s likely to be required in the near future.  They have been making preparations to leave and making decisions about where to go and what to take with them. 

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JAPAN EARTHQUAKE BLOG

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If you have Apple’s QuickTime player on your computer,
you can watch a video of their neighbors helping them to shovel mud from around their home.
—–
VIDEO

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This article published by the International Mission Board
gives additional details about the Bennetts
and how the earthquake has affected them.
—–
“Japan Cleanup Begins Amid Nuclear Scare”

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Following the Bennetts’ blog will give us extra insight into the personal struggles of this family and thousands more like them — and help us understand better how to pray for them.