Happy New Year

In looking for an image to post for a look forward to the New Year, I chose this one. It is an old one. I took the picture when we were in Savannah, Georgia, for a photography workshop.

Why did I select this image? It is of a sunrise. Just as the sun rises each day, with the possibility of a fresh start, so will we begin a new year on Thursday. Though each day gives us a new start, there is something special about a new year.

Second, I chose this image because there are people in it. In this case some really nice people who have become special to Mitch and me. However, it is for you to put your people in it. I pray for you loved ones to enhance your life in this new year.

Third, there is a horizon of the ocean. I likewise pray for you new and greater horizons, as much as you want or need.

Joy to you for the New Year!

Christmas Advent Wreath and Cross

A number of years ago our then Pastor introduced the Advent Wreath to our Sunday Evening Service. This was quite different for us Southern Baptists, at that time. The Advent Wreath and its symbolism became a part of our family Christmas as our girls were growing up. We would have one in our home, even in the years when our Church did not. The meaning of the wreath and the ritual of it helped me many years in preparing my heart for Christmas.

Sometimes Christmas can become so busy that the peace and meaning of it gets lost.

This year we had a wreath at our Church. This afternoon Mitch and I went up and took some pictures of it. It was peaceful interlude in the busyness of Christmas.

In this image I find an appreciation for the Advent Wreath, as a preparation for the child to be born, and the cross, as an emblem of the child grown to be a man. Certainly the cross is not a peaceful image, yet it symbolizes for me a peace in my life for I have found Christ to be my peace.

I hope you are having a Merry Christmas, and that you find the peace of the season.

Coheelee Creek #2

Today, Mitch and I again went to Coheelee Creek (see his blog http://fishponddrain.blogspot.com/). We had a really nice time. We left home before daylight and went by our favorite spot for breakfast. Bobby makes the absolute best biscuits I can get (that is outside of my Mom’s house). We got the requisite sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit and continued on our way.

Bobby asked where we were off to at that hour of the day. We told him we were off to Coheelee Creek. He said that was getting to be a habit.

We had stopped by his place the last time we went to Coheelee.

As Mitch mentions, we had a heavy rain the end of last week. This meant there was a lot of water coming through the creek. The sound of rushing water was so beautiful. It was very peaceful.

Cross Florida Barge Canal

A few years ago, I worked for the Cross Florida Barge Canal. It was a project begun years ago, an effort to build a canal that would allow ships to cross Florida. It was supposedly for security purposes. See this for information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_Florida_Barge_Canal.

This past Monday, I went to Punta Gorda, Florida, to speak to a ladies’ luncheon group. As I was returning home, I went across the bridge and took this picture out the window over my shoulder.

It was a beautiful sunset. I just wish I had had time to stop and enjoy it.