Christian Photographers Community

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Morning Devotional...




The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God...                
2 Thessalonians 3:5


Scriptures tell us that God is great, and we see that greatness in His created earth and sky.

But, how can we fathom the greatness of that little word "so" in John 3:16? "For God so loved the world..."

Webster defines it as a degree of measurement. No human gauge invented can measure the immensity of God's love!

We see a glimpse of it in Christ's incarnation, His sinless walk upon earth, His crucifixion and resurrection. But someday, the total sum--the completeness of that love will be revealed.

Let us today praise Him for that exceeding great and boundless love for each one of us.
                                                                  --E. Dyck


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[size=+3]YEA ... YEA ... YEA ... Three cheers for the CP clock!![/size]

I will say God loves us all even more than a frog loves to jump, yes?

Thanks for the devotional, Pat.  And yes, Mieka, God loves us more than the frog loves to jump.  What a cute little graphic.  You made me

Great to see Judy in here.  Isn't Mother's day everyday?  

Also Mieka....I had to look in my dictionary to spell 'a cappella' and still misspelled it....I only had one 'p'!!!  capella is a she goat....I learned something too!  But 'a cappella' means without intrumental accompianment.  Two words together.

Hurrah for the CP clock!!!!  Is there a place to see what the time is on here other than in a post?

I am all ready for church and ready to go out the door.  

I pray that everyone has a Blessed God'd Day!


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"There's nothing like a little experience to upset a theory."

Good Morning Everyone..

Yes, Etta Sue, up at the top right where it shows if you have a new message, the clock is there.

Thanks Mieka for the cute graphic.

I'm about ready to leave for church so we'll talk to you all later.

Have a wonderful blessed day in the Lord.

Hi everyone on the Sunday morning.  It is a little while before we will be leaving for church.

Carol your comment about the retrograde colors coming back reminds me of something we experienced in March on our way back from Florida.  We stopped to briefly visit with one of my coffee drinking retired friends, who had moved to Florida last year.  He was giving us a brief tour of their home there and went into the kitchen.  I noticed the cabinets had been painted that avacado color and had strawberry shaped handles and knobs.  I almost said something to indicate when were they going to redo the cabinets when he spoke up and told me his wife and nephew had just painted them that color the weekend before.  Was I ever glad I hadn't said something.  Close call.

Etta Sue, we hope these chairs will last a long time so we don't want to wear them out by eating too many meals at home!  However, I did sit in one of them at breakfast time this morning and it was very comfortable.

Pat, what an inspiring story of Adelaide Pollard and how "Have Thine Own Way" came to be written.  Things just don't happen on their own and often the stories behind things are so interesting.

Marilyn, I learned long ago to let my wife do her own thing and that it didn't work to prod.  I was glad she registered here and I know she reads some of the messages.  I also call her attention to certain things.  However, I sure appreciate your comment.  She is a wonderful woman and I love her very much.  

Last Sunday our choir sang the anthem a cappella.  It is nice to hear just human voices without the organ, which sometimes hides the voices if it is too loud.  I also prefer piano to organ for accompanying solos or even the choir and our director often has the piano as the instrument to accompany us.

Pat, great devotional this morning.  John 3:16 is such a wonderful verse and says so much about God.  

Pat, did you do something to fix the CP clock?

Mieka, cute illustration with the jumping frog.  

Hope everyone has a good day and Judy, a special Happy Mother's Day to you.  

Judy B:  You just look much too young to be a grandmother!!!  It is nice to hear that your family has been blessed to have jobs and prayers have been answered also.  

Larry:  That was quick thinking of you - not to comment on the "new" avacado color.  I look at stainless steel appliances and wonder why on earth anyone wants all those finger prints showing.

The television evangalist is now over - he shouted every word so I have already forgotten what he was saying and his name.  I prefer to read the bible in a quiet spot this morning.  Have a lovely Lord's Day all.  Carol

Good Morning, Wonderful devotional this morning Pat. John 3:16 is my favorite scripture. Also Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends. not sure where it is , it is in the gospels though.

Mieka cute graphic.

JudyB: Aren't the blessings of God always right on time? He knows our needs before we do and the blessing is already on the way before we ask for His help. This is why I am not really concerned about my move up north and whether or not I have a job immediately. Because God knows my needs and what my income will be and what I can afford to have or not have. I just pray that His will for me to be done, not mine. He has already given me the house I prayed for and the rent is affordable, it is every thing I asked for. The biggest plus being that my Dogs are welcome there. If they weren't welcome I would not be moving into that house next door to my son.

Well my landlord is up here for the 2nd time this week. The first time he used up 1/2 tank of my hauled water.

I am going to read the rest of the forums and get ready for church. I will be back later.

Marilyn, sounds like the Lord is readying you to "shake the dust off your feet" as you move away. I, like you, trust that His will should be done in your life and with your income.

Mieka, I liked the frog, too! And, then the laughing graphic was cute, as well.

Y'all have a good day.

Ruth Ann

Happy Sunday!!

Carol, I forgot to say---never again for me, either, on the awful avacado color, plus orange!

Larry, that was a close call, and good save!  (Not commenting on the 70s colors!)

It is time to get dressed for church, so I will return later!

Hi Everyone...

I THOUGHT I was going to go to church!  BUT...

Janice phoned and said that she's dropping in after her church service here in Guelph WITH HER IN-LAWS!!  

My brother will arrive late afternoon

THEN...

The phone just rang and my ex-daughter-in-law phoned to ask if she and her aunt could drop in this afternoon to visit me.

This will be a first visit since my son and she separated many years ago!!!

So...  Vacuuming!!!!

I just counted up how many will be here...

12
I don't even own 12 chairs!  HAHAHAHAHA!

Oh well...

Larry!  The clock has nothing to do with me.  I had to beg Ian, our Webhoster to change his clock on the server!  HAHAHAHA!  I thanked him on behalf of all of you!  

Now, I hope you all tell us about your church services later.  I really need to hear about them now!  I was so looking forward to going this morning but these things happen.

Angela is here from Ottawa for the weekend.  Ottawa, our country's capital is about 5 hours drive from Guelph and she's in Toronto staying with her aunt.  Toronto is about 1 1/2 hours away from Guelph!



(I need Mieka to come and make some goodies to serve with tea and coffee!!!)

You can believe I am ready to shake the dust off my feet. I can't believe this landlord. Nothing like starting my day off frustrated. He doesn't think my date to move is firm and told his wife to write up some kind of agreement that I will be out by that date. How redundant!. I served them notice.  She asked me to keep it between her and I that she was not giving me that letter she wrote up for him. GRRRRRRRRR  They have no idea what the California Landlord Tenant Laws are. I tried to explain to her that what he wants and has done here is illegal. Did she pay attention?, I have no idea if it sunk in or not.  

Sorry to unload on you on the Lords day. Time to finish getting ready for church.

  Good Morning!  I love each one of you, my friends here on this Lord's Day.    

I'm being lazy today ... I don't feel like putting any graphics with my posts.    

I love your jumping frog, Mieka... so cute.  And I agree with you.  God does love us more than a frog loves to jump!

Marilyn Just hang in there ... keep thinking of July, when you'll be out of there!  I know you are counting the days!  

I have already had my time with the Word this morning and am about to get ready for church.  We have beautiful sunshine here on the coast, but earlier there was FROST   and I had to turn on the heater because it was so cold!  
Well, this IS the day the Lord hath made and I will rejoice and be glad in it!  

I will probably go to lunch with someone from the church after the service, so I may not get back here for a while.  This evening is our church's annual business meeting.  I have just been appointed to the board of elders, and my first "assignment" was to write the Bylaws for this church.      This is something new for me, but I love it when God stretches me like this!  I wrote the Bylaws and the Board read and approved them (after making a couple minor adjustments) and tonight they will be presented to the membership so they can vote to ratify--or reject--them.

I'll be back as soon as I can ... may not have much to say, but I'll be here!    

Hello Everyone,

Thank you Pat for the invitation to come and visit again.
I'm sorry I've been missing from the board. I've been busy working on getting my photo project done and mailed off to the school. I spent about 8 months on 1 unit. I did get it in the mail and now can breath a sigh of relief before I start the next unit on Portraiture  .
I've spent a little bit of time trying to catch up but, ya'll have been busy.
Everyone has submitted some wonderful photography and the new challenges look fun. I'll see what I can put together this afternoon.
Hope you all have a blessed day!
Denise

HI Denise.  It is so glad to see you posting.  I can relate.  I have been so busy with family life outside that I don't have much time in here.  But come back and post and let us know how you are doing.

I just bought PSP 8 and am so excited.  Wooohooo!

I am off to do somethings around the house.

We had a wonderful worship this morning.  Our preacher talked about what the church means to us.  We thought about the fellowship we have as brothers and sisters in God's family.  We thought about people in the church who have influenced our lives through the years, a Sunday School teacher, an elder, someone who encouraged us, someone who ministered to us in our time of need.

Mirriam Webster:
Main Entry: a cap·pel·la
Variant(s): also a ca·pel·la  Function: adverb or adjective
Etymology: Italian a cappella in chapel style
: without instrumental accompaniment

Our singing where we worship is a cappella and we have wonderful singing.  Every Lord's day as we gather together I feel drawn closer to God as we sing these great songs of the church.  

Mieka,  I liked the jumping frog.  I couldn't get him to sit still.  

Marilyn, I'm sorry you are having problems with the landlord.  Hopefully this will all be over soon.  I'll try to post some photos of the wedding soon.

--- Papa John              <)))><<

 

When I arrived home for church the following was in my email. I'd like to share it with you.


She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have
been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image
of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that
gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit
the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood
there under the awning and just inside the door of the Wal-Mart.
We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature
messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall.
I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away
the dirt and dust of the world. Memories welcome reprieve from
the worries of my day. Her voice was so sweet as it broke the
hypnotic trance we were all caught in

"Mom, let's run through the rain," she said. "What?" Mom asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated. "No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied. This young child waited about another minute and repeated:

"Mom, let's run through the rain." "We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the
young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm. "This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his
cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get
us through anything!"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear
anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or
left in the next few minutes. Mom paused and thought for a
moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and
scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said.
But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A
time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom
into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If
GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom
said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing
as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They
held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got
soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed
like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I did. I ran.
I got wet. I needed washing. Circumstances or people can take
away your material possessions, they can take away your money,
and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take
away your precious memories... So, don't forget to make time
and take the opportunities to make memories everyday. To
everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under
heaven. A friend sent this to me to remind me of life. Hope you
enjoy it.

I HOPE YOU STILL TAKE THE TIME TO RUN THROUGH THE RAIN

OK, you can check out a few of the wedding pictures over in the photography section.

Papa John

Marilyn:  Running through the rain always sounds good to this Seattle gal.  Thanks

Pat S:  Thank you so very much for a song I can relate to - "The Old Rugged Cross" - my parents favorite or at least one of their favorites.  We sang "Beautiful Savior" last night and that is my all-time favorite.  When I was a church secretary, I tried to put that song in as often as possible - but they caught on to me  

After I have been to church, I feel refreshed and reprogrammed!

Mieka:  I loved your frog but can not get it to jump?  Is it still alive?

Carol

Etta Sue:  We are planning on trying to get into the most popular mexican place for dinner tonight and a line is a block long at 5 when they open.  Think we will try it about 4:40 or so and hope that a lot of the college kids have left town - whew!  They sure have money to eat out all the time - I had to work going to school - I'll let you know if we get in tonight.  Carol

Our sermon this morning was on Romans 12. Are we ready to be holy?. Pastor gave an altar call at the end for those who had something in their life they wanted to get rid of. the worship service was fantastic as always. Peggy is such and annointed worship leader. All our musicians were there except for the pianest who is away for a few weeks in her own motorcycle ministry. She and her husband travel all over on their motorcycles to preach the word to motorcyclists all over the US.

TTYL

Good afternoon everyone!  I pray that everyone had a great day with the Lord.

Jerry and I worked the lights and sound today.  Today was Seniors Day....I thought...hmmmm!  I may get honored!  Nope, High School Senior day!  
We have 32 Seniors graduating that were present this morning and about 3 college graduates this morning.  The sermon today was about the words that carry us through but I am brain dead right now and can't remember them except ..... 'remember'!  Jerry and I ate Mexican for lunch and then came to here.  It was cloudy and looked like rain any minute so we changed clothes and mowed the grass.  It still hasn't rained.  

I am so tired.  I have had 4 mornings of getting up before 6am and late nights.  I need sleep!!!!

But I do have a nice looking yard!  

Off to see some wedding pictures!!!!

1. Love yourself.  Effect change within your heart and soul in order to be the best person you can be.

2. The Bible says:  "Whatever state I am, therewith to be content.  You are blessed."  Recognize and acknowledge that fact and be happy with what you have.

3. Relish your solitude and quiet time.  Don't feel guilty about it--revel in it.  Your mind, body and spirit crave it.

4. Be of a giving nature--but don't be self-sacrificing.  Helping others nurtures the soul; giving of yourself until you are spent does not.

5. Learn to forgive yourself and others.  Letting go of blame frees you to discover the true blessings of your life.  

6. Keep it simple:  Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

7. Don't strive for perfection; it's not possible.  Instead, strive for excellence.  All you can do is your best.

8. Bring down the curtain on drama.  Simplify your life by vowing to stop turning minor upsets into major blowups.

9. Taking care of yourself does not make you self-centered.  It makes you centered.

10. Remember:  No God, no peace.  Know God, Know peace.

Loved the devotional, Pat.  We worshiped at a church in Aiken, SC this morning and enjoyed the a cappella singing and also the lesson.  We were in that part of town for a wedding last evening.

My great nephew, Josh, married Erica in Hopeland Gardens with the reception under a tent.  The weather began to get bad at the wedding ceremony with lightning & thunder, but by the time we were at the reception, it was raining too.  The wind blew the sheer curtains at the posts of the tents and eventually blew down the potted palms and greenery.  There were streams of water pouring down near the Jazz band, but they continued to play.  We had fun in spite of the weather!  The shrimp on grits, roast beef, turkey & crabcakes were delicious as well as the appetizers beforehand.  I was able to be with nieces and nephews I haven't seen in 20 years or more.  It was a great evening.

Aiken reminded me of Savannah and other cities along the coast.  Beautiful mansions, enormous oak trees, brick walls and some streets of brick.  The people were friendly.

Joan, it sounds like you enjoyed the wedding in spite of the weather.  The shrimp on grits, roast beef, turkey & crabcakes sounds great.  I don't think I have seen shrimp on grits but I expect it was good too.  Isn't it nice to see relatives you haven't seen in a long time?

- - - Papa John

We had a wonderful worshhip service this evening. then the message was out of Rev. 4:1-7. The church at Ephesus. About losing your first love and not being as on fire for the Lord as we were when we first were saved. Pasotr called on all of us to come back to our first love. And gave another altar call for those who wanted to come to the altar and "wash it with our tears" as we came back to that first love. Very powerful indeed.

Well, after a very busy day here with company, baking tea biscuits, getting homemade jam out of the freezer, making ice cream cones, some banana splits, picture taking, etc., I'm once again alone here in Guelph!

It was a very good day.

It was so good to see Denise here today.  Thanks for checking in Denise and what a great postcard you made for the Photo Challenge!

Now, it's time to lock the door once more and open the new thread for tomorrow...

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