Time marches on

 Time marches on .... 

but not without at least a placeholder post on the final day of the month! 

Riches of His grace

So much gratitude for March birthdays and celebrations!

Including horseback riding with other Pisces people, and a 7.5-pound belated birthday bass!

Sharing yellow roses.

Not obvious choices

My photos for day 24 (#delivered) and day 25 (#wonderful) of the Lent photo challenge require some explanation, lest I forget what I was thinking. Since I don’t want to explain on Instagram or Facebook, I’ll do it here! 

For #delivered, it’s an unplanned picture of me kissing my husband on my birthday. I doubt people who see the picture know what it’s saying to me. It makes me think of the phrase in The Lord’s Prayer: “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” God used Gene to deliver me. It was just a sweet and silly moment when I delivered this kiss as we were trying to take a good selfie. When I saw the photo, I knew it would be my #delivered photo. 

I also went against my grain of obvious on #wonderful. The picture is from our walk today. I was saddened to realize the rust-colored needles on the pine trees mean they are dying, likely either from the unprecedented cold temperatures last month or perhaps from being weakened and vulnerable to infestation because of the freeze. It’s not wonderful in the usual positive sense but rather making me full of wonder that this could happen. It actually makes me very sad. At the same time, I trust that God is always working for good, in His amazingly wonderful way.

But the best part of wonderful today is the guy I was walking with! God’s great gift to me. 

With God working for good, all things are possible. 

Grateful for another year

My 62nd birthday is coming to a close. Gratitude overflows my heart. I am blessed beyond measure and beyond anything I could ever deserve. It is with awesome wonder that I consider the greatness of God and His love for all His creation, including people, including me, unworthy as I am apart from His grace.

I don't think I realized the extent to March 11, 2020, was the official start of the pandemic for much of the United States, including most of the people I know. This year, March 11 was mentioned over and over as that anniversary date. That's when the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game's start was delayed and ultimately canceled, sending fans home, because of a positive Covid test by one of the visiting team's players. Before the night was over, all NBA games were canceled, and it wasn't long before cancellations became a way of life that continued for the rest of the year and into 2021.

Today, as Covid vaccines are available and more and more people are getting vaccinated (although I have not, as I'm still not in an eligible category), there is a sense of life returning to normal. We are not there yet. When my husband and I went shopping and then out to dinner this afternoon and evening, we wore masks. The restaurant still had tables not being used, to maintain social distancing. But those are great improvements from much of April through summer last year, when many businesses closed their doors at least temporarily. 

I'm not sure where I'm going with this post. It's one of those where I want to mark the moment, but won't take time to find all the words I would like to express. 

Perhaps what I'm trying to convey a sense of hope and gratitude and faith. 

The Lent photo challenge word for today was #healed. I considered waiting until tomorrow to worry about posting anything with that hashtag, but instead I added it to the birthday thank-you post on social media that included a picture of the dozen yellow roses from my husband, a birthday tradition for which I am grateful. 

The thank-you was for the kind words of more than 100 friends, family members and acquaintances. Those greetings -- along with so much love from my husband and so many hopeful signs a year after this pandemic became real for most of us -- seem to be telling me we don't have to wait until all of the ills and ailments of the world are #healed to experience moments of joy and wholeness. 

Each act of kindness and service, no matter how big or small, makes a difference, especially when it is done as a response to God's great love.

Grateful for the (photo) challenge

God continues to work in wonderful ways through the photo-a-day challenge, this time for Lent.

After writing my "catch-up" blog post Tuesday, which mentioned that I still had not posted a photo for Monday or Tuesday, I did post a photo that worked for both words: #thanks and #endures. When I returned to my computer Wednesday morning, I saw that I didn't save the blog entry, which meant it did not post. 

Yesterday -- Wednesday -- was perhaps the first time on a photo challenge that I knew before the day started what I wanted to post to depict the word, #gathered. It was the group of masked choir members practicing for the first time in more than a year. It felt good to be able to sing and then to share the photo. 

Another blessing related to the photo challenge is the weekly Zoom meeting to discuss the words and images and a Scripture with others. That happened today. I am grateful for this time. 

Today's word is #healed. There are many directions I could go with that word. I'm praying for God's guidance, curious to see where He leads.

Oh my!

 I just noticed I have not posted since Feb. 28. It's March 9. I usually try to post at least once a week.

It's interesting that I knew I was struggling to keep up with the Lent Photo-A-Day Challenge. During the Advent challenge, I used the blog to narrate my struggles to post. I haven't even done that for Lent.

I caught up on three days of the Lent challenge on Sunday, and now I still haven't posted for Monday (thanks) or today (endures). The words are not inspiring visual images for me, even as I read Scripture or pray for guidance. 

And yet, I often feel a sense of satisfaction when I do find something to post. 

That's true even when it seems like quite a stretch to make the image fit the word.

And still it's hard for me to just post something -- anything -- and be done with it. 

Today, I can certainly give #thanks, once again, that morning by morning new mercies I see. Especially after I struggled, for various reasons, to see God's mercies and graces yesterday, even as I knew they were there. 

(And when I came back to my computer, I saw that I did not post this March 9. And now I really need to update it, with positive outcomes!)