12.31.2013 My last post ... for a while ...

Belief is a wise wager.

Granted that faith cannot be proved,

what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false?

If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing.

Wager then, without hesitation, that He exists.

~ Blaise Pascal

[ known as Pascal’s Wager ]

The purpose of life is to listen –

to yourself, to your neighbor, to your world and to God

and, when the time comes,

to respond in as helpful a way as you can find ... from within and without.

~ Fred 'McFeely' Rogers

Never again clutter your days or nights with 

so many menial and unimportant things that you have no time to accept 

a real challenge when it comes along. 

This applies to play as well as work. 

A day merely survived is no cause for celebration. 

You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability

to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine. 

No more busy work. 

No more hiding from success. 

Leave time, leave space, to grow. 

Now. 

Now! 

Not tomorrow!

~ Og Mandino

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
~ Psalm 118:23

2013.12.20 Project - Christmas stocking

I make a Christmas stocking for each of (sister) jan and Greg's kids.

This year, Hannah joined the family.

Here is her stocking and also a photo of Hannah and me

when I gave it to her on Thanksgiving.

Each stocking is designed especially for the recipient and

is made from felt and extra embellishments.

2013.12.16 The way you see them

Take a photo of what something is, then take photos of what else it is.

~ Minor White.

Photography is an art of observation.

It has little to do with the things you see

and everything to do with the way you see them.

~ Elliott Erwitt

Teaching them {disciples} to observe all that I have commanded you.

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age

~ Matthew 28:20

2013.12.13 Project - 2013 Christmas ornaments

Every year, my sisters and I share Christmas ornaments

between ourselves and families.

Most years we craft them, but there isn't any pressure if we buy them instead.

This year, I made owls from paper tubes, paint and a black Sharpie.

These don't hang, but go over a branch or just nestle in somewhere :)

2013.12.09 We see light

What makes photography a strange invention is

that its primary raw materials are light and time.

~ John Berger

To love beauty is to see light.

~ Victor Hugo

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

~ Psalm 36:9