The Sharp Knife of a Short Life

This world is not my home, I'm just passing through...
True.  But it doesn't shelter us from the pain of deep sorrow when, to our way of understanding, a life here is cut too short.
We are grieving with you Jamie & Val and family.
Zion?  You posted a song on Judah's home page from The Band Perry - one of the lines is so poignant... "the sharp knife of a short life".   I used it as a title for this post.  I hope you do not mind.
We are a moment indeed.  The Lord has reminded us.
Together with all the saints who have been inspired and touched and grown by Solmusic, we will lift high the Name of Jesus and we will praise Him in this storm.

Praying this song today for the blessing of His comfort and peace:

Sovereign Over Us
by Aaron Keyes
There is strength within the sorrow
There is beauty in our tears
And You meet us in our mourning
With a love that casts out fear
You are working in our waiting
You're sanctifying us
When beyond our understanding
You're teaching us to trust
Chorus:
Your plans are still to prosper
You have not forgotten us
You're with us in the fire and the flood
You're faithful forever
Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us.

You are wisdom unimagined
Who could understand Your ways
Reigning high above the Heavens
Reaching down in endless grace
You're the lifter of the lowly
Compassionate and kind
You surround and You uphold me
And Your promises are my delight
Chorus
Even what the enemy means for evil
You turn it for our good
You turn it for our good and for Your glory
Even in the valley, You are faithful
You're working for our good & for Your glory.

Chorus

Jackson Pollock Cover Story

While we were enjoying a three hour songfest upstairs, our two resident artists were downstairs - transforming the playroom & bathroom with enough colour and pizzaz to rival Jackson Pollock.

They were convinced we would LOVE their efforts.
And we did.
We really did.  :)

Sons of the Son

A tender heart for the wee ones.
           I knew this to be true of him all these years.
           It's what drew me to him in the first place;
                       - that kind heart.
And now it's captured in this picture, which for me,
           really is worth a thousand words.

My own heart is flooded with thoughts & feelings 

that for the moment, refuse to be pinned down to a page.

Thoughts about what Love looks like.

About Fathers & Sons.  About the One Son.

           Jesus.
               Good Friday
                     Resurrection Morning and...
My heart is flooded.

Weeping Willow Homily

A long time ago, my primary playmates were 

the brothers I was born between.  

Born close enough to feel like triplets, 

it stands to reason that most of our earliest memories involve each other exclusively.  

I was born in a house on a road called Robson and I live on it to this day, at the far end...

50+ years ago, long before it was paved with tar and chip - 

I sat in the side yard with my mother and playmates -  leaning in for those maternal smooches, under the canopy of a very big tree with a million long tresses. 

I pass by the place of my birth almost every single day - usually more than once a day. 

Needless to say, 

my roots go extremely deep...

Much like this willow tree recently felled by the last wind storm.

Mighty Weeping Willow?
You are not that sawn off stump to my way of thinking.
You will always loom extra large in my mind.

You will always bring to mind our delightful death-defying Tarzan & Jane leaps...

....over the rushing waters of Grindstone Creek.

Grindstone Creek?  You are not a benign trickle in my mind...

No indeed.

You will always bring to mind summers filled with crayfish scavenging under every rock & crevice.

You harboured lobsters.   I remember them well. 

You are extraordinary.  You always will be. 

Never forgotten.

Forever standing strong in the tapestry of my life.

Hi. I'm new here. I'm Benjamin.

                                Four little munchkins - siblings all.

 Would love to know what goes thru the mind of a toddler 

who knows the spotlight has shifted a bit.

 Our beautiful daughter with her daughters.
Well done Sary!  

 Proud daddy and sons

Five hours into life on earth

                                A royal birth in it's own right, enjoying celebrity status

James is on to more interesting discoveries in the snack bag...

                                Breaking out the nuts!

Leapster has a little look alike in our humble opinion.  

Me thinks she agrees.

Trips to the hospital seem to inspire role play.

Perhaps it's just a coping strategy of leaving parents and baby behind?

Mourning with those who Mourn

The Gettys Are Coming

To Ontario.
Yes.  They are.
To Hamilton Place.
October 24, 2013
SO SAVE THE DATE and SPREAD THE WORD...

Christ is Risen

Named! At long last...

And the winning combination of names is.....drum-roll please....
Linc-uhm Larry Flair Bear.  
Thanks to all for the umm, earnest submissions.
I needed to sleep on them for a month of days and finally decided on a combination of three submissions.
Lincoln Larry by Micah, Uhm by James and Flair Bear by Ames.

Sunshine on my Shoulders

Green Eggs and Ham was on the menu at a local breakfast place.
Seriously.  Green Eggs and Ham.
I ordered them just so I could take a picture and post it in honour of my beautiful grand-peeps.
The "green" is spinach and advacado.
And it tasted really good just like Sam-I-am says.
Nothing to be squeamish about.

This was a little gecko lizard keeping me company in the lanai.
I find them fascinating and friendly little things.
The one that jumped out from behind the pillows when I pulled the bed covers back however,
... not so much.

Dining and fellowshipping with niece Nicole is a wonderful annual treat.
Each time we decide to dine out we've been able to do so under a canopy of stars and a moon that is almost full now!

...the cloudy skies were exceptionally notable today.

Can't seem to get enough of this panaromic option on my phone ever since Lilly pointed it out to me :)

A school of dolphins were at play (and definitely on a school break) not far from this rock reef.
Sorry, I enjoyed that so much I forgot to take a picture.

The ocean is terrifically cold, mesmerizing to listen to and watch but preferably from a seat on the beach.  Where you can knit a beret with a towel across your legs.  :)
If my mother and sisters could see me now....

Knitting on a beach.  Pfft!  Enjoying it even.  Me oh my.

A tribute to Nikki - one is never too old and no situation too hopeless!

 What was that?! she exclaimed ... on sighting a small but decidedly owlish figure sitting in the sun on a stake, surrounded by orange tape around a makeshift "pen".  

The man behind the wheel pulled a U-turn & stopped long enough to satisfy my curiosity.  

Up popped another owl out of the ground (see the mound?)  

Then I walked over and found this sun bleached warning about "harassing" 

these protected burrowing owls.  

Burrowing Owls and Gopher Tortoises are protected and there are signs and warnings about fines everywhere to demonstrate the gravity of the situation.  

This is all well and good except that it seems like these species enjoy more dignity of life 

than the American unborn child.

It's disturbing.

 We are crazy about long and linear palm trees.

They look so fantastic in Christmas lights!

 Naples 5th Avenue is a happening place day & night if parking 6 blocks over is any indication.

The tree pictured above is one tree (a Banyan) coming up out of the ground with more multi-stems than you can count.   That is apparently its primary characteristic.
A new house is being constructed around the tree.

 The sunset I almost missed - the sun dropped into the ocean at lightning speed while I was photographing the Robinson Crusoe tree not fifty steps away.