Ella's Comments

Lovely picture of the turtle island! Weather up & down until last week of April, did manage to get 6 beehives setup and added new bees the 1st.  Building a greenhouse for non-native plants, mostly herbs. Spare time updating family herbal.

Hey, you with the camera! Waiting for you to use it and post new pictures, hopefully some for the nature group! Or have like everything else this time of year, you've laid eggs and are nesting?

OPTIMISTIC BELIEVER

Not all optimists are believers. And not all believers are optimists. But the optimistic believer is a dynamite duo.

Think about a perpetual optimist you know. (Perhaps it’s you!) When confronted with a challenge, a bold smile and a cheery word are their natural response. They do not possess the ability to mumble and they do not know the meaning of despair. Their shoulders are buoyant without burden and their voices are as sing-song bright as a bird’s delight.

Do you know a person of rock-solid faith? These people are firm. Steady. Immovable. Their goal is not to prove themselves to the world, but rather to take the world as it comes, living for an “audience of One.” Their faith is not for show, but when it does emerge, it humbly calls for company. Doubters and skeptics are helplessly attracted to the pure peace they radiate.

When is an optimist not a believer? When she looks at the bright side of life but refuses to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. She is a poster child for secular self-help books and articles about changing your life through “the power of positive thinking.”

When is a believer not an optimist? When he has entrusted himself to Jesus Christ but continues to respond to life’s challenges with fear, anxiety, and doubt. He has not let his faith out of its small, Sunday-sized box or let it permeate every nook and cranny of daily, real life.

The optimistic believer, however, is a joyful combination of a deeply rooted faith that shows itself in a spirited, lighthearted approach to even the most trying circumstances. It’s not fake. It’s not shallow. It is a tangible faith that is completely confident in what is hoped for and assured of what is not seen (Hebrews 11:1). This is the person who says with confidence, “‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6).

I encourage you: be an optimistic believer. Let Christ have the victory in your life. And “do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” (Hebrews 10:35).

Heavenly Father, my life is in Your hands.
Yesterday, today, and forever, I am safe and secure in You.
Lord, please help me to know that You are in control.
Help me to believe You are at work in my life right now,
even when I don't see it.
Help me to trust in what I do not see,
when what I see is so painful.
Please help me to know You are taking care of my needs.

Lord, thank You for listening to my cries for help.
Thank You for loving me so much.
Help me to believe You and the promises You have made.
Forgive me when I doubt You and Your love.
I believe, Lord. Forgive me for my unbelief.

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

Here Ella I took this picture as an Ohio answer to  your "crossing bridges" photo!

There's no love more precious,
more costly, more kingly.
There's no love that's greater-
that's more wonderful, more wild,
more passionate, more powerful-
than the love of Jesus.

Believe, receive, and rejoice forever in the greatest love the world has ever known!

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38, 39 NASB

Bless you ella, young iba na lang kc were back in our house.and one thing I knew, what was taken away from us , HE always will give back in manifold..

Oops, I meant to add an enlarged photo (at least I think it will be) of the photo.  Let's see if it displays large in comment.

Oh, the profile photo is of me looking at one of my comissioned art works from last spring; besides doing the normal, mass produced arts & crafts I do for catalog, interenet, outdoor shows, every years I accept half a dozen commisions from people with too much money for their own good (lol); that particular piece was about 2/3 of the way done, most of the permanent black design having been drawn, let's see it was a 28 x 34 wedding certificate for a June wedding - once all the black work is finished it is painted with bright watercolors such as the smaller pieces in my "Art Examples: Past" album.  The style is a very restricted monastic style from Ireland/Scotland (my ancestry) from the 7th to 10th centuries AD known as Celtic Insular (my specialty although I also do the full range of Celtic art from ancient (7th century BC to 12th cenntury AD).  It involves an intricate sysmbolism of geometric shapes, early medieval Christian symbolism, and symbolism of the colors themselves.  The text is from Kahlil Gibran's (a Lebanonese Christian "mystic" from the early 20th century; "The Prophet" discourse "On Marriage".  "You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore. You shall be together, when the white wings of death scatter your days. Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God. etc."  I more or less do 3 levels of art, art for community, art for missions, and art that is my deepest prayer/meditation with self & God.  That work was of the 3rd type, and a piece of that size takes about 500 hours to complete.  That's a pretty simple answer, would take a much more boring writing to fully talk about both my art and my motivations and philosophy, especially since I am devoting much more of it in service to the homeless/poverty problem and sort of redefining myself and my art.

My left ankle was messed up from the war, and I was heading home for a 2 week leave; so I was on crutches and never got to see much of Manila except for several museums and a walk through an outdoor bazaar; the first day I ate a big ball of spamm that had been rolled in rice then deep fried, and lumpia with the hot dipping sauce; the spam/rice ball was okay, but I never had spring/egg rolls that were so good, so I pretty much lived on them for 3 days - never have had them since, just American Chinese restaurant egg rolls which are not as crisp.

Oh, and thank you for the friendship invite, slowly rebuilding after coming active again in December after half a year on AAG.

Thank you Ella for commenting on my comments and also joining our new 'The Beauty of Nature Created by God group; I'll add more photos this week since we are starting to attract people; You are in charge of providing the lumpiang shanghai; lived on them for 3 days on a flight delay during my Marine Corps days.