Creator God Revealed

Photo essay by Gail Smith

Psalm 36

5 Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,

 

your justice like the ocean depths.

 

You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.

 

7     How precious is your unfailing love, O God!  All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

8 You feed them from the abundance of your own house,

letting them drink from your river of delights.

 

9 For you are the fountain of life,

 

the light by which we see.

 

WINTER WEARINESS

By Sharon Wilhite

Why is it - with every passing year - that winter weighs so heavily upon me? Three heavy blankets (not “comforters”) of snow, cold, and extra darkness press down on me, making me want to burrow under my actual pile of bed covers and not get up and out until the light and warmth of spring arrives. Sunny, cold days I can tolerate. Grey, frigid days press hard on body, soul, and spirit. I know in my mind that “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Eccl. 3:1), but my body and soul are harder to convince. I can help my body with exercise. My mind can fantasize about a winter beach condo in Florida. But my soul is what needs rejuvenating or I am in danger of becoming more depressed with each successive winter.

“My beloved spoke and said unto ME, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past…the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come…the fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” (Song of Solomon 2:10-13)

The invitation is there. Everyday spent with my Lord - in His Word,
in prayer, in song - is a spiritual getaway, a soul “destination vacation” guaranteed to bring back warmth and life to my spirit!

An old song from my teen years mirror my thoughts:

Lord, to my heart bring back the springtime.

Take away the cold and dark of sin.

And, oh refill me now, sweet Holy Spirit;

May I warm and tender be again.

(Kurt Kaiser, 1970)

Oh, Lord, I want to ARISE and COME AWAY - WITH YOU!

RED!

 Photo Collage by Sharon Wilhite

RED!

 

  Red is the color of passion, energy, redemption, and love.

 Wearing red always seemed to give me energy and confidence when tired or nervous during my college days.

From my childhood on I wanted a red winter coat to brighten up a long winter - I'm still waiting.

 Red cars are always a fascination to men young and old - and especially to the highway patrol!

 Red is the color of life continually running through us.

It is the color of new life spilled for us by Christ on the cross.

 

 RED!

 

You can see more of Sharon's work at photograpHER5.blogspot.com

“A GOODLY HERITAGE”

By Sharon Wilhite

“The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.” -Ps.16:6

I have always known that God blessed me greatly with the parents He placed me with 50 years ago. 

 

Spiritually, they took me to church as soon as I was born and showed me how to be saved and live a godly life by word and example. 

 

Mentally, a book was always in my father’s reach, the library was a favorite destination, books filled the back window of our car on vacation, and they were a present to be desired on birthdays and at Christmas. 

 

Physically, swimming lessons were a usual summer activity that led to a life long love of the water and swimming as exercise as well as fun. 

 

Creatively, they both used the talents that God had given them in music, sewing, painting, and photography (to name a few) and shared them with their three daughters. My father’s love for taking pictures inspired me to do the same but probably more prolifically with the advent of digital cameras. I love seeing my children now taking pictures with that same enjoyment of their mother and grandfather before them. 

 

What else am I passing down to them intentionally or unintentionally?!