BLUE MONDAY

Awe - aren't they sweet?

Wouldn't you hate to have to count them?  

Go visit Sally at Smiling Sally for more Blue Monday posts.

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

This video is based on Ecclesiastes 3 which is one of my all time favorite scriptures. I hope you enjoy it and that will bless your life as it has mine. Click here to go to the Spiritual Sundays blog for more links. 

I deleted the video on May 6th because it starts automatically and I didn't want the music to play every time the blog was opened.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED IN 2064 YEARS?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance."    - Cicero - 55 BC

So the question "What have we learned?" Apparently nothing ...

SOMETHING FOR CONNIE

No, I didn't make it. The picture was e-mailed to me by a friend.

I'll bet this tree stayed warm all winter. LOL

Important Message

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Visit Dixie at French Lique for more "Wordless Wednesday."

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

After posting pictures of our Thomas Kinkade paintings and other Kinkade stuff, I decided to take another look at one of his books, Lightposts for Living. I love it when one of my favorite celebrities is a Christian. 

One of the chapters in this book is about balance. It's called Remember to Keep Moving. He asks if you have ever tried to balance yourself on one foot without moving. It can't be done. You have to keep readjusting or you will fall over. I remember trying to balance my bike when I was a kid while standing still. You can't do it. You have to get moving. Kinkade uses the example of a seesaw on a playground. The fun of playing on it is moving up and down. He says you could make the whole thing more stable if you took the board off and laid it on the ground, but the result would be boring and meaningless. 

Life requires a constant shifting, changing and readjusting. Otherwise, life would be very boring. As Christians we want the light of Christ to shine in our lives. To do this we must live a balanced life in my opinion. 

Kinkade goes on to say that the very changing tilting dynamic he has found can sometimes fool us into thinking we're losing our balance when we're actually doing all right. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves to relax a little more, and worry a little less, to trust the way we've blocked in the composition and set ourselves up for balance, to remember the big picture and not let the details overwhelm it.

Up, down, with a constantly changing perspective on the canvas of your life -- it's the way things should be. A dynamic equilibrium--full of richness and balance and harmony and joy. 

When I find my focus and keep my balance --

I find that all is right with my world.

                 -Thomas Kinkaid

Be sure to visit the Spiritual Sundays blog for links to other posts. And -- if you didn't see the Thomas Kinkade photos that I put on my other blog, you can click here to go there.

ARIZONA

I Love You Arizona is the way the song starts. Arizona is the name of the beautiful song on a video that was e-mailed to me recently. It couldn't be posted on this blog, but you can click HERE to see the video. It includes beautiful photos of Arizona. You may fall in love with Arizona too. 

QUAIL

A few weeks ago I posted pictures of a couple of quail that were walking along our back fence. This afternoon I looked outside and there were three quail hangin' out by the pool. By the time I got my camera two of them had moved on and the third one was rapidly walking around the pool. I got a couple of shots of him. 

There he goes -- Isn't he cute?

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

If you have been following my blogs you know that I am excited that Scott MacIntyre is still in the running for American Idol. I doubt that he wins the title but even going as far as he has is an inspiration to many people, including me. And I cheered Wednesday night as they were designating who would be eliminated when they told him, "Scott - you are safe." I saw a poem in the book I have been reading the past few weeks called Poems that Touch the Heart. This poem was called The Blind Man. Of course when I saw the title I immediately thought about Scott. Here is the poem:

THE BLIND MAN

I see a blind man every day

Go bravely down the street;

He walks as if the path were clear

Before his steady feet.

Save when he fumbles with his cane,

I almost feel he sees

The passers-by who smile at him,

The flowers and the trees.

He comes to corners where the crowd

Of traffic swirls about,

But when he hesitates, some hand

Will always help him out.

He crosses pavements fearlessly--It is as if he knows

That there are unknown, watchful friends

Along the way he goes!

Sometimes we walk through unseen paths,

Sometimes the road ahead

Is shrouded in the midst of fears;

But we are being led

As surely as the blind man is . . . 

And, if we seem to sway

A hand will find us in the dark

And guide us on our way.

- Margaret E. Sangster

When Scott walks out on the stage at our church to help lead the worship, someone always walks with him to guide him to the piano where he sits down. When it is time for him to leave someone comes back to him and walks off the stage with him. 

This poem reminds me that we are all blind in some ways and we need a helping hand. I believe we all should strive to be someone who is always willing and eager to lend a helping hand when we can. Isn't that what this life is all about? Remember Jesus said that when we help someone in need we are doing it unto him. 

Be sure to visit Spiritual Sundays for links to other spiritual/inspirational posts.

 

SPRINKLES CUPCAKES

There is a new little shop across from the Scottsdale Mall called Sprinkles. All they sell is cupcakes. Everytime we go to that mall we say we should stop by Sprinkles and buy a cupcake to share.  Well, today we did stop by there but the cupcakes all looked so good that we decided to buy two instead of one. As soon as we got back in the car we took a couple of bites out of each one of them. I said "I should have taken a picture of them before we ate them to put on my blog. When I opened the box after we got home, I decided to take a picture of the remains. Here they are.

Then I put them on a plate, and it wasn't long before both of them were history. Ummm they were good, but not worth over $3.00 each. That's ridiculous. We won't be buying any more, but we did enjoy these two. All we bought at the mall was more stuff to eat. We each had a slice of pizza for lunch and went by Harry & David's and bought some dark chocolate truffles. Next week we're cuttin' down. lol

p.s. In case you're wondering - that little red and blue thing on the red velvet cupcake is a candy decoration that identifies it. 

SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS

Here is another poem from Poems that Touch the Heart by A.L. Alexander.

START WHERE YOU STAND

Start where you stand and never mind the past;

The past won't help you in beginning new;

If you have left it all behind at last

Why, that's enough, you're done with it, you're through;

This is another chapter in the book;

This is another race that you have planned;

Don't give the vanished days a backward look;

Start where you stand.

The world won't care about your old defeats

If you can start anew and win success;

The future is your time, and time is fleet

And there is much of work and strain and stress;

Forget the buried woes and dead despairs;

Here is a brand-new trial right at hand;

The future is for him who does and dares;

Start where you stand.

Old failures will not halt, old triumphs aid;

Today's the thing, tomorrow soon will be;

Get in the fight and face it unafraid.

And leave the past to ancient history;

What has been has been yesterday is dead

And by it you are neither blessed nor banned;

Take courage, man, be brave and drive ahead;

Start where you stand.

- Berton Braley

When I read this poem I immediately thought of the scripture that tells us to put the old things behind us and press on. In Philippians 3:13,14  Paul says: ¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Be sure to visit Spiritual Sundays for links to more inspirational/spiritual posts. You are welcome to just go there and read what others have posted, or you may post something of that nature on your blog and go to Spiritual Sundays and link it on Mr. Linky. You can click HERE to find out more about linking your post to that blog.

UPDATE ON AMERICAN IDOL

It was announced tonight that Scott has made it to the final twelve. Yay. I'm so excited!!!

A NEW AMERICAN IDOL?

Scott MacIntyre is one of the final 36 contestants on American Idol. We never (hardly ever) watch this show but we watched it last night because we are so excited that this young man is competing. He is a member of our church and we have enjoyed him and his family leading our worship occasionally. He is terrific when he plays the piano and sings too. The remarkable thing about it is that he's legally blind. 

Here's some info about him I downloaded from the internet. It's impressive, but the best thing about him is that he is a committed Christian and if he wins will have a wonderful testimony. We voted for him last night - first time we have ever voted for a contestant on this show I hope you will want to support him as well.

Scott MacIntyre is in the top 36 contestants on FOX's "American Idol 8." Scott MacIntyre auditioned in Phoenix, Arizona. Scott MacIntyre sang "And So It Goes" by Billy Joel for his audition. All four judges voted yes to send Scott MacIntyre to Hollywood. 

Scott MacIntyre is almost blind and plays several instruments including the piano. Classically trained, Scott MacIntyre has been internationally profiled on CNN, Headline News, Sky News Europe, Global Television Network, USA Today, and national and local news, radio, and print media as pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. Scott MacIntyre has independently produced, engineered, and released 6 full-length CD's and has written in genres spanning pop, rock, punk, jazz, and classical. 

Scott MacIntyre started college at 14 years old and earned his bachelor's degree from Arizona State University at age 19. He then attended graduate school in London, England. He also plays piano, guitar and drums. Scott MacIntyre is from Scottsdale, Arizona and is 23 years old.