Finding joy in the everyday

Hebe from my garden THE grass withers, the flowers fade,  But the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8

Artist: Nadine Lundahl Born: Finland, 1958 Educated at the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, Nadine concentrated more fully on her preferred subject matter by studying the techniques of the 17th century Flemish and Dutch still life painters. Developing her subjects on a relatively small scale, she uses traditional oil painting techniques, working wet in wet on specially prepared panels. Each painting is so complex that it is impossible for her to work on more than one at a time. The artist lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium and has exhibited in England, Finland, Portugal, Norway and in Canada. (information sourced here)

There is something wonderful about watching the sun rise on a crisp Autumn morning.  Something magical. Something perfect. On Monday morning my husband and I got up early and left home at 6:30am so we could watch this beautiful scene. It was breathtaking.  I know the sun rises everyday and sets every night, but no matter how many times I see it, it is still a glorious scene.  I live in a place that is beautiful. I am blessed. It is only a small city of 350,000 residents, our homes are surrounded by mountains and we live nestled within the valleys.  To often we forget how beautiful our own surroundings are and quick to want to wander to other locations and forget to look at those places close to home thinking they couldn't possibly be exotic.  I hope these photos give you an idea of how beautiful this little corner of Australia really is.  The sun had only just woken up, it didn't take long to show its face. The balloons add something ver...

For the first time ever, the UK's biggest supermarkets are to stock a religious-themed Easter egg. For three years, customers have pestered stores and bishops written letters of endorsement to senior management. Now, for the first time, leading supermarkets Sainsbury's and Tesco will stock The Real Easter Egg, though stock levels will vary. Launched in 2010, The Real Easter Egg is backed by church leaders. All the supermarkets turned down the idea at first, so The Meaningful Chocolate Company, which manufactures The Real Easter Egg, sold more than 250,000 Real Easter Eggs through mail order. The leading supermarket turn-around is therefore a milestone. ( Source ) What do you think of this idea? Whilst I don't think Easter eggs have any place in Easter, I do think that if one person reads the message and wants to find out more, then perhaps it is a good thing.   Out of 80 million eggs on sale in the UK, The Real Easter Egg is the first and only one to expla...

If God sends us on stony paths,  he provides strong shoes. Corrie Ten Boom

Artist: Yayoi Kusama Japanese Art installation, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art, December 2012 A domestic room was created within the art gallery and everything was painted white. Over a two week period everyone who visited, in particular children were encouraged to stick brightly coloured stickers anywhere they wanted. This is the transformation. It was called "The Obliteration Room" Yayoi Kusama loves dots, in particular very colourful dots and this can been seen in her other works below. Her fascination with dots started at the age of 10 and she hasn't stopped incoporating them into her artwork. The artist herself. "Flowers that bloom at midnight" Artworks and idea is from Colossal.com