Southwest Cottage Designs: flowers

Showing posts with label flowers. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Sunday's Garden Raindrops

Got pictures of raindrops on flowers? Raindrops on a flower, rainbow in the clouds, rain with the sun shining through...ah, such photos captured show glorious nature without any human intervention. This past Sunday it rained, and I noticed raindrops on the flowers in my garden. I, not able to pass up this beauty, ran to the house to grab my camera. Each flower has the adopted name I gave it.

Pink Beauty

Crimson Red

Pink Lace

Delicate Pink

Pink Snaps

Fuzzy Glistening

Snaps Glowing

White Lace

Pink Tinge

I grew up on the east side of Texas. We Texans refer to our areas as East Texas, Southeast Texas, West Texas, etc. In East Texas and Southeast Texas it rains much with storms often brewing. From the time I was very young, I was terrified of the severe storms with lightening and thunder crashing. But one thing has always amazed me. The rainbow. Through my travels across America, I've seen many beautiful rainbow settings. One of my favorites was a rainbow over the farm my family and I were staying at for a month in our RV that we traveled in full-time, 12 months out of the year. The family that owned the farm had a dog that died in a freak accident during the storm that day of the rainbow. The dog went into the barn, and a pole fell that hit the dog. It was a terribly sad day for all of us. Yet, the beauty of that rainbow over the farm somehow comforted us and reminded us of God's promises. Through my travels across the USA, I've been surprised at answers I've received when I asked the question of various people, "Do you know what the rainbow means?"
"I don't know. A pot of gold?" and "No, what does it mean?" they've asked.
Not only does the rainbow remind me of its purpose, God's promise to never destroy the earth with a flood again; it reminds me of God's many promises and that He doesn't forget His promises. It reminds me of His constant holy presence, comfort, and love. Like the chorus of a song I once penned and recorded on a tape, He is "Something special, faithful and true, kind and just in all that you do. You give mercy and love, comfort and peace. Lord, you're always there for me."
What do raindrops on flowers make you think of?
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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Hiding in Nature

Today I'm reminded of a bird I saw last week that must have wanted to hide. I was admiring the beauty of flowers in my little garden and heard a bird. I saw the bird and even tried to take several pictures of it. No matter the amount of pictures I took, the bird seemed to stay in the shadows. At first it looked down on me, then up, lingered a bit, then flew away. Sometimes I'd like to hide like that and fly away. Do you ever have moments like that? Psalm 17:8 says, "Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings." Imagine hiding under the wings of God as He picks us up to carry us under the shelter of His wings.

The little bird's colors causes it to blend in with the fence and tree. I knew it would fly away in seconds, so the picture isn't very clear, but this gives you a little view of what the sweet birdie looked like.

I was admiring and trying to capture the beauty of this lavender plant when the bird caught my attention.


These leaves' color stood out, and I just had to try to capture the beauty.

We ooh and aah about flowers, but have you ever noticed the first sprouts of leaves when spring arrives? I love the outdoors at my home. As we decorate our homes to match the seasons, God naturally decorates the world around us.

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