Winner!

And the winner of this delightful stationery is . . .  

Thankful

I was browsing through some old pictures and thought some of them were worth sharing.

I'm thankful that this color blue exists - and does so after an overwhelming thunderstorm,

Semicolons

This quote made me chuckle because I happen to be a semicolon addict. As in, I use em excessively, but like them with too great a passion to really do anything proactive about it.

"First rule: Do not use semicolons. There are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college." - Kurt Vonnegut A Man Without a Country (2005)

Raspberry Streusel Bars

Butter. Butter, raspberries, and almonds, actually. I don't think there's much more that needs to be said.

Allow Me to Give You Some Free Stuff...

I did it! I created an Etsy shop!

Thankful

For sunny apricots and garden-grown lavender,

for a reading list whose length extends with each trip to a thrift store,

For Eleven Dollars...

This is the best eleven dollars I've spent in a while.

Almond Granola with Dried Fruit

Recently I decided regular cereal no longer sounded good. I have no real explanation for this. I just woke up one morning and felt like I wanted a simple cereal without anything artificial in it. So I made granola. Story of my life - there's no explaining sudden cravings.

Thankful

 For old brick revealed,

Burdens

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Matthew 11:29 ESV

He wants all my burdens. All of them. Not one left for myself but the yoke he wants to share with me. What grace.



Agua Fresca: Watermelon + Mint and Papaya + Lime

Papaya+Lime on the right,Watermelon+Mint on the left.

Let's be real here. An agua fresca is basically a fruit juice with a fancy-shmancy name. The important thing is this: it's light and sweet and cold and it may be all I drink this summer.

Thankful

For kitties on the prowl,

Provision by Providence

"The story of Hagar and Ishmael came to mind while I was praying this morning, and I found great assurance in it. The story says that it is not only the father of a child who cares for its life, who protects its mother, and it says that even if the mother can't find a way to provide for it, or herself, provision will be made. At that level it is a story full of comfort.

Etsy Shop

I've been working on a little something-something.

Thankful

For "weeds" and tiny yellow gumdrop flowers,

"Tread Lightly . . ."

I visited Smithfield, Virginia the other day. It was achingly beautiful. 

Creativity and Work

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. 

We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” Ira Glass

Ira Glass is articulating something I've known in my head, but never seen communicated. It takes work to create the thing you mean to create. 

Y

Roasted Tomato Salsa (Or, an Ode to Cilantro)

I planted not one, but two cilantro plants in my garden. Fresh cilantro thrills me. Hence today's recipe.

Thankful

For chipping blue paint, 

More Like Christ

"God will not protect you from anything that makes you more like Christ." - Elizabeth Elliot

I love this quote. I love it because it means that God wants to give me real joy through holiness instead of shallow, empty happiness. I love it because it means that in season, sown suffering yields blessing. I love it because it means that as I become more Christ-like, I become more joy-filled. And all this is grace. 

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