The Double Rainbow-A Double Covenant?

This morning, I woke up to a smoky gray sky, the rumblings of thunder, lemon yellow clouds and this…

Um. Hello.

“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:16

“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him…

…This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” Ezekiel 1:28

I pretty much fell face down while enjoying the rainbow from my front yard. Yes, I was overwhelmed with God’s covenant and His glory, but I must be honest. It was mostly because I had the camera plastered to my face and stepped in a disguised hole left by a removed tree.

But hey-call it what you will. Worship. Clutziness. God loves me no matter what. He gave me a rainbow this morning just to prove it.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

I have lived for 30+ years without seeing or participating in real combat. Following my graduation from Oral Roberts University with an International Business degree (two minors in German and Photography), I considered joining the military. Not only did they retroactively pay for your college tuition, but they picked out your outfits each day. And I look good in green.

Pretty much a win-win from my perspective.

I knew you had to be really tough, get muddy, climb under barbed wire, scale fences and then…you got to wear really cute hats.

I’ll take barbed wire any day, if it means cute hats.

A military passion seemed to run in my blood. My grandfather was in the navy and my father was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army. Uncles on both sides served, participated in and fought in several wars.

However, I haven’t lost a brother, a husband, a dad, or a cousin to a war. My life in Tulsa is pretty much free from military influence.

While I wish all nations would be peaceful, I realize that there is evil afoot. Sure, I’d like to have round table discussions with political leaders who acquiesce at mass murdering their own people. Leaders who would put the nation’s interest first and theirs, dead last.

But knowing the reality within my own family just to decide on which restaurant to eat at, I know that asking insanely egomaniacal leaders to humble themselves is almost ludicrous.

There is evil in this world and it is plainly that-evil.

Photo Credit
Without a proper guide, our nation will crumble. Without a Godly guide, our nation will fall into patterns seen before-socialism, communism, nepotism. Call it archaic, call me religious, but when men seek what men want, nations suffer and fall. It’s not my opinion-it’s historical fact. Not that there are many examples to give you. Men (and women) always seem to get in the way, often using God as an excuse to do the horribly wrong thing. When men seek what God wants, nations could prosper and thrive.

I for one, don’t want to relive a Sunday, Bloody Sunday. I want a holy Sunday, set apart for our nation to worship the one true God-that never changes, never forgets, never abandons and always forgives. I want a Sunday for those who need a Sunday.

Will you join me on this Sunday to fight the good fight, to run the race, to never give up, to never give in and to always seek after the One who has called us His very own?

Bianca-Up Close and Personal

Maxwell is the one typically getting the camera’s attention. He’s a bizarre cat that does bizarre things which inspires me to document this bizarre behavior. All the while, pretty, delicate Bianca is sitting quietly in the background, preening herself and praying to the cat-gods that Max won’t attack her.

I decided to do a little impromptu photo shoot using a lens that I normally don’t use (ProMaster Spectrum Teleconverter Lens w/ Magnification of 2x, along with a Nikkor 50MM 1:1.8D).

And Bianca happened to be in the line of fire.

I set the camera to 400 ISO and used natural daylight to play with the lens’ depth of field. I loved how detailed the image could be, along with an intense depth of field.

Her paws are so dang cute.

Bianca’s pink little nose is one of my favorite things about her.

That and the fact that she isn’t stinky, like a certain other kitty.

Stepping back a few feet, I was able to capture her powerful green eyes. Sometimes, when she looks at me, I swear she is reading my mind…

Bianca has some of the longest whiskers I have ever seen on a kitty. When she sheds one of these, I’m tempted to make an ink pen out of it.

Soon, she bored of me and went back to sleep in her favorite position-on her back, with her front and back paws curled into rabbit position and her body wedged in the corner of the couch.

I guess she’s pretty bizarre, too.

Give-Away! My Inspirational Wrapped Canvas Prints

Dear Readers:
I’m going to get very real right now.

Momma (me) needs to make some money. Biceps took a huge cut in pay to become a firefighter and our budget is getting tighter every month. If you know anything about me, you know that I am one seriously frugal girl. We operate on a debt-free mindset (no credit cards) and are determined to be completely debt-free (student loans, our rent houses and our house) in six years or less.

I am making every homemade product for myself that I possibly can to save money. I considered selling these, but determined the profit margin wouldn’t be there for me while making it affordable to others.

We drive a paid for, slightly used (hah!) 8 year old van that badly needs new tires. I happily bike all over town so that we don’t have to buy a second car and so that I can burn some extra calories.

That said-I need a job and have been sending out resumes one right after another. This blog pays me diddly squat and being a self-employed writer is either feast or famine. And, as of yet, no one has offered to pay me to sit around looking cute. Dang them.

“The Harvest”
After talking with my mom this morning, she got my creative juices flowing. She reminded me of the prints with scriptures that I made for their bookstore and wondered if it wouldn’t be feasible for me to sell them through Etsy (which she pronounces Es-ty) or something similar.

I instantly thought this was a brilliant idea! I have decided to sell the following prints as wrapped canvas prints.

And, I’m giving one away to a lucky winner! Enter now for your very own FREE inspiration wrapped canvas prints.!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

“His Sheep”
These inspirational wrapped canvas prints are made from original photographs that I have taken around the country as I travel. Each photograph has a significant meaning to me, which I will share with you in a personalized note along with your order.

Now, here’s the lowdown-these wrapped canvas prints are totally customizable with your choice of inspirational saying, scripture, last name-whatever!

The canvas is either .75″ or  1.5″ deep, with the print bleeding all the way to the edges. The best part is-there’s no need to frame this. When you receive the wrapped canvas print, all you need to do is decide on where you want to hang it.

“His Pathway”
These make great gifts for pastors, friends, grandparents-and they look perfect at home or in the office.

“He is my Rock”
If you don’t happen to win this giveaway and still can’t live without one of these, here are a few prices for you to reference (but you can email me if you have a particular size in mind that I haven’t listed):

8 x 10- $49
10 x 14- $59
12 x 16- $64
16 x 20- $75
20 x 36- $169

*These prices include Free Shipping! Please allow 2 weeks for delivery of your item.

“The Light”
Let me know if you have any suggestions or thoughts. I am excited to hear what you, my dear friends, have to say! Don’t forget to enter the give away!