Life's Seasons

Couple of Our Daily Bread pages/writings came to mind this morning and i did some effort to find them on ODB website.
I like the perspective of these thoughts by Bible teacher J. Robertson McQuilkin

READ: Psalm 71:1-21

By You I have been upheld from birth . . . . My praise shall be continually of You. —Psalm 71:6

"When we are young, we can't wait to grow up. When we are old, we look back longingly to former years. But God intends that we joyfully take each season of life as it comes. Whatever our age, He imparts what we need to be all that we can be. He asks us to commit our way to Him and accept the struggles He allows and the strength He provides.

A woman who was facing the difficulties of aging asked Bible teacher J. Robertson McQuilkin, "Why does God let us get old and weak?" McQuilkin replied, "I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical. But the strength and beauty of old age is spiritual. We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we'll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty that is forever. And so we'll be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave."

Are you in life's springtime? Trust God's timing to fulfill your dreams. Are you in life's summer or autumn? Face your daily challenges head-on. And if you feel winter's chill, draw close to the Lord. His presence can make every season of life one of strength and beauty." —Dennis J. De Haan

While the earth remains..

"While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease"
/ Genesis 8:22 King James v.

The Art of God

Do we have time to stop and notice beauty which is there everyday, but hidden if we rush about, rush past - past familiar flowers, past morning dew, stumping on millions of dewdrops, which are waiting for us to bend down and to enjoy freshness of new day...

STOP ! - to see, to fill your heart with Beauty!

Pictures versus Words

Whenever it has come to the decision in the evenings to work on pictures or to write something in my Blog - pictures always wins. So you who time to time faithfully still keep coming back to my Blog to check it out (for some miracle) and being disappointed, could go to my pictures and find couple new pictures every week. But there is many pictures on my albums, whose stories behind them you don't know. Like this one - which i kept in my mind to write about for almost a year now.
There is a program on VH1 music channel on TV which is called "Storytellers" and for some while i meant to create an album with that title in my galleries. As not really knowing with what to start (return) to my writing i thought that this could be good return.

So, here is the STORY behind this picture/monument.
The monument is called "Monument of Faithfulness (dedication)"
One the other picture you see the junction of the street. Some years ago there was a car accident in which deadly was hurt a man. With him in his car there was a dog. The man was carried away from the place where accident took place, but the dog stayed where he last saw his owner. It lasted several days till people started to notice faithful dog who was still waiting for his master. People started to feed the dog, but as he finished his meal he would always go back to his spot.
This continued for couple years or so till the faithful Dog died and somebody came with the idea to build the ' Monument of Faithfulness'

Now it is the place for the people of Tolyatti (in Russia) where newlyweds come to pledge their Faithfulness to each other.

What a STORY for us, people to learn from about Faithfulness!

79 years ago or 'breath of eternity'

As i emptied some box with my wife's old letters from friends and some old photos, i noticed some really old photos. i could say that some of those photos are Historical. It is about history of Salvation Army in Latvia. I found one quite small photo of Salvation Army march in Riga.
On the other side of the photo it said that it is Salvation Army congress in Riga, year 1928. From the photo i could recognize the building which is on the left side, but i was not sure where i have seen it, but i was sure that it is still standing there today.

For two weeks this photo has bothered my mind making me figure it out where that tram line went. Two times i failed with my presumptions where it could be, which made me study the picture more intently. And IT WORKED. My closer look did not disappoint me. I found some clues - main was building with the columns farther on the street, which made me think that it is Orthodox Church on the main street of Riga and it surely was correct. So the next day i had chance to stand at the very same spot where the picture was taken 79 years ago.
In these last days i had some interesting thoughts around This picture and maybe they came to me even at that particular moment when i stood there waiting for some traffic to clear to make my "79 years after" photo.



I thought about the moment - the daily life of that (THEN) photo and this (NOW) one which i was taking. The same place, the same street, but time gap tells the difference. Time wanted to whisper to me some story. As the lens of an old photo showed the street from above, the same way Eternal with His Spirit lifted my thoughts up to look to this old picture from above.
My thoughts stopped at the people on that old picture with the question: Where are they all now? And the answer was easy - they ALL are gone, probably even the youngest. Who were they? some were richer, some purer, some were happier and some maybe not so happy. But they all had given their Time to live - to grow and learn, to laugh and cry, to sing and dance, to work and rest, to sow and reap, to do good or evil, to LOVE or hate. They all have their choices whom to believe 'before leaving earth'. That is why Salvation Army marched that day - to help others to make the right choices about Eternal things - the things what matters the most, the things which lasts Forever. Their flag was raised to show to Whom they belong and to know where they are now. As for others - on the other side of the street - we don' t know where they are in Eternity.
Maybe 79 years from Today there will be other man finding these two pictures from 1928 and 2007, trying to find out where those pictures were taken, and finding the street and the spot he will stand there and will think similar thoughts as he take the same picture, just with his Time settings, but the same questions to answer.