Annie's Blog

 I was lucky enough to get to the beach with the grandchildren ...  the beach was great ... the sea was a little wild for the little ones, but they had a great time nevertheless. Psalm 148: Praise the Lord from the heavens, Praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all ye heavenly hosts Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding.... Let them praise the name of the Lord for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

Love is all there is... Love and cherish your families Tell them you love them, Tell them God loves them..  and read someone's words about the loss of a cherished family member ... Thanks CBW, for sharing how it feels to lose someone, someone so precious that there are no words. And yet you were able to put it into such eloquent prose, how it might feel...it is so lovely to read  how you post about your precious family, and hold them close to you... May God be with you all, and the grieving  family and friends of the precious person taken from you too soon. May God help us to express our love for those closest to us, and to care for them such that they know they are loved.

 Some cloud formations observed the other day as I drove north out of the city  Nice to be able to have lunch at Caloundra on the way to see the grandchildren! Not a bad spot...there were still people in swimming. It is getting cooler these days, but I guess there are always people visiting from further south who think it is warm enough to swim! Another inspirational link. This time from from a lady called Cynthia Bezek on her blog Let's Talk The first particular post I was drawn to was titled:  When Prayer Feels Flat but there was another called   A Thousand Blessings which I found just as compelling. I hope you get a chance to read these challenging words, and spend time talking to God this week. May God Bless You and Keep you. In all your weekly activities.

Come with me on a tour of the Brisbane Boys Grammar School Looks like it has been here for a while, but kept in good repair. Nice grounds, lovely old trees, Moreton Bay Figs. Good shade areas for recess times. It certainly has a great spot up on a terrace near the city. And a great gymnasium where we had the opportunity to see some youngsters going for their level 3 gymnastics.on various apparatus. The youngsters were exercising the natural gifts they have been given, gifts of ability. Using gifts of time from their parents to exercise these abilities. Ann Voskamp in her blog A Holy Experience shares two recent powerful stories about Gifts...from God. They should be required reading for all! The first is called   What Gosnell and the Gospel mean to the Brave and the second most recent one is : Four Things you really need to know about your gifts I do hope you get time to read them, please bookmark them if you don't! You will truly appreciate what she ...

Donna from her interesting blog Cottage Days and Journeys hosts a Photo Challenge once a month. This month the challenge is simply SIMPLICITY We were supposed to choose three photos,  I am sorry, I have done my usual thing and couldn't decide which three! I have found this challenge easier, because I usually try to focus closely onto the main subject, or usually end up editing photos to cut out all the extra data not needed. I guess I have caught using this trick from watching other bloggers and photographers, and the way they present their photos. So click on Donna's  photo challenge blog to join in, or to view the blog posts by the other entrants. A Thank you to Donna for all the hard work you put into your photography and for sharing your tips,  and for starting this Challenge. I hope you enjoy visiting all the other participants, from tonight on.

Special days...another one from the same day at Dicky Beach. and a special post from Ann Voskamp from her blog A Holy Experience on Depression (on what Christians should know about Mental Health) Thanks to Ann, author of the book 1000 gifts, for putting difficult thoughts into words once more.

..same day at Dicky Beach, as the post below. Quite impressive. So glad Mr Four got a little play at the beach that morning, before that very large cloud moved across and rained on us later at the library!

And after all the hard work cleaning up over the Easter holiday weekend, a trip to the beach and grandchildren! Hooray. A spectacular cloud formed offshore, and dumped itself on us after our little morning on the beach, just as we were going in and out to the library! oops, I nearly forgot,  I promised you the link for Marilyn's blog post   Some one to Sit With You excellently written from the heart. Thanks for sharing with us Marilyn. Hope you have a great weekend.

 We have just celebrated Easter here with a long weekend  there was  an impromptu Easter egg hunt after church on Sunday with the visiting grandchildren Which way are we headed in Life? For some interesting  thoughts, a visit to Marilyn's blog As Good a Day as Any. more especially, On Figuring Out Forgiveness and her post previous to that Someone to Sit With You in the above blog. Blogger has taken exception to putting links to two of Marilyn's posts so I will provide the specific link in my next post!! (please remind me if I forget)! I do so enjoy Marilyn's writing and the way she expresses herself! Thanks Marilyn for letting me share your thoughts here. May God go with you all this week.