New Blog

Well friends, I have started a new blog...
If you have liked the things you have seen here, please come read Rays of Sunshine.
Otherwise, so long for now!

This started out as an experiment, and I've enjoyed it even if I haven't been very regular with posting.
I just needed a fresh start. I hope to see y'all over there!

Daniel :: Graduate

Daniel has completed his high school education, and I was privileged to take his graduation photos last week. Congratulations, brother!

We were driving slowly down the road and had just passed this alley, when I happened to look back and notice the neat rock wall and arched doorway. I told Daniel I wanted to try some pictures there, so he kindly backed down the road for me (good thing there wasn't any traffic at that point!), and the doorway shot is one of my favorites!

Our city park is a nice place for anyone's photos...

A Jealous God

"God is jealous." Nahum 1:2

Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that He would not stop in heaven without you; He would sooner die than you should perish, and He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and Himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend - worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, He is displeased and will chasten us that He may bring us to Himself.  He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in Him only, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with Him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He would fain have us abide in Him, and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself; and many of the trials which He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more closely upon Himself. Let this jealousy which should keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care thus about our love we may be sure that He will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies. Oh that we may have grace this day to keep our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

The Making of Chocolate Chip Cookies

The younger brother and I made chocolate chip cookies for our trip last weekend. They turned out to be about the best cookies we'd e.v.e.r. had! Here's our recipe...

1 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons hot water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts, optional

(we didn't use any this time)

:: cream butter and sugars ::

:: beat in eggs, one at a time ::

:: stir in vanilla ::

:: dissolve baking soda in hot water. add to batter along with salt ::

:: stir in flour, chocolate chips and nuts ::

:: place balls, about 1 inch in diameter on cookie sheets ::

:: bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes ::

::ENJOY::

:: be sure to try just a pinch of dough and at least 1 cookie as soon as it comes out of the oven! ::

New Look

Well, I've redesigned once again! I tried for a more springy look a few weeks ago but was not happy at all, so I'm glad I finally had the time to do it once more. I found my color scheme (Culinary Colors) on Design Seeds. I love looking at their site - there are so many pretty colors. :) I would recommend it to all of you looking for colors to decorate anything from your blog to your living room!