A Pilgrims Prayer

/ Janna Hill / 9 Comments

Once upon a time a long, a long time ago (before Black Friday) Thanksgiving was a celebration of harvest and a time to give thanks. Hence the name thanksgiving.

I don’t think the early pilgrims had a Super Walmart, a Sears or a Best Buy yet somehow they managed. Can you imagine having to grow your own food and prepare it without the help of google? When did they have time? Where did they get their Stove Top stuffing and who plucked the turkeys? How did those crazy pilgrims do it?

I didn’t really know any of those pilgrims but I did see a John Wayne movie once. John knew a pilgrim when he saw one. He seemed to know a lot of pilgrims but that was a long time ago too.John Wayne

I propose we are all pilgrims, each one of us on a journey of sorts. Our own personal pilgrimage…

Aren’t we are all looking for something? Be it a quest for self-confirmation, truth, a cure, enrichment, comfort, a friend, a lover, a job, a meal or a place to lay our weary head at the end of another day.

I believe life is a journey, or at least it should be. It would be terrible to think we were just flailing through this experience; killing time on this giant floating gumball while waiting for the next Black Friday specials.

I believe we all have one destination though we travel different roads and I trust that we have choices.

Pilgrims (2)Hopefully we will choose well. On the occasion we do take a wrong turn [and we will from time to time] I pray we have enough sense and humility to stop and seek direction… to reassess our route and to be considerate in our voyage.

So here’s wishing all of you pilgrims a Happy, Happy Thanksgiving and may we all, whatever road we’re on, take time to look ahead, pause and bow our head in thanks.

My personal prayer:

I pray our good seeds of hope, humility, toil and courage produce abundantly; that love and kindness grow wild like the weeds of early spring – fruitful and undeterred.  And may our harvest be rich with wisdom and discernment.

Thank you Father, The Creator of all things, for this day and all it holds. Thank you for the days past and Father forgive me for my wrong turns. Thank you for the day to come and guide me to make better choices. Thank you for all the pilgrims in my life – for those who’ve gone ahead and the ones that come behind and for those who read this prayer. And Thank You Father for the beacon that lights my way.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected

/ Janna Hill / 13 Comments

Cheri said “IN A NEW POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PHOTO THAT MEANS UNEXPECTED TO YOU.”

Well Cheri I wake up in a new world every morning so just about anything that happens after the first cup of coffee comes as a surprise.

Unexpected things are happening around us every day, 24/7 but we are usually too preoccupied to appreciate them. Small astonishing things like this dried leaf wafting on a breeze.

Or the tiny sweet bloom of an Elaeagnus

elaeagnus bloom

Some things we totally expect. If the weatherman tells us a storm is coming we anticipate a change in atmosphere accompanied by a little wind and rain. If we see lightning we generally expect to hear thunder.

We can even guesstimate the distance of a storm by counting the  seconds between the lighting strike and the boom of thunder then divide that number by two. But occasionally they come so close together you barely purse your lips to say one and WHAM!!

The unexpected happens.

 

That’s why I refuse to live in tree. 😉

Too Numerous To Mention

/ Janna Hill / 12 Comments

This weeks photo challenge is titled Habit. I have far too many to mention and fewer still I am willing to confess but isn’t that a lovely sky? Maybe I am a habitual optimist – always looking up.

Not Quite Macabre

/ Janna Hill / 23 Comments

In response to the weekly photo challenge: Eerie

Give no heed to the Sasquatch and ignore the Chupacabra for they are plainly seen.

But be watchful of the light and mindful of the shade for there are dreadful things in between.

Weekly Photo Challenge (Combining Hues & Horizons)

/ Janna Hill / 23 Comments

These photos are recycled from older posts but they will work for the challenge(s): The Hue of You and Horizons.

This is me. These colors are the sum of my parts and they bring me peace. That along with the unfaltering hope that what lies beyond the next horizon will be all I ever dreamed of.

 

Lake Fork at Sunset
Mardi Gras Sky
Spying on young lover’s Lake Tawakoni
Evenings to be Savored
Another day ending Lake Tawakoni
Touching the sky at Keller Bay
Breaking Dawn South Texas
Navarro Mills Lake at Day Break

We are what we eat, what we breathe and what we believe.  Eat to nourish the body, breathe to soothe the soul and believe the sky is the the limit.

_jrh

Weekly Photo Challenge: Infinite

/ Janna Hill / 8 Comments

Infinite

As in clouds and sunsets…

Massive horns…

And endless entertainment

Rain clouds forming
Sunset at ramp
Texas Longhorn peek-a-boo
Laughing gull fishing
Spoonbill sanctuary

Carpe diem y’all because nothing lasts forever

Good Morning

/ Janna Hill / 10 Comments

Q: What does your morning look like?

A: My mornings consist of coffee (lots of coffee), a walk and being greeted by the most awesome guard dogs in the world. See how they saved me from that turkey in the background?

Thank you for keeping that vicious turkey at bay
Good morning Morning Glory
Inspired by a change in weather

I wake the flowers up ‘good morning Morning Glory’ and forecast the weather by holding my wet thumb in the air. Sometimes I lick it, sometimes I let one of the dogs do it for me.

Today’s forecast: FABULOUS. It is cloudy and seventy degrees.  The wind is up, the temperature is down and there is a real honest to goodness cold front blowing in. 🙂

Gloomy skies are the perfect inspiration for dark stories so I had better get busy before the weather changes.  You know the old saying “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.” “why lick your thumb if someone else will do it for you.”