A tennis racket and baby chicks

Heyllo everyone!

Maybe you remember me saying in this post that Britt from Ranch Life Site has been hosting a challenge on her blog every month. Last month it was on Summer Skies, and this month it is on editing. So, here is what I am entering:

Before editing

After editing. 

What do you think of these? Do you think that the editing makes it a better looking picture?

We had five baby chicks just hatch, too! Four golden yellow--two of which have a brown spot on their head--and one black one with a little bit of yellowish-brown fuzz around it's face. They are really cute and fluffy :)

Here are some pictures--maybe not as good as they could be, because our camera is on vacation, but still, you get the picture ;^) :)

All of them together :) Does anyone else get a beautiful picture of adoption?

This is Hazelnut. It is the baby of the family. Well.....They're all babies, but he/she is the baby of the babies.

Hazelnut seems to have a large inclination to sleep :) 

This here is Lemon. She is second born.

These two are Dotty (on the left; Dotty on account of the little brown spot on his/her head; Dotty is also the firstborn), and Lemon (on the right).

The other one with the brown spot on it's head is named Zip, and the other all gold/yellow chick is named Sunshine.  Anyway, it's fun to be baby animal grandparents again :) While the actual hen, Bubblegum, did all the work of sitting on the eggs and keeping them the right temperature for 21 days, we were the ones that made sure her nest was secure of predators, and took her out to get some food and water every evening like she needed to--she couldn't quite seem to figure out how to get out of her cage thingy-ma-bobber. So we sort of feel like the grandparents to them or something. Twice duckling grandparents, now chick grandparents :) 

So, now you've seen our most recent farm additions. I hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as we love watching and holding them!

"Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction." ~Proverbs 10:14

Blessings,

Julia <3 

The Light of the World

*Note: This was written months ago, so when I refer to 'recently' I really mean months ago :)*

Hello Everyone!

This is something that sort of hit me recently: Did you realize that we are the light of the world? Matthew 5:14-15 says this: "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house."  

We are the light of the world! Well, let me make this clear--Christ is actually the Light. 1 John 1:5 says, "God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him."  But, here's the thing. As Christians, we have been chosen by God, to carry His Light. You think of the illustration of a candlelight service; A single candle is lit, and then all the other candles are lit from that one.  We are all candles, but we are not lit, originally. Only Christ is, because Christ is Light. When we become a Christian, we are lit with the light of Christ, and it is our charge to carry His Light around the world. Just as Matthew 5:14 says, our light cannot be hidden. We are like a city that is set on a hill. Everyone near it would be able to see a city that is set on a hill, right? And as verse 15 says, men don't light a candle and then put it under a basket. A candle is lit for a purpose, that is to give light to all that are in the house. So, when we are lit with the Light of Christ at the moment of salvation, we are not supposed to go and hide; if it's sincere, our light should not be able to be avoided, for one. Secondly, the candle of our soul is lit for a purpose, that is to give the Light of Christ to all those that are around us. 

Here is the definition of light: '(1) The natural agent that stimulates sight, and makes things visible; (2) Understanding of a mystery; enlightenment; (3) Provide with light; illuminate.'

A light shows the way. It casts out shadows and darkness. It shows the truth. In the darkness, the objects of a room seem completely different than they do in the light, right? In the dark, you also cannot see the things that are around you. You cannot see if there is danger. You cannot see what you are doing.  
With a light, you can see the truth of what is around you. You can see and avoid danger. You can see what you are doing and where you are going. 

Think about this. Think about the world as darkness, with no light. Just darkness. Then add believers who are like candles. You have all the people that are walking in darkness, who cannot see what they are doing, who cannot see the truth of what is around them, who cannot see the danger that awaits them. And then you have the believers who carry the Light of Christ, who show the truth, who expose the danger, who show where the path is headed. Do you realize the significance of this? Do you realize that without us, aside from Christ, there would be no light? There would be no one to show the truth, expose the danger to all who are walking, blindly, in darkness! 

Do you often wonder why God doesn't do this or doesn't do that, why He doesn't show so-and-so this or that? I don't know about you, but I do sometimes. Have you ever thought that maybe you are supposed to shine the Light of Christ in that area? Maybe He wants to use you to show the truth or expose the danger and bring light to the darkness! Isn't that such an interesting and uncomfortable thought? Yet at the same time it sort of gives you a sense of importance, doesn't it, to think that God has a purpose for you? To think that maybe God wants to use you as His tool to shed His Light? 

There is a song by Matthew West called 'Do Something.' Here are the lyrics to it:

I woke up this morning 
Saw a world full of trouble now 
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down 
How’s it ever gonna turn around 
So I turned my eyes to Heaven 
I thought, “God, why don’t You do something?” 
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of 
People living in poverty 
Children sold into slavery 
The thought disgusted me 
So, I shook my fist at Heaven 
Said, “God, why don’t You do something?” 
He said, “I did, I created you” 
If not us, then who 
If not me and you 
Right now, it’s time for us to do something 
If not now, then when 
Will we see an end 
To all this pain 
It’s not enough to do nothing 
It’s time for us to do something 
I’m so tired of talking 
About how we are God’s hands and feet 
But it’s easier to say than to be 
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves 
It’s alright, “somebody else will do something” 
Well, I don’t know about you 
But I’m sick and tired of life with no desire 
I don’t want a flame, I want a fire 
I wanna be the one who stands up and says, 
“I’m gonna do something” 
We are the salt of the earth 
We are a city on a hill 
But we’re never gonna change the world 
By standing still 
No we won’t stand still 
No we won’t stand still 
No we won’t stand still



Here is the music video, if you want to listen to it:

Without us there would be no light. The world would be in complete darkness. So let us consider our part and be a light. Even if it's just in our example and attitude in this moment. 

"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light." ~Psalm 36:9

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." ~Psalm 119:105

Blessings,
Julia <3

Journey to Love and Letter of Love Giveaway

Hello, again! 
Are there anymore avid readers out there? Personally, I go through phases of feeling like there are not enough good, Christian books to read, and other times feeling like there are tooo many good books to read and not enough time to read them all! 
If you are currently in the latter stage just described, you're in luck! Continue reading! 
If you are currently in the stage formerly described, welll, sorry, but you'll just have to add another book to your list. But, still, continue reading! 

Maybe you remember this post that I did on a Piano Book and CD giveaway from Amanda Tero, who blogs at With a Joyful Noise.  Well, Amanda is hosting another giveaway, this time for a book and short story that she has written and published!  As you can see, the book is called Journey to Love, and the short story sequel is called Letter of Love. Also, if you have a Kindle, take advantage of the other giveaway Amanda is offering--Journey to Love and Letter of Love are both going to be free on the 1st and 2nd of August!  

About Journey to Love:

Now orphaned, Marie is swept miles away from the only life she knew to be sheltered by unknown guardians. Caught in the challenges of a new life, she cannot prevent changes from happening, but she can keep the Bowles and their friends at arm's length. Or can she? 

While things appear to transition smoothly on the outside, Marie struggles against the turmoil she faces on the inside. She sees something in the Bowles and her new friends that she had never experienced before...but should she trust what the preacher is teaching when it goes against everything she had accepted as truth? Is God really a God of love? If He is, then is Marie willing to accept it? 

Follow Marie as she begins the journey to love.

About Letter of Love:

Edward Dixon is convinced that life is cruel, and he is not willing for anything to change his mind from that. A letter from his sister, Marie, reveals that she views life otherwise.

Will her letter, filled with love and forgiveness, Make a difference in Edward's life? Or will he stubbornly refuse to change before it's too late?


And now, for the giveaway!

If you live in the US, enter here.
If you live out of the US, enter here.

The fun doesn't end here though! Mark your calendars, because both Journey to Love and Letter of Love will be FREE on Amazon, August 1-2!! You'll only have two days to snatch them both. Share, share, share about this free deal!

Are you excited yet? Well go ahead and enter the giveaway or mark your calendar for the first of August or, just buy the book! 

Be sure to check out Amanda's blog, too, folks. Also, stay tuned for some more posts with topics including being a Light, and honesty, in the hopefully near future! 

"God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." ~1 John 4:16b

Have a wonderful day :)
 Julia <3

Cloud Nine

Hello People! 
Britt from Ranch Life has started to host a monthly challenge on her blog. I have been getting into taking pictures of the sky recently, so I was 'on Cloud 9' when I saw that her July monthly challenge was on Summer Skies! ;)
Guys, as I've mentioned before, I am a picture maniac (actually, I only recently became that way), and I  took over 700 pictures of the sky. No joke. So it was slightly hard to narrow it down to just 42 pictures, (with two extra being my brother's picture, and three extra being non-July photos) which is still quite a bit of a ridiculous number, but I did my best :) [Britt, if you choose this one to share, I'm sorry for it's length :) ] The majority of these pictures are raw, untouched by editing, except for two, and then one or so cropped. So, you're getting the harsh originals, folks :) I tried to be creative with these, so I hope you like them!

I am organizing these according to how they might appear in a day--Of course, a day always starts with a sunrise. After that, who knows but maybe it'd be a pure blue, clear sky? Then the wind starts to blow and in come sailing a few clouds. Pretty soon the whole sky might be clouded over. And then the day begins to come to a close and the glorious display of a sunset is splattered across the sky. Of course, after that, God hangs up the moon to rule the night. And then, after the moon comes out, you have just a cool picture in general, that doesn't exactly fit in with the whole scheme, except maybe the clouds came back and a storm breaks out.
Okay. Here goes.

Sunrise:
I rarely get up in time to see a sunrise, so I was elated when I had somewhere to be that required me to be up by 5:45am! It was my chance to kill two frogs with one stone! (Er, is it birds? :) Yes, I know it's birds, I'm just being silly)  The pictures were taken while I was sitting in the passenger seat of a moving car, so they aren't that great. But, hey, I got them! The first three are kinda the same, so sorry about that :)

You can just see the sun barely trying to peak it's head above the surface of the earth.

I had taken about a gazillion pictures before I decided I had taken enough and should put the camera away,  and then, BOOM, out pops the sun! 

Normal, blue sky:
Blue sky can be pretty, but it's also pretty boring to take a picture of. So, I tried to make it interesting by 1) bordering it with trees, and 2) taking the picture with branches against it. Of these two pics, the first is my favorite. I love how it shows, along with the blue sky, the three different shades of green and a bug in mid-air :) What do you think? 

Clouds: 
Okay, folks, this is a pretty big category! Clouds can come in many different shapes and sizes and sometimes they are so interesting. I was a little bored to find for the first while, that the clouds in the sky were pretty average, big, puffy cloud formations, that look like whipped cream wigs or marshmallows, sometimes with flat and light grey tableau looking bottoms, sometimes with lumpy stomachs. But then there struck a day where the sky was crazy beautiful with lacy cloud patches and average cloud formations! It was a really pretty day, just saying. 

 I added this picture because I thought it looked sort of like an elephant playing with a ball. Can you see it?

I know the lighting in this picture isn't very good, but I thought it was cool how it looked like a cyclone.

And these clouds look like you could just jump into a world of lacy fluffiness :)

I experimented with taking pictures in the reflections of a car. Some of the pictures came out really nice and clear. Some of them looked like a picture posted in the windows of the car. But in looking through them, I realized that a good amount of them were picturing more of the landscape than the sky so I only shared this one. What do you think? 

This looks kind of like a sheet of ice, doesn't it? (At least when you enlarge it)

Fully clouded sky:

Sunset:
Of course you have to have pictures of sunsets and sunrises. Some of mine aren't the greatest, but I hope you still enjoy them.

Just slightly tipped with the display of the sunset

 This looks a bit like a fish, to me (Maybe a swordfish?). Swimming in the glory of God's painting :)

This, along with the following three pictures, were taken on the same night. The sky actually didn't look like this, nor did I adjust the picture at all. It was just the light balance that changed the sky to look way more orange than in reality.

This is more what the sky looked like in reality

My camera ran out of batteries right at the peak of the sunset, so I rushed to replace the batteries and then captured the almost-ending proclamation. Again, the picture isn't that great, but this is what it looked like. It sort of just descended into a pocket of clouds that I didn't know were there.

Night sky:
I was bummed that I didn't bring my camera to take pictures of fireworks on the 4th of July--I thought that would be some great July sky pictures to share, but either I didn't see the contest in time, or I just didn't have the presence of mind to think of bringing it or both. Nonetheless, I didn't bring it. But I did take pictures of the moon later. 

This was as the sun was going down, so it was still mostly light out. If you click on these two pictures to enlarge them, you can see craters around the edges a little bit. Interesting, eh? 

Lightning:
On the fourth of July, there was an awesome lightning storm. I SOOO wished that I had my camera with me, but, again, I didn't. My brother, however, decided to take a video of it on his phone. What did we do? Played the video until it showed a flash of lightning, paused the video, took a screen shot, and edited out the play button! Genius, huh? :)
Here it is:

Since it was taken off my brother's phone, it was a little grainy, etc. So I edited it a little bit. It didn't exactly help the graininess, but, it sharpened it a little bit. These are both the same picture, but one is edited, one is not. Can you tell which is which? Which one do you like better? 

And last but not least,
Sky from June:
As maybe you noted from the title of Britt's challenge, JULY summer skies, these pictures are supposed to be from July. They all are. But as I also mentioned in the beginning of this post, I was starting to be interested in sky photos before the challenge, and in the end of June, I did take some. I liked these a lot, so I decided, since this is a sky post, even though these last three pictures are not from July, I would share them with you.

I love in this one how there's about three different kinds of clouds in it! 

This is a small rainbow we saw.

And I just liked this one.

And with that, I conclude this post! 

How did you like it? What do you think of the pictures? 

"The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech and night to night reveals knowledge." ~Psalm 19:1-2

Blessings,

Julia <3

*Please do not use these photos without permission*