Matthew 22:37-38 - Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
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Welcome to another installment of my challenge and reminder to myself to take photos somewhat regularly. I'm not a photographer, but I enjoy taking everyday photos of things I find interesting or want to remember later, and I find that I notice interesting things when I'm intentionally watching for them. Having some prompts that are open to interpretation has helped me pay a little more attention to what's around me. Every two weeks I have a few words and phrases that I'm focusing on, and I try to find opportunities to take pictures of these things each week.
May Prompts - Everyday Images #62
~~~~~
at home (monthly)
kitchen
chocolate
reflection
park
spiral
~~~~~
at home (monthly)
kitchen
chocolate - I had a craving for hot chocolate one evening
reflection - seen at Taylor Farm Park
park - the new sunshades were installed over the playground equipment recently
spiral - spotted in a playground at Tipp City
And a few bonus photos:
On Mother's Day weekend we walked at Charleston Falls Preserve near Tipp City.
We went into Tipp City for dinner and walked around town a bit. One shop had a whole window full of the little solar-powered dancing figures.
I was super proud of myself for spotting a Lustron home as we were leaving the park and playground. These nifty houses were prefabricated in the late 1940s, with porcelain enameled steel siding and featuring built in appliances. Turns out they were fabricated in Columbus. To be honest, I'd never heard of them (that I remembered anyway) until a few weeks ago when my husband was watching a YouTube or some such about interesting American architecture and I happened to catch a little bit of it. The Lustron homes were really interesting to both of us, but we thought nothing more of it until we were driving down a quiet residential street in Tipp City and this little gem caught my eye, and we pulled over to get a better look. I hope the owners don't mind - we tried to play it cool and didn't get out of the car or anything. I guess it's possible they are used to people taking note of their unusual vintage bungalow. I love it.
Sure enjoyed the sunshine a few days ago . . . before it started raining every day!
This past weekend we walked at Taylor Farm Park, and did a little birdwatching as we went. We heard a whole lot more birds than we saw, but our patience in watching for the orioles we kept hearing finally paid off and I got a reasonably good photo.
I am sharing my photos every other Thursday, along with my prompts for the next two weeks. You can use all or some of the prompts for your own photo posts, or none of the prompts and just link up a post featuring your photos. Simple rules: Your posts must be family-friendly; the photos must be your own; and the post must be mostly photos. If you do share I'd appreciate a mention and link to A Fresh Cup of Coffee on your post.
Everyday Images will continue in 2025, every other Thursday, and the link-up is open for two weeks.
This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!
Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. May 20th is World Bee Day . . . what's something that's kept you 'busy as a bee' lately?
Work! That's the obvious answer, I know. But at the beginning of the month one of our copanies migrated all the accounting and customer information functions from one operating platform to another and it's been a steep learning curve that we were all thrown into at once. There are extra steps, and extra busywork, and my personal opinion is that it hasn't made anything I do in my job easier, faster, or better.
2. Do you like honey? What's something you make or enjoy that calls for honey?
I love honey. I like raw honey, flavored honey, and creamed honey. We eat a spoonful of local raw honey daily to combat pollen allergies (and because it's a sweet treat). Raw honey is also good drizzled on vanilla greek yogurt, or as an alternative sweetener in oatmeal or tea. One of my favorite comfort food treats is toast with peanut butter and creamed honey.
My current honey selection - buckwheat, creamed honey from Canada, wildflower, and elderberry
turmeric flavored honey - tastier than I expected, and a good daily "spoonful of medicine"
3. "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." Proverbs 16:24
What's a proverb you love, or one that speaks to you or has helped you in some way?
The Bible is full of Proverbs, a whole book in fact, if that helps with your answer. The word proverb is defined as 'a short pithy saying in general use, stating a general truth or piece of advice'.
Quite a few years ago, a theme verse was chosen for the youth ministry at our church. The kids memorize it, and it was emblazoned on t-shirts and displayed in the youth center. It's become a favorite of mine:
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
~Proverbs 4:23~
On the surface, we sometimes take that to mean we should be careful who we give our affections to and protect our hearts from being broken in a bad romance. That's good advice to be wise about friendships and relationships, of course! But there's a lot more to this proverb: I learned that in Hebrew thought, the heart was where all decision-making, thinking, and reasoning happened, so this advice to safeguard one's thought-life and worldview takes on a whole new meaning. Truly everything you do and the course of your life will be determined by how you think and understand the world and your purpose and place in it. Another favorite and related proverb is the one our kids memorized when they were even younger:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct your paths.
~Proverbs 3:5-6~
4. Tell us about a 'sweet' moment in your life recently that filled you with joy, gratitude, or peace.
On Sunday morning as the worship team was rehearsing, the worship director commented - and I can't remember the exact words, but it was so sweet - something to the effect that she particularly loved me singing lead on the song "Goodness of God", which happens to be a favorite song of mine, and that was so encouraging. That was a gratitude moment, for that song, for our worship director, and for having the ability and opportunity to be a part of leading worship. A couple weeks ago, at the chorus year-end dinner, I was totally surprised to receive the Pinnacle Award for the bass section. My husband says it's like the bass MVP award. LOL Not exactly, but that sure was a boost and brought me a lot of joy.
5. When you were a child, what did you want to 'be' when you grew up? How close did you come to that?
I always wanted to be a teacher. When I was in grade school, I didn't have much concept of specializing in different subjects as a teacher, but I sure wanted to teach reading and spelling. One of my best friends and I played "school" a lot and took turns being the "teacher". How close did I come? Well, I never finished my degree, but I homeschooled all four of my kids all the way through graduation so that's pretty close - and without all the college debt or the headache that teaching in a public school would have been sure to cause me! As a bonus, I had fun teaching some middle grades co-op classes in history and science and other fun things. For several years, I tutored high school English, both writing and literature, in a homeschool co-op that I helped establish, and other than homeschooling my own kids, that was one of the most rewarding career-type things I've ever done. I loved doing it, and miss it still.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
My husband and I fielded a few questions at church last week about the long weekend that Canada just had - Victoria Day. So I decided to dust off an old Homeschool Coffee Break article I wrote about it a few years ago and update it. You can see it here if you're curious, or if you're Canadian and want to fact check me: Victoria Day.
Don't forget theWednesday Quotes link-up which is open for your contributions. The current theme is Memorable Vacations. You're invited to read it and to join in atWQ - Memorable Vacations.
What has been keeping you busy as a bee lately? Leave a comment and let me know!
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God Save the Queen! Today is Victoria Day in Canada, and although for many it's simply a long weekend that kicks off the summer season, it started out as a way to honor Queen Victoria.
Throughout history, the birthdays of monarchs have often been occasions of celebration. Before Victoria came to the British throne in 1837, the birthday of the king or queen was usually a military occasion. During the 18th century in the the British colonies of North America, local militias would hold compulsory training exercises on the monarch's birthday, and then would drink a toast to the king in the local tavern.
In 1841, the parliaments of Upper and Lower Canada were replaced by a single parliament for the Province of Canada. In an effort to find common ground between English and French Canadians, a celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday was one idea that appealed to all. The young queen's birthday, May 24th, was first declared an official public holiday in 1845 by the legislative assembly of the Province of Canada.
Celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday in Toronto, 1854
Over the years the celebrations grew, and Canadians welcomed the chance to display loyalty to the crown, and the date conveniently heralded the beginning of warmer weather. On Queen Victoria's 35th birthday in 1854, about five thousand Canadians gathered in Toronto, and by the time of Confederation in 1867, the festivities included parades, military reviews, picnics, and fireworks. Queen Victoria was especially loved by Canadians, as she was the monarch on the throne when Canada became an independent country, and she had chosen Ottawa as the new nation's capital.
These early holidays didn't always fall on a weekend, as they were always held on May 24th. Canadians continued to honor and remember Queen Victoria on that date after her death in 1901, and celebrated the ruling monarch's birthday separately. In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were touring Canada during May, so Victoria Day was used as the official birthday of the king, even though his birthday was actually in December. Then in 1952, Queen Elizabeth II (whose birthday is in April) ascended the throne, and Victoria Day became the official celebration of the queen's birthday. At that time, the date was fixed as the Monday before May 25th of each year, creating a long weekend right at the beginning of summer.
Canada remains the only country of the Commonwealth to commemorate Queen Victoria with a public holiday. The federal government protocol is that the Royal Union Flag (or Union Jack) is flown from sunrise to sunset at all federal buildings.
These days Canadians enjoy the long weekend as a chance to get away to the cottage or cabin, barbecue, or attend outdoor festivals. At least, I assume they still do. I haven't been in Canada for Victoria Day for many years!
My own memories of Victoria Day center around that very welcome long weekend, the first during warmer weather and a taste of the summer break that we'd soon have from school. My family sometimes went on a camping trip on that weekend, and when I was a teen there were often youth retreats on that long weekend as well. Our school year went at least partway into June, so that Victoria Day weekend was just the break we needed before the final preparations for end of year exams. In some places there were fireworks displays, and the middle of May was one of the few times you could buy backyard fireworks too. My husband's family shot off fireworks in the backyard and many of the neighbors came to watch.
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Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
~I John 4:7-12~
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