2018 April 23 Monday

2018 April 23 Monday in Liberty Hill Texas

50° with calm clear skies going for a high of 84. Altogether a beautiful day. This is the day that the LORD has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.

The blue bonnets have faded away in the Texas hill country but multitudes of other wild flowers have taken their place along the roadsides and pastures. In Iowa the dandelions are starting to bloom. For some reason they aren’t as welcome as other wildflowers.

I like sunrise and sunset photos, as you may have noticed if you’ve followed my blog for a while. I try to start and end the day with skyscapes. Unlike most photography, taking pictures of the sky is a matter of timing. And this is never more true than sunrise and sunset.

I’m an early riser. Usually I awaken around five – no alarm – that’s just when my mind snaps on. Generally I have two to three hours before Ella is awake. I use this time to read, study, and write. And while I’m doing this I keep an eye on the sky. I’m looking for the false dawn*

This is when you get the first glimpse of cloud formations and possibly some color. I may take a series of shots over the next hour. Of those I choose my favorite and move it to an editing app.

Because my smartphone is my camera, I needed to un-correct somethings that it does automatically. The phone “corrects” for the low light level of the original so I need to darken the photograph back to what my human eye perceived. I may also adjust the contrast to better define the edges. And then most important if all. I crop the photo to focus on the most dramatic part of the image.

At sunset I again wait, watch, and take a series of shots. And once again undo the auto corrected images.

I have a separate blog with some of my images. http://tomandellasphotography.blogspot.com/

When we arrived at the Georgetown senior center this morning we were greeted by tables full of baked goods (as usual for Monday’s).

We picked up a couple of items to share with friends at an Emmaus meeting in Marble Falls this evening.

We played games, as usual. But did something unusual for us, we watched television. It is always on at the center but we seldom give it any attention. Today we watched Daniel Boone and Bonanza.

In the evening we drove to Marble Falls United Methodist Church.

The Emmaus fourth day gathering began with a potluck. We all ate our fill and there were twelve baskets left over … Well no not quite, but there was more than enough.

We then gathered in the sanctuary for a time of praise and worship.

Then it was time for that drive home.

Sunset arrived as we were leaving worship.

*False dawn is light that precedes the rising of the sun by about an hour. It is caused by light, bent by the Earth’s gravity, striking extra terrestrial dust and or reflective particles in the atmosphere.

MUSING – April 23 2018

O BE CAREFUL

1 Corinthians 8:8-9, 11-12
“Food will not affect our relationship with God. We are no worse off if we eat that food and no better off if we don’t. But be careful that by using your freedom you don’t somehow make a believer who is weak in faith fall into sin.

In that case, your knowledge is ruining a believer whose faith is weak, a believer for whom Christ died. When you sin against other believers in this way and harm their weak consciences, you are sinning against Christ.”

Though this warning from Paul was about eating food considered by some to be forbidden, it made me think of this children’s song:

“O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do”*

There are verses that cover just about any activity.

It is important to be careful how we live our lives. First of all so that we don’t wander from the path that God has laid out for us, but also do that we don’t cause others to fall from the path.

The moment that we accept Jesus as your saviour he also becomes our Lord. Which means our life is no longer our own, we belong to him. Our goal is to become like him. And others are watching. As we become imitators of Christ so will others become imitators of us. So be careful little Christian what you do.

*Author Unknown.

All content (except quotations) © 2018 Thomas E. Williams

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