Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak
"Spacious Skies"

Saturday, June 19, 2021

Artist Crystal Michelle Fallin

 








For her birthday, I honor my daughter today through her art.  This is a collection of Crystal's colored pencil artistry consisting of creative drawings of her own unique interpretations of classic Disney characters.  The collection includes Chateau de Chambord and Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and "A Beautiful Life" mermaids inspired by Ariel from The Little Mermaid.  Her art graces the covers of Greeting and Handcrafted Cards, Notebooks, Journals and gifts for children and the young at heart.

I use her art to touch the lives of others for encouragement, kindness and love to those who are ill, isolated and lonely, to connect on an emotional level with people in need.  The groups and organizations include but not limited to:  The Angel Card Project; Cards for Hospitalized Kids; Blessings in a  Backpack; Small Acts Big Change; Smiles for Seniors; Braid Missions; Kind Cards for Cool Kids; Postcards for Kindness; From the Heart - UK; Random Acts for Cardness - Card Showers and Smiles for Kids, Three Wishes for Ruby's Residents, etc.  

Crystal Michelle Fallin
June 19, 1984 - August 18, 2019

Thursday, June 17, 2021

The Lone Tree of Wanaka


When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior, I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.

Isaiah 43:2-3 NIV

Great and Unsearchable Things

 



Call to me, and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

Jackson Hole - I Am the Gate



 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in and go out, and  find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;  I have come that they have life, and have it to the full.

John 10:9-10 NIV

Monday, June 14, 2021

Oxbow Bend - He will endure as Long as the Sun...


He will endure as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
He will be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering he earth,
In his days the righteous will flourish;
prosperity will abound till the moon is no more.

He will rule from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
The desert tribes will bow before him
and his enemies will lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
will bring tribute to him;
the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts,
All kings will bow down to him
and all nations will serve him.

For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
the afflicted who have no one to help.
He will take pity on the weak and the needy
and save the needy from death.
He will rescue them from oppression and violence,
for precious is their blood in his sight.

Psalms 71:5-14 NIV

Glacier National Park - Wisdom laid the Earth's Foundation

 


By wisdom the Lord laid the earth's foundations;
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
by his knowledge the deeps were divided;
and the clouds let drop the dew.

Proverbs 3:19-20 NIV

Friday, June 11, 2021

Shores Waterfront Park - The Tire Swing


 The Tire Swing

An old tire hanging
From the big ash tree,
Was always swinging
With my friends and me.

With an old piece of rope,
We hung it high,
All in the hope,
We could touch the sky.

We swung on that swing,
From dawn to dusk,
To that tire we would cling,
With all our trust.

Swinging up high,
Into the air,
Straight up our feet would go,
Without a care.

The days we spent,
In the shade of that tree,
Swinging for the sky,
So happily.

By Juan Olivarez 6/27/10

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14 NIV

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Chugach Mountains - The Stones will Cry Out

 

When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.

"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Peace in  heaven and glory in the highest!"

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"

"I tell you,"   he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."  

Luke 19:37-40  NIV

Let's Go Down to the River

 

Let's Go Down to the River

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O sisters, let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sisters, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O brothers, let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
Come on,  brothers, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O father's, let's go down
Let's go down,  come on down
O father's, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O mothers, let's go down
Come down, don't you wanna go down?
Come on mothers, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

O sinners, let's go down
Let's go down, come on down
O sinners, let's go down
Down in the river to pray

As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol' way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way

public domain

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

To A Butterfly


 To A Butterfly

I've watched you now a full half hour
Self-poised upon that yellow flower,
And, little Butterfly! indeed
I know not if you sleep or feed.
How motionless!-not frozen seas
More motionless!-and then
What joy awaits you, when the breeze
Hath found you out among the trees,
And calls you forth again!

This plot of orchard-ground is ours;
My trees they are, my Sister's flowers;
Here rest your wings when they are weary,
Here lodge as in a sanctuary!
Come often to us, fear no wrong;
Sit near us on the bough!
We'll talk of sunshine and of song,
And summer days, when we were young;
Sweet childish days, that were as long
As twenty days are now.

By William Wordsworth 1807

Monday, May 31, 2021

Parc National Jacques Cartier - The True Light that gives Light to Everyone




 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of god--Children born not of natural decent,  nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

John 1:6-13 NIV

The Light Shines in the Darkness


 

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.  He cam as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through hi all might believe.  He himself was not the light, he came only as a witness to the light.
John 1:5-8 NIV

Sunday, May 30, 2021

In the Beginning was the Word

 




In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

John 1:1-4

Saturday, May 29, 2021

No Eye has Seen






 However, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"-- the things God has prepared for those who love him"--

1 Corinthians 2:9

Friday, May 28, 2021

Faith is tasting the Saltiness of our Tears




Sometimes
faith is building an ark
when there is no rain,
dipping seven times in a muddy river
when you have open wounds,
 or marching in circles
and shouting praises
when your enemy is ready to do battle.

And sometimes
faith is
tasting the sweetness of God
in the saltiness of our tears.

Stacy L Sanchez
www.heartprintsofgodcom

Monday, May 24, 2021

Do Not Be Afraid

 



You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

Psalm 91:5-6

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Ancient Mariner



"Farewell, farewell!  but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.

He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn'
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn."

Excerpts from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798)

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

The Winds and Waves Obey Him


A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion.  The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?' 

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet!  Be Still!'  Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?' 

They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this?  Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Mark 4:37-41 NIV

Congaree National Park

 




Congaree National Park protects the largest remaining tract of old-growth bottomland hardwood forest in North America.  The boardwalk is a 2.4 mile loop roundtrip.  The Weston Lake is an oxbow lake. It was once a bend in the Congaree River.  Over 2,000 years ago the river gradually changed its course and meandered south, leaving behind Weston Lake.  The standing dead trees are called snags and are full of insect, spiders and fungi.  The summer heat would make this park unbearable with flies and mosquitoes.   There are no ocean breezes or cool mountain air so hiking the park is best in the spring or winter.