Nature's Popsicle

Right now it is just rainy and cold outside...which is normal for January around here. But on occasions south Texas actually has some frozen stuff...I think people up north call it ice. Here it means there is a really good reason to stay home because people don't know how to drive...even on a good day. So light the fire, perk up a hot cup of coffee, grab a good book...and don't forget the blankets.

"Hear! Hear!" screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, 

where I had heard a tittering for some time, 

"winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, 

if you know where to look for it." ~Henry David Thoreau

Top Ten

These were the top ten photos from 2012. Flowers, dragonflies, butterflies, a blue moon, and a tiny reptile made the cut. There were quite a few more that could have been there, but I had to ween it down to just 10. Visit my Facebook page, SMSstudiosandPhotography,to view the images in their entirety.

"Look and think before opening the shutter. The heart 

and mind are the true lens of the camera." ~Yousuf Karsh

A New Year

I know I am a little behind in posting. Wow! Where did the year go? So 2013...It's been a rough start already. Not so much for my family, but my "extended" family. It is only a week into the new year and so many friends have had family members pass away. We continue to pray for all those that need comfort and healing.

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." Psalm 18:2

Winter Sunset

The spectrum of a sunset is absolutely magnificent. Even in the urban jungle they can be breathtaking. God's glorious canvas is filled with light and His fingers spread the hues like watercolors across the sky. But with a blink of His eye it disappears until another day returns. Indescribably beautiful!

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." ~Rabindranath Tagore

Merry CHRISTmas!

Advent: Week of Joy

How can you not feel joy during this sacred season. But we should feel joy all year long. It is not for just one day. Today be joyful. Make a joyful noise...rejoice in the gift God has sent. His beautiful gift is for each of us if we will just open it. "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm 16:11

The hinge of history 

is on the door of a Bethlehem stable.

~Ralph Sockman

Serve & Love

Serve and love people the way God loves...selflessly helping others. "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek his own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believe all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...And now abide faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

"Here is love, that God

Sent His Son,

His Son who never offended,

His Son who always

His delight."

~John Bunyan