another colorful sunset

It prompted me to read about the sun and learn that it is more than a big ball of gas.

in today's church bulletin

In other words, God's way of growing the sweet gift of assurance in us is by putting us through numerous and varied hardships. The process is designed to be hard. Trials are the way that faith is proven, refined, and strengthened. This is why James writes, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
-- from Desiring God

Fig Upside Down Cake

My friend Alice has fig trees that have been abundantly filled this year. I am glad she shares. With the ones I got today, I made this new-to-me cake, using the first recipe I found online.
I baked it in a traditional cast iron pan, and it is delicious. It will be good with coffee in future mornings.

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There are so many more ways to get our stories out there than when I began blogging back in 2003. I think images have become the standard bearer of sharing, easier to post than finding the right words, and letting the viewer decide how the story should be told. With smartphones, everyone is a photographer. I don't take pictures like I used to because I feel inundated with images! Plus, I took many just so I could study the small world closer up and linger over interesting scenes, happy times, and people I love.

Is thinking a lost skill? I sort through the propaganda and opinions of both the lost and the wise, and after enough consideration, I arrive at a conclusion based on what I have learned and my worldview. I would like for all of us to have enough general knowledge and patience to understand this complicated world a little better and not be part of a mob mentality.

Acceptance. One of my frustrations when I was much younger was that there was nobody out there exactly like me! I wanted a clone, and I eventually realized there was not one. Then it took me forever to get some sort of sense of who I was. I am still not sure, but I am amazed at the variety within the race of man. From conception, we are unique designs. Of the gazillions of ways of being, each one of us can live a life of being only us.

The journey. Growing, learning, leaving, coming together, helping, hurting, laughing. So many people come in and out of our lives, and we can keep none of them forever. Some come for a minute and leave a lasting imprint. It is hard to gauge. Life. Gotta love it.

I procrastinate when it comes to making art. It is my guilty thing. I have identified many actual reasons why I am this way, and one is that I prefer finishing to starting, editing to assembling, fine tuning to laying it all out. However, I appreciate people who are passionate about making art. It is a good pursuit.

Processing. I believe one key to good mental health is at the end of each day to process whatever is in your head, whatever you have experienced, whether you do it by writing, talking, of just thinking through it all. We function better when we don't let things pile up in the mind like it is a messy, cluttered desk. Or pocketbook.

basil flowers