365:59 - 64 and One Thousand Gifts (345 - 356)

3 ugly-beautiful gifts

345.     The piles of laundry that are ALWAYS on my dining table.  It means we have been blessed with plenty.

346.  My van.  Oh, I hate that big ugly thing.  We have nicknamed it Monstro, after the whale that ate Pinocchio.  But, it is dependable and it carries our whole family and a couple friends.  So often, it is filled to capacity!

347.   My voice.  I was not blessed with a good singing voice.  The only time I sing loud is when I am completely alone and the music is louder.  However, God hears it differently.  He calls it a joyful noise and it is beautiful to His ears.

3 gifts from the past that help you trust the future

348.  The gift of salvation.  I have no doubt that when I close my eyes on this world I will open them again to see Jesus.  In fact, the Bible tells me that He already has a mansion with my name on it!

349.   My parents.  They loved me even when I behaved in terrible, awful ways.  As a teen, it seems that I did everything to push them away.  But when I became human again, guess what? There they were. No condemnation, just love. 

350.   My husband.  Another person who stuck by me when I was an idiot.  Even after 15 years of marriage, he still loves me and wants to be with me.

A gift dull, shimmering, cleaned

351.   Dull:  My wedding ring.  I never take it off, so it gets pretty dull and dirty.

352.   Shimmering:  The city after a good rain

353.   Cleaned:   The air after a windy day.  The mountains look close enough to reach out and touch.  There's no brown haze in the valley.

3 gifts before 11 AM

354.   Someone made my bed for me!

355.   Most of the kids are done with school.

356.   Coffee

I walked the neighborhood and snapped some photos.  Then, changed lenses and did it again.  I got some fun results.  Love my macro lens!

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Close up of a cactus.  

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 Flowers that are overtaking my yard.

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 Neighbor's flower

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 I love this totally imperfect bud.  When it blooms, it will be absolutely gorgeous.  It's a picture of us, very flawed, humans.  But when Jesus gets hold of our lives, we bloom into something so very beautiful!

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 Buzzzzzzz.  

I love the color on this shot.  I really struggle to get vibrant color with the camera.  I usually have to brighten it up with Photoshop.  But this one is SOOC.  

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Another mystery plant.  I really think I need to get a field guide to all the plants around here.