“Don’t just be good to others. Be good to yourself too.”
February has been a weird month. In fact, this whole year has been kind of strange so far. I was excited about the Kindness Week planned for Pics and Posts two weeks ago, but the “strangeness” caused me to drop the ball.
I needed all the energy to get through the days of über long meetings and random oddities. I’m coming to terms with reality—even if I can make the time, I sometimes don’t have the “vim and vigor” for anything extra.
That is the kindness I am learning to extend to myself. I’m no longer pushing myself past E(mpty) and operating on fumes. I deserve more and my loved ones deserve better.
And so do you.
Go out and do your good deeds, but remember the ultimate kindness is often to yourself. Be kind to you!
About the Image: Today’s sunflowers are from the water-color sunflower diva, Sheila D! She surprised me with these beauties about a year ago. They have been brightening up my planner, but I figure it’s time to share them with the world.
Bring love wherever you go. Shine light wherever it’s dark. Leave blessings wherever you’ve been. Be kind wherever you are. -Mary Davis-
About Today’s Sunflowers: The random act of sunflowers in today’s post came from my niece-student, Liv Grace. She surprised me with sunnies and goodies for Valentine’s Day! Speaking of…I missed yesterday’s Valentine’s Day/kindness post because I was wiped out after spending a zillion hours in meetings. I’ll repurpose the post and share it later this week–or maybe, next Valentine’s Day!
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. –Desmond Tutu
It’s been a long time since we had a “Kindness Week” here on Pics and Posts, so in honor of National Random Acts of Kindness Week this week’s posts will be dedicated to kindness, compassion, and random acts of sunflowers.
Your first task is to visit the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation’s website, take a look around, download a few posters and tools, including the RAK Calendar, and get ready to do your part in “making kindness the norm.”
¡Hasta mañana!
About the Sunflowers: The sunflower photos in this post were grown and sent to me by my Wildflowers friend, Kim B. She risked being stung by bees to brighten my day. :-D. Thanks, Kimmy!
My #ThursdayTreeLove postings have been sporadic lately, but my camera roll serves as witness—I have been thoroughly enjoying the trees of winter.
I see the stand of trees in today’s post almost daily as I travel to work and other destinations. It always catches my attention, so when traffic slowed to a stop on a day with a perfect sky, I took advantage and took a shot.
The photo is currently serving as my artistic “template” for Sheila Delgado’s February 2023 30-Day Creative Gathering. My theme this month: “One Photo, Endless Possibilities.” My goal is to create a different photo-artistic version of the glorious scene each day. By the end of the month, I will have 28. I look forward to sharing them with you.
The soul of the father is steeped in joy. —Edward Guest
I have a secret.
It’s not a good one, but it’s one I’ve held in my heart all day. I wanted to talk about it, but I thought talking about it would make me sadder and make the listeners sad too.
Today marks one year since I last laid my eyes on my living and breathing dad. After spending nearly a week at home (in New Orleans)—with EMTs being called and hospital visits almost daily—my sister and I were about to drive back to Huntsville. Reluctantly. We visited him in the hospital and whispered our good-byes.
My heart aches when I think about our quiet good-bye. He deserved one last, good celebration, with a lot of fuss and hoopla.
I knew his sojourn was coming to an end, but I pleaded with God to restore his health and give him just a little more time–for all the selfish but lovely reasons.
Having been down this road twice before, I also I knew I was in denial. I prayed for the miracle, though He had already given the answer: It was time for him to rest. It was time to let him rest.
Six days later…he took his last breath at home (thankfully) and left a nagging ache that I have been processing for almost a year now.
I am learning how to walk in the world without him, to cherish his gifts and celebrate his joy. That’s the thing I carry with me when I miss him most. His joy—a joy that delightfully danced across his spirit.
My last gift to him–mere weeks before his death–captured that. At least, I hope it did.
Thanks for letting me share my secret. It feels good to let it out.
Thanks to the generosity of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid, I am back with another Bible review. This time–the King James Version (KJV) Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, published by Zondervan 2022). The Bible is packed with delicious features for those who love intense, cerebral Bible study sessions. Though the Bible can be studied straight through from Genesis to Revelation, the chain-reference Bible demands more from us.
The 2000(+)-page Bible features more than 8000 topical listings in its alphabetical index and more than 100,000 marginal references. More than 4000 topics are systematically organized in chains “enabling the student to follow the prominent texts of a topic from the beginning of the Bible to the end. Many of these topics are subdivided, allowing for even more detailed analysis.”
This is the definitive study Bible, allowing Bible students and scholars to delve deeply into scripture through topical, thematic, chapter, and book studies as well as thorough examination of particular passages, biblical characters, and verses.
The Bible features:
Complete text of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible
Easy-to-understand chain-reference system with over 100,000 references
Alphabetical and numerical indexes [that] highlight study materials for over 8,000 topics, each with its own topic number, for exhaustive topical study
An outline of the Bible
Bible study methods
An extensive study resource section [that] includes:
Bible character studies
illustrated studies of the Bible
a KJV concordance
Bible harmonies
A section on Hebrew times, Seasons, and Festivals
Two-color page design
Introductions for each of the 66 books of the Bible
16-page full-color map section with map index
Words of Jesus in red
The Bible is printed in the KJV comfort print typeface. Since there is little marginal space, the two-color design goes a long way to break of the text-heavy pages and give tired eyes like mine some relief.
I have only had a few days to explore the KJV Thompson Chain-Reference Bible, but I am pleased with what I have seen thus far. I am not going to pull this Bible out when I want to journal scripture or make copious notations in the margins. This one is for deep, long studies of scripture with my beautiful 300-page Bible study journal.
Five years ago….still relevant. Add the material linked in Google to your reading list this month: Black History, Arts, and Culture. Happy Black HIstory Month!
Did you see yesterday’s (February 1) Google doodle? The doodle appropriately featured “The Father of Black History,” Carter G. Woodson, and, when clicked, provided links to the many articles and websites focused on Woodson.
If you missed it, here it is [image links to Google search on Woodson].
Woodson was concerned about the role of African Americans in history. He wrote of the history and hoped to “lift the veil of ignorance.” His work, The Miseducation of the Negro (1933), which critiques the American educational system for its failures to include accurate and deep attention to Black history, is still relevant, valued reading at many colleges and universities. He founded the Association of Negro Life and History (now, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History) and launched Black History Week which later expanded into Black History Month.
Pics and Posts 