do you love coffee?

 I'm pretty sure many of you love coffee in the morning... 

as do I.

But, how many of you have coffee that LOVES YOU??

(see photo of my hot water pot below)

“Come, let us drink our fill of love..."

~Proverbs 7:18 

(taken completely out of context, I know!! 

but tell me that didn't make you smile!)

gotta love those sweet potatoes....

As you know, I so enjoy finding bits of love scattered about.  Recently I was having dinner with friends-- ham, green beans, and sweet potatoes.  When I mashed my potato, this is what it looked like:

 

I didn't do it on purpose but, of course, I couldn't help but see and appreciate the shape!   A good dinner with dear friends....

served up with love.  

For this I am grateful...

2011... day 2....

(butter on my cornbread)

He gives food to every creature.

His love endures forever.

~Psalm 126:35

2011... day 1...

(strawberry in New Year's Day breakfast cereal)

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
~Psalm 107:1

love eggs? ...or, paying attention...

I've been in a bit of a funk the past couple of weeks, and when that happens, I tend to question God... and doubt His love for me. And, I don't pay attention very well either.

This morning when I was eating my breakfast (frittata), I did notice a little something there... (come on... you know what you're looking for!)

And, in case you're like me and not very good at paying attention sometimes,

here's a closer view...

OK. Call me crazy if you want...

but we do have a Father with quite a great sense of humor!

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

~Lamentations 3:21-23

the heart of a tomato...

The other day I was cutting up tomatoes for a batch of salsa. The phone rang, so I laid down the knife and left the kitchen for a couple of minutes. Upon returning, I picked up the knife and was about to finish chopping the tomato, and this is what I saw sitting on the cutting board:

I love it! :) One of those surprise moments of seeing God's love for me in the shape of a random heart in my daily life. They never cease to delight me!

When thinking about a verse that might go with the photo, I automatically thought of Galatians 5 and the fruit of the Spirit. But I decided to do a little digging and see if there was any other reference to fruit and love I could find. This is the one I discovered:

Sow for yourselves righteousness,

reap the fruit of unfailing love,

and break up your unplowed ground;

for it is time to seek the LORD,

until He comes

and showers righteousness on you.

~Hosea 10:12

I love the likening of our pursuit of God to the process of planting -- sowing righteousness, breaking up the fallow ground, reaping love, being rained upon.

It is about preparing our hearts for God, for the harvest He grows within us! It is about seeking Him and receiving the showers He pours upon us... and it is about the harvest He brings about through us when we are obedient to His call to the fields in our hearts and lives!

All this good food for my soul from the heart of a little tomato...

taste and see that the Lord is good!

ttmms...

Today I was at work enjoying a snack of raspberries and almonds.

I was happily munching along when this little character showed up...

Who, on earth, was this?

A strange little "person" whom I could possibly call

Mr. Raspberry...

or, perhaps, Little Orphan Almondine?

What a silly, happy little face--

I couldn't help but giggle every time I looked at it...

and, yes, even laugh out loud!

Yes, I do realize I have yet to grow up...

and to stop playing with my food...

but, tell me, what fun would THAT be?!

I like to think it's just a bit of that

"created in God's image" piece called

CREATIVITY

and

DELIGHT.

...yes, this is one of those

Things That Make Me Smile...
(go ahead...you can laugh at it, too!)

the delightful heart of a friend...

My friend Sean (age 9) sent the following photos to me today. I was so delighted by his heart and his eyes-to-see...
God's amazing love is everywhere if we will just open our eyes and let Him show it to us...

Thank You, Father, for Your incredible love for us...

Thank you, Sean, for being able to see a glimpse of it in your daily life!

things that make me smile...

I have always loved abbreviations and acronyms. Long before there was texting, I was using "bcs" for "because" and "thx" for "thanks." I have always been an avid note-taker, with as much detail included as possible, and perhaps, that is the reason I've always loved abbreviations.

Well, I have a new post abbreviation: TTMMS!. It stands for "Thing That Make Me Smile!" I have decided to do some posting of random things that make me smile...bcs, after all, that's what living a Heart Rock Life (HRL??) is all about, right?--finding joy in the little things, in the daily discoveries, in the many ways God shows us His presence and His love in our daily lives... if we will have eyes to see and hearts to understand...and mouths with which to show our delight!

And so, today is the first TTMMS! posting because this totally made me smile!

This was a chocolate cupcake from The Sweet and Saucy Shop--chocolate with kahlua frosting!--and it originally looked like this:

But, after I had taken a bunch of bites out of the bottom, I was left with a bit of the top and some frosting... and this delightful little smile!! :) (no, I did NOT make it into this! it really was all of its own accord!)

Definitely TTMMS!

love, sweet love....

I was munching on some blueberries today, enjoying my day's supply of vitamins and antioxidants.... and look what I found!!!!

I do LOVE blueberries...
...and I think they LOVE me, too!!

(and tell me, how can that NOT make you smile?!)

a fun way to end a year...

Can you believe it? This is my 365th consecutive post! For those of you who have persevered and plodded along this journey with me, I am grateful!. For those of you who have dropped in along the way, I am so glad!

I thought I would wrap up the year of blogging with a fun "God has such a great sense of humor" post starring a few delightful food items which have crossed my path...

There's a great line in the movie "The Matrix" where they're all sitting at the table eating some highly nutritious runny grey glop that is their staple meal. One of the characters complains about it, and another character says something like "...vitamins, nutrients, everything a body needs." And yet, it's so very unappetizing in its greyness and goopy texture. It definitely doesn't look like something I'd want to eat every meal, day after day!

Isn't it wonderful that God has given us such a variety of foods to eat?! I mean, it could all just look the color and feel the texture of cooked oatmeal! Sort of blah and uninspiring! But, no! He gave us colors and shapes and textures... and even a few silly ones, too...

I present to you --for your enjoyment and entertainment and for God's glory--four of my favorite (non-heart-shaped) food discoveries...

a blue potato chip!!!

(courtesy of Jet Blue Airlines,

made from blue potatoes)

...on the table, next to and inside the 3rd box from the front--

SWAN GOURDS!!

(discovered at a farmer's market in Northern California)


RAINBOW CHARD!!

...and last, but most certainly NOT least--
what I like to call...

CUCUMBERS GONE WILD!!
(these crazy curly worm-looking cukes were grown
here in a front yard garden in southern CA!)

God truly is good at filling our days with delighful and fun things

if we can open our eyes to see...

i'm lovin' it!

My cousin posted this wonderful heart on my Facebook wall today!! It's a chicken mcnugget!! and I love it! What a great reminder to be on the lookout for delightful surprises...you never know where or how God's going to give you some lovin'!

fruit-ful lessons...

When I was in Georgia, we went one day to visit the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) students and staff in the village where they were staying for their ministry outreach. While we were there chatting with a couple of them, a local village man stopped by for a chat. He brought with him a large bag of home-grown cherries as a gift.

While he was in the "visiting" room enjoying a cup of turkish coffee and conversation with one of the students, my sister and I were in the other room chatting with another, D. D had brought in a bowl full of the cherries the visitor had brought, and we began to happily munch on them as we talked. They were juicy and sweet--very delicious! I think I had eaten six or seven when suddenly D discovered that one of hers had a small white worm in it!

So, to play it safe, we started opening each cherry before eating it, only to discover that EACH and EVERY one of those cherries had a live worm in it!! Uh, yeah. That means I probably ate at least six or seven live worms!! (I must admit I wasn't so eager to eat any more of the delicious cherries!)

Also while in Georgia, I kept seeing a strange round yellow fruit at the outdoor markets. Always game to try new foods, I ended up buying some. Each fruit had a couple of large seeds inside and the flesh was sort of soft and sweet, tasting kind of like a pear and a pineapple. They were yummy though they weren't very beautiful to look at:

As I was looking at my photos, I ran across these two photos of fruit-- one looking very delicious and pretty and the other not so pretty and even, perhaps, a little unappetizing. It was interesting to me that they were actually the opposite of what they seemed to be-- the pretty ones had worms inside (though still tasty, if you don't mind the added protein!) and the unattractive ones were sweet and yummy.

The thought came to mind that this is a great example of the "things of the world" vs "the things of God." The things of the world--wealth, success, possessions, even sin--seem so lovely, so appealing, so desirable. Yet, they are not what brings us health, peace, and true joy--there is a wormy core to them. Whereas, many times the things of God--sacrifice, obedience, suffering, service--seem so unattractive to our eyes; they do not cause us to eagerly reach out for them or to embrace them. Yet, these are the very things which bring us closer to God Himself...and give us peace, joy, and life!

I want to be eager to taste the things of God--even if they don't look so wonderful or tasty on the surface! I know they are what will bring life to my soul and joy to my heart! I pray that we may hunger for more of God, however that may be packaged!

But the fruit of the Spirit is

love, joy, peace, patience,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness and self-control.

~Galatians 5:22-23a

munchin'....

Ok... Blogger made this post a bit strange, but it rotated my photos sideways. You'll have to look to the left side at the bottom of the photo to see the little muncher in the flower garden...
This was the only flower of this type in the garden, and it seems to have been the tasty treat of someone... ah.... the culprit below...

I think he was quite pleased with his lunch and with himself!! : )

lovin' my lunch at Burger King!

Today we were on a road-trip to Lake Michigan and stopped at Burger King for a bite to eat. I definitely found love in my lunch....

Mmmm hmmmm!

Lovin' my lunch!

eggs-actly how I like it!

This evening my mom and I had dinner with a friend at a pancake house. I didn't end up with pancakes; I decided to have eggs with biscuits and gravy. (please, let's not think about the cholesterol or fat content...this was just pure eating fun!)


My order included two eggs, and this is what my plate looked like when it arrived:

Ummmm.... I don't know about anyone else, but I believe I'm seeing FOUR eggs here!


When I started to ask about the eggs situation, the waitress, already anticipating the question, quickly said, "We only serve eggs with double yolks here!"


WOW! My favorite part and double the deliciosity!! (yes, I'm sure that is a word! if not, it should be!)


Just thought I would share the oddity of the day and my doubly-delightful dinner...eggsactly how I like my eggs!!

seeing the miraculous in the "common"...

The invariable mark of wisdom is

to see the miraculous in the common.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The common"... being that which we see in every day life...

and do not appreciate for the very miracle that it is.

Just because it is "common"

does not make it any less miraculous...

Like, for instance...

a nut...

or a fruit...

or a rock...

in a shape --a heart--

speaking of a Father's amazing creative love!

Or, draining the "water" from a tree...

to boil down into a gloriously sweet treat
called maple syrup!

Or, to see ducks walking by

with heads of brilliant metallic royal blue...

which, in just a slight turn of their heads,

shine an amazing emerald green!

Or, how a small, strange, papery egg sac stuck to a rock...

will produce hundreds of delightfully garden-loving praying mantises! (manti??) Or how a spring flower pushes its head through the snow and debris
to blossom in the spring sunshine

where no seed was planted ...

but comes up year after year "on its own."
Or, the strikingly amazing rainbow colors...

of an ordinary vegetable which would commonly be green...

These are all "miraculous"

in the common of our every day lives.

I am grateful that we have a Creator who daily

displays miracles for us

if we will have the eyes to see

and hearts to understand!

laughter and old age...

We don’t stop laughing

because we grow old—
we grow old

because we stop laughing.

~Michael Pritchard

Here's to staying young!....

~please note: no reptiles were harmed during the filming of this post.

orange you glad?

Orange you glad it's Saturday??

Orange you "LOVIN' " it??

My friends who live in Phoenix found this in their grocery bag and were wonderful enough to do as I would-- PHOTOGRAPH it!! They then sent this "love"ly juicy photo to me! My heart is warmed by their message of "love"!

Happy Saturday, all! : )