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!)

God's amazing creative talent in us...

We, as humans, are created in the very image of God. (Genesis 1:27) I believe a very special part of being created in His image is that we, too, carry the creative spark of the Master Creator! What an amazing concept! We see this demonstrated in so many ways around us from artists to musicians to writers to inventors to problem solvers to cooks... to each and every person's unique abilities to create, build, fashion! Within us is that piece that makes us want to make something with our hands or our minds.

I discovered an incredible creative artistry recently that I just had to share with you. A woman who won the 2009 Ukraine "Who's Got Talent" show does this amazing work called Sand Painting. The videos are a bit long, but if you have a few minutes, it is well worth it to watch one of them! I found it absolutely spell-binding and fascinating....

"Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII." (1st video below)





God, You truly are amazing!! Thank You for placing within us Your creative spark that we may share the joy of creating!

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!

all the colors of the rainbow...

Do you recall that old mnemonic we learned in elementary science to help us remember the colors of the rainbow:

ROY G BIV

(who WAS he, anyway!!?)

Here's a little sample of God's rainbow color palette in a sampling of His floral creations...

...red...

...orange...

...yellow...

...green...
...blue...
...indigo...

...violet...

Thanks, God, for the lovely shades of your rainbow palette! I am grateful for your love of color!!

loving the macro world...

I have decided that I adore the macro world! Er...well, or is it the "micro" world?? I call it the macro world because that's the camera lens through which I examine and photolog it. My friend, however, pointed out that it's really the MICRO world--I'm looking at the teeny tiniest up-close-and-personal details of things. So, whether you call it the micro world or the macro world, just know that I LOVE it!!

What looks like an ordinary bougainvillea plant ....

...when looked at microscopically...

or through a macro lens...

becomes so much more extraordinary!!

...closer...

...closer....

...WOW!!.. look at that wonderful detail!!...
...and now from the front and center...

...closer...

...look at those colors...

(and, are those little white hearts even??)

...flowers within a flower...

...amazing color and detail...

I love that our Father is the most amazing Creator

and that He pays such attention to detail!

For this... I am grateful!

(no wonder He says we are "fearfully and wonderfully made!" Psalm 139:14)

the shapes, patterns, & and textures of creation...

I love to see the amazing shapes and patterns and textures of God's creation. Here is a little taste of joy and wonder from my trip to Palm Springs...

I am always delighted by the ways His creation shows off His incredible love of line and symmetry and shape and creativity... I am grateful for the wonder of it all!

created in His image...

Our amazing God. He created the entire universe--each and every thing in it, from the very air we breathe to the huge prehistoric wooly mammoth to the teeniest, tiniest micro-organism. And He did it all so well, so beautifully, so intricately, so...so...so GLORIOUSLY!

Some of my favorite things He created are flowers...

"Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.' And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good." ~Genesis 1:11-12

...colorful, delicate, amazing...they brighten up the day for so many people...

parrot tulips

peonies

And, also so very amazingly, He created us... not only as His creation but as His image-bearers. He created us in HIS IMAGE. What a thought. What an incredible love.

I think one the most wonderful things about being created in His image is that, as His image-bearers, we, too, are creators. We have the creative spark within us--in this, we are like Him, THE Creator.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
~Genesis 1:27

When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. ~Genesis 5:1

And now, my confession... these flowers--these amazingly beautiful flowers--were not created by God. They were created by a creative image-bearer named Melody! I couldn't believe it when I saw them; they look so real!! Look at the flowers above again... and then here on the cake for which she made them. What's even more incredible to me is that they're edible--they're made out of sugar!

And here are a few more of her creative expressions...

When I saw Melody's sugar flowers, I couldn't resist sharing them! I am so grateful for the delightful things God creates, and I am so grateful that He shared that joy of creativity with us! What a pricelss gift! Whether it is baking or cooking or photography or painting or building bird houses or writing or singing--whatever the creative gift you have been given--USE it to His glory and CELEBRATE it as the gift it truly is!

For we are God's workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

~Ephesians 2:10

For more of Melody's marvelous and delicious creations, check out her blog --My Sweet and Saucy -- and her website. She is soon to be opening a shop here in our neighborhood, but she is currently doing weddings and all kind of parties and other cool stuff!