voice in the night...

Voice In The Night

I heard Your voice in the night
calling to me in the ocean waves
as they broke upon the shore...
beckoning...whispering...

Come to Me..
Come to Me...

I heard Your voice in the night
crying out to me in the wind
as it whistled in the trees...
beckoning...shouting...

Come to Me...
Come to Me...

The sound of wind and waves
awakened me within,
pulling me from the darkness,
beckoning...calling...

Come to Me...
Come to Me...

The voice...
LOUD and THUNDEROUS,
yet soft...a whisper...
Come to Me...

POWERFUL and FORCEFUL,
yet gentle...an invitation...
Come to Me...

Awakened by Your call,
drawn by Your invitation,
I could not help but respond
as You whispered a shout ...

Come to Me...
Come to Me...

God calls to us...
-through the voices of others
-through the voice of His creation
-through the voice of His Word
-through the voice of His Spirit...

We need only to quiet ourselves before Him...to listen...and we will hear Him calling to us...with His voice of love.

...Listen...

'...your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." ' ~Isaiah 30:20b-21

"Be still, and know that I am God..." ~Psalm 46:10

I'm off to see the seals...the wonderful seals of San Simeon...

(the title of this post is to be sung to the tune of "the Wonderful Wizard of Oz") : )

I'm so excited!! Today I have fled the southlands and headed north to see one of my favorite things--the Elephant Seals of San Simeon.
A friend of mine and I are taking a road trip for the weekend to go and see them. Thsi is the time of year when they have their babies, and I'm so excited to see the little pups!! (I've never yet done so.) The last time I was there was a year ago in the fall, and that is the time of year when the adolescent males are on the beach. All of these photos were taken then. (In the picture below, you can see some people in the top right corner--that's how close one can get to the seals!)

It's an amazing experience... just look and see...

Seals, seals, everywhere!!

...and the sound of the ocean and the salty sea air...

...hmmmmmm.....

what to do? what to do?

nothing but enjoy God's amazing creations and take multitudes of photos!!

I can't WAIT to see the babies!!! (and you shall, too, when I return!!)

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Praise the LORD! ~Psalm 150:6

o holy night....

O Holy Night

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope-- the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

the star is pointing the way
to the birth of our Lord
a babe in a manger
born for us... God in human flesh...

Welcome the child...
Worship the King!

by the light of the (spectacular) moon...

Tonight's moon-viewing was an awesome sight! I hope you were able to get a peek at it! It was a full moon at its closest perigee (the nearest it gets to Earth during its orbit around our planet), and according to National Geographic, the moon that rose tonight appears "about 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than other full moons seen so far this year."

This view of the moon was particulary special because, according to Ed Krupp, director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California, "Typically we don't have the full moon phase and perigee coinciding at the same time." And to make the event even more of a treat, this is the closest lunar perigee since 1993 (at 221,560 miles from Earth) giving moon-watchers a view of the biggest and brightest full moon seen since 1993.

Well, not being one to stay inside and miss such a momentous photographic occasion, my Canon and I went out for a little photo shoot. At first I was unsuccessful at getting any details of the moon...it just didn't look like what I was seeing with my eyes. Then, with a little experimenting with the ISO and use of my mega-zoom, I was able to capture the shots below...

Enjoy the moon view with me... the earlier shots were a beautiful golden color as the moon rose into the sky...

As the moon climbed higher into the sky, it became brighter and more brilliant white...

Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars.

~Psalm 148:3

And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,

the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—

do not be enticed into bowing down to them

and worshiping things the LORD your God

has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

But as for you, the LORD took you and brought you...

to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.

~Deuteronomy 4:19-20

"For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more."
This is what the LORD says,

he who appoints the sun to shine by day,

who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night,

who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—

the LORD Almighty is his name...

~Jeremiah 31: 34b-35

• for a light in the night! (152)

night sky treats...

For the past few nights, we here in the US have been treated to an interesting evening sky. A couple of nights ago, I saw a couple of very bright 'stars' in the western evening sky. I figured one of them must be the planet Venus, but I wasn't sure about the other. After searching online, I found the following information:

On Monday evening, the three tenors of the night sky will reunite, an event that may not be seen again for another 40 years. A crescent moon will join Venus and Jupiter, which have been slowly moving closer to each other, creating a triumvirate of the three brightest objects in the heavens. The planets will not be as close, or as visible again, until 2052.

Patti Winsa - Staff Reporter,

(http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/545772)

So, this is something a bit unusual and will not be seen again for quite a few years. (imagine! I'll be 86 when it happens again! eeek!) I went out after work with my trusty camera when the sun was beginning to set and started trying to get famous photos to record the event...

there are the two planets, if you look real hard!

...they form a triangle with the moon on the left, Venus on the bottom, and Jupiter up a bit to the right from Venus...

...and the next three shots I just had to include to demonstrate my amazingly steady hand (and no tripod!) with a long exposure!! (Ha!)

I thought this was a lovely moon shot...

...and in this one, you can see the outline of the entire sphere of the moon...

Below you can see the detail of how they all line up:

Ok... here was the very best shot I could get (with my 12x zoom, nonetheless!). Ah, what I would give tonight for a telescope!!

Well, I'm sure I didn't capture any shot to make me famous and rich, but I thought I would share them with you anyway. I love these fantastic night sky treats! Perhaps, if you go out just after sunset tomorrow night, you may be able to see it, too. God makes such wonderful things for us to enjoy if we will take the time... to stop for a moment or two and look up at the sky!!

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? ~Psalm 8:3-4