Happy Leap Day Haiku

Photo by Jade

Leap Day Haiku

Leap for joy today!

Do something unexpected;

Savor uniqueness.

Loved this cute dog leaping/jumping and thought I'd share my Leap Day 2012 haiku with you. Hope you did something special or good today! May God bless you!

First Magnolia & Ajuga in the Grass

First magnolia sighting of 2012

 God blessed me with a wonderful day today! Had a productive home blessing day, saw my first magnolia blooms of this calendar year and had a nice long talk with an uplifting Christian friend.

Ajuga in our lawn

Last year I noticed some ajuga in our not so grassy lawn. I fully intended to dig it up and transplant it into some of our flower beds. It would make the beds look nicer and save the ajuga from getting mowed down every week during the growing season. Clearly, this never happened. But today when I noticed the ajuga in the grass again I realized that the ajuga is just like parts of our character. Like this beautiful flower getting choked out by grass sometimes our beautiful character getting choked out by things that distract us from our most important goals and values. Even more so than the hardy ajuga, human beings are resilient and can bounce back from a lot of hard knocks and distractions. But when we heed our soul's call to be what God has truly called us to be and focus on loving Him and loving our fellow human beings, our souls sing and our beauty shines. I pray that you and I will learn to do more of what makes our hearts sing and reflects our priorities. May God bless you!

Presidents' Day at Mount Vernon

"George Washington" speaks at his surprise birthday party.
Photograph by Phyllis Wheeler

Potomac side view of Mount Vernon
Photograph by Phyllis Wheeler

"George Washington" and me
Photograph by Ben Wheeler

Ladies in colonial outfits
Photograph by Ben Wheeler

Took advantage of the Washington's birthday/Presidents' Day free admission to Mount Vernon offer today and had a great time with my beloved husband, Ben. We arrived just in time for the surprise birthday party event and after that took in a brief fife and drums performance. Afterwards we pet some of the friendly sheep, got up close with an enormous bull, paid our respects at the Washington's tomb and more.

Apparently this free offer generated a lot of interest as both the standard and overflow parking lots were full but Mount Vernon staff had already planned ahead for this and arranged for extra parking at a local church and high school as well as complimentary shuttles from these sites.

Close Encounters with Orchids

Here are some close up photos of beautiful orchids from our trip yesterday. I definitely took the first two but am not sure whether hubby (Ben) or I took the third one. He's not sure either but said if he did take the photo it was fine to post here. I hope you enjoy our photos and pray that God will bless you and draw you closer to Him whenever you view nature's beauty.

Orchid Extravaganza

Hubby and I went to Longwood Gardens, PA today to see their Orchid Extravaganza. The orchid displays and other botanical sights were lovely. I hope you enjoy this glimpse of the orchid event. I'll post some close up photos of the orchids tomorrow for your enjoyment. If you live nearby the Longwood Gardens Orchid Extravaganza runs through March 25th.

As beautiful and precious as the orchids are, I hope you'll remember that you are infinitely more beautiful and precious in God's eyes and mine. May God bless you!

Interview with Christian Music Artist Joshua Otte

 

Joshua Otte's Heart for God Sings Through His Music CD 'Already but Not Yet'

Joshua Otte is a Pastor, Worship Leader, Bible College Instructor, Christian Music Artist, husband and father of two young and energetic boys (just to name a few of his roles). He has a true heart for God and which was readily evident throughout our interview. Despite the fact that we've known each other for most of our lives, I found Joshua so interesting that the interview generated enough great information that you can look forward to a second article soon (focusing on his Christian testimony). 

As Joshua said, "Jesus is the king of the earth and of the universe. Because he is my King I want to follow him, I want to obey him. I love him because he first loved me. And that's why I sing about him." I hope you'll be inspired to grow closer to the Lord by learning more about Joshua and his music. His cd, " Already But Not Yet " is available in mp3 format at iTunes.com , Amazon.com and through other venues noted at the end of this interview.

Phyllis Wheeler (PW): Pretend we don't know each other and tell me about yourself.
Joshua Otte: I am a Pastor who loves music and I love what music can do. It connects the head and the heart. I love people to be moved by music with great thoughts. Especially great thoughts about our Great God.

PW: What is the goal of the CD?
Joshua Otte: My CD tells a story, actually God's story, and it picks up toward the end of Jesus' life. It's all about how Jesus has accomplished redemption but he hasn't completed it yet. It tells the story from the time of his death on the cross to his resurrection and up until he comes back again. So, between his first coming and his second coming. But in between that there's a lot of stuff happening. The middle songs in the album tell what's happening to us. Jesus is in heaven but we as his followers are living here on earth as exiles. We pray and live in light of his return with hope. Hope for what God can do in us and through us right here. For ourselves but also for our neighbors and even for the world. But the cd ends with a hope and a confidence that Jesus will return and bring about a new creation and then redemption will be completed.

PW: How did you select the songs for the CD?
Joshua Otte: I had the idea of the title "Already But Not Yet;" that irony and tension that Jesus has accomplished redemption but it's not completed yet. Telling the story of the Gospel, the good news that Jesus is accomplishing God's rescue plan. So, I took a lot of the songs that we sing in our church and a few old hymns that had been forgotten and put new melodies to those. Really all the songs are old hymns with new tunes or new hymns with old tunes.

PW: Were there songs you originally thought you would include but changed your mind?
Joshua Otte: (Laughter) Yeah, yeah. When I was doing the project most of it was before I decided on the title and the theme. One of my favorite hymns is "Be thou my vision" and that was one of the ones that I tried to fit in but, uh, I sing it to my kids every night so... there are a few other songs but they would have duplicated the theme instead of building the theme of the songs.

PW: Who is your target audience for the cd?
Joshua Otte: I hope that it encourages a variety of people but especially people who follow Jesus and are looking to sing songs that are theologically rich, gospel centered, with contemporary sound.

PW: Do you think your cd would appeal to non Christians?
Joshua Otte: I think people who don't yet know Jesus or follow him would be encouraged by this music. The lyrics are very poetic so they speak to the mind and the soul. I think they'd be very inviting to find out who Jesus is and the hope that he brings.

PW: How did you get started in music?
Joshua Otte: When I was around 12 my dad taught me how to play guitar and helped my buy my first guitar. And I used to sing in my church's choir and quartet. I played in a band after high school.

PW: How does your family feel about the CD?
Joshua Otte: They love it. Sometimes even play it (laughter). My youngest shouts my name "Daddy" a lot when he hears me on the CD player. It's pretty touching.

PW: How long did the process take from conception to publication?
Joshua Otte: Almost a year. Studio time it took between about 50 hours. But I'm unsure about all the planning and post production.

PW: Where is the CD available for purchase?
Joshua Otte: Here's a bunch of ways to access, listen, download and buy [the "Already But Not Yet" CD/mp3].

Fan Pages:
http://www.purevolume.com/JoshuaOtte
http://noisetrade.com/joshuaotte (Free download)
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joshua-Otte/149388115072057

Where to buy:
iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/already-but-not-yet/id396690005
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Already-But-Not-Yet/dp/B00464TLD8/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311799525&sr=301-1

For mail orders please mail a check to Joshua Otte 973 River Rd, Windham, ME 04062. [CDs are] $7ea or 2 for $10. Just add $3 shipping (up to 4 CDs). Add $0.50 for additional CDs.

Chord Sheets
http://eucatastrophe101.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/already-but-not-yet-chord-sheets-2/

Disclosure/Note: The interviewer and interviewee are related and also great friends.

Originally published here.

Happy Valentine's Day Funny Monkey Cat

Valentine Monkey Tolerating Cat

Cat Investigates Her Valentine Monkey

Cat Pretends There's Not a Monkey On Her Back

Funny Monkey Cat Knows She's Getting Treats Soon

Happy Valentine's Day dear friends! Hope you all enjoyed my feline Valentine silliness. Our elderly cat, Moose, pictured above, is good natured and even though she tends to look grouchy really doesn't mind. She knows treats always follow photo sessions. My baby cat does mind so that's why she's not featured in this Valentine Monkey Cat photo series. May God fill your heart with love this Valentine's Day and always!