“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
~ Henry David Thoreau
“Too many people today know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” ~ Ann Landers
Are You Spent … or Well-Spent? ~ Thoreau
Posted by Alexandria Sage on May 22, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/05/22/a-z-archive-challenge-s-spent/
Hydrangea Joy | Weekly Photo Challenge: Blue
Grand
Generous
Abundant
Joy giving
Smile maker
Favorite flower
Enjoy!
Peace,
Alexandria
Posted by Alexandria Sage on May 16, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/05/16/hydrangea-joy-weekly-photo-challenge-blu/
First Voice
For me a sunrise can be likened to the arrival of God’s presence upon my day. He arrives softly—at first peering. Then, with a sudden blink, He bursts on the scene. Sometimes gloriously loud, sometimes whispering soft as the morning shown above—misty … soothing … calm. I, sleepy-eyed, am roused suddenly awake. He nudges me to rise, for it is a new dawn.
When I stepped into this particular morning there was simmering excitement as I witnessed something I’d never seen, and may never again. The fog, clouds, and sun combined with early hints of spring to render a surreal palate of soft color and pattern. And clouds melting? I’ve witnessed a multitude of sunrises, but this—this was a touch of the heavenly. God’s hand painted for me another unexpected surprise. (See “Do It Again!”)
I become enveloped and embraced in soft warmth. Then I hear the whisper—no—the still … small … Voice.
My First Voice of each new day.
Good morning. I’m here. Take my hand?
He is … here. But, am I … here?
To hear … Him?
“… Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.”
1 Kings 19:11,12
And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Mark 4:9
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:27
“… but only one thing is necessary.” Luke 10:42a
Peace,
Alexandria
Posted by Alexandria Sage on May 13, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/05/13/a-z-challenge-v-is-for-voice/
Standing Tall
“Nobody stands taller than those willing to stand corrected.”
~ William Safire
Posted by Alexandria Sage on May 6, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/05/06/a-z-archive-challenge-s-for-standing-tall/
Weekly Photo Challenge: Together
Ok, I know I may be overboard on the red cars but I find them quite irresistible. When the Weekly Photo Challenge came out this week I thought I could combine them with the previous post. But it just didn’t work. I had those other “single” car photos I REALLY wanted to put with that health post and they didn’t fit with the Together theme. Conflicted I was so I decided to split the photos up and have the Weekly Photo Challenge separate.
So that’s the story of this week. I sincerely hope you enjoy these beautiful together cars as much as I do, as well as the abundance of car photos. It’s a break from my usual nature posts but those red cars were spectacular. Look how they sparkle in the sunlight!
I hope you enjoyed the previous post, too. Got your check-up scheduled yet? If not, read the previous post Body Work.
Posted by Alexandria Sage on May 2, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/05/02/a-z-archive-challenge-t-togethe/
Body Work
“Just for a moment I want you to imagine that I gave each of you a car today. The bad news is that it will be your only car for your lifetime. I suspect given that information, I would see you taking great care of that car. You would wash and wax it, get the oil changed and get routine maintenance. I suspect you might even drive a little more carefully.
In the same way… take care of your bodies. They will last you your lifetime. Remember to exercise, eat wisely, and seek appropriate healthcare.”
~ Stephen Deal, excerpt from speech Things We Want You to Remember
www.vimeo.com/stevedeal
The other day I was talking to someone about some health issues. They were hesitant to get some medical testing because of having to meet a copay or health insurance deductible. We talked about health care costs, which seem to be on everyone’s mind these days. However, when you think about if your car needs some costly repairs, often no one balks at having to pay a price for something like that.
Yes, good health is costly. But it’s an investment. And over time, it’s an investment that pays well. Health care maintenance is an investment that may not show anything outwardly, but good internal health will reward you with more energy to fulfill your goals, to think clearly, and to function optimally. Plus, it gives peace of mind.
Unless you are hit with an illness that was not of your own doing, and we all know this happens, investing what’s needed to keep your body functioning optimally should be looked upon over time like the vintage car in the photo above. Someone invested a lot of money and time and this car is a beauty. I’ll bet the engine is just as pristine.
We owe it to ourselves to care for ourselves and invest in good health. That new crown you got may have cost a small fortune but there’s no price tag on healthy teeth to nourish your body with good food. No one can necessarily see it but the nourishment your body receives from the good food you eat knows it.
And yes, an annual check-up with your physician will be costly, especially when you add some lab work to it. But think about this. You do it for your car. Why would you do any less for your body? Over your lifetime you will more than likely own several cars. They are replaceable but your body is not. You only get one. How about scheduling a check-up today?
Peace,
Alexandria
Posted by Alexandria Sage on April 28, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/04/28/bodywork/
Spring Sings | Weekly Photo Challenge: Sun
“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
Posted by Alexandria Sage on April 21, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/04/21/springs-eternal-hope/
Pain Prescriptions
“When pain is to be borne, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.”
~ C.S. Lewis The Problem of Pain
Posted by Alexandria Sage on April 10, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/04/10/pain-prescriptions/
CenterPeace
“Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.” ~ Corrie ten Boom
“Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? … Look at the lilies of
the field and how they grow. … And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.” Jesus Christ Matthew 6:27, 28
Posted by Alexandria Sage on March 25, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/03/25/centerpeace-daffodils/
Weekly Photo Challenge: Close | To Listen is to Love is to Listen…
“Being listened to is so CLOSE to being loved that most people
cannot tell the difference.”
~ David Oxberg
Posted by Alexandria Sage on March 20, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/03/20/to-listen-is-to-love-is-to-listen-2/
Weekly Photo Challenge: Friendship | The Beauty Of A True Friend
Friendship—what a beautiful theme. I just have to repost this photo. Please forgive me as I used this for the Summer Challenge, too. I will leave the post as written because I think it speaks so strongly of friendship. But I think for many it is only the beginning of a vast array this week. I repost because I need the strong reminder of the quote. Remember, everything I write I’m writing first to myself.
This photo was taken at the dawn of summer when I clean and open the back porch and enjoy morning coffee in the early morning hours—sometimes with my husband, sometimes with friends, sometimes alone. Summer is here when I can do this every day. I love the way the sun filters through the screen—even more refreshing after an early morning rain.
When I saw the Summer theme, I have an endless supply of summer photos, as I’m sure all do. My wonderful flowers voice summer but they do so loudly. I wanted something a bit different that portrayed what signals to me summer’s true arrival. And for me it’s about family and friends. Summer brings them out in abundance with a carefree, relaxed attitude. They let down and give their most precious possession—TIME.
And in return I give—TIME.
My friends and family love each other through joys, sorrow, and quirks. Sharing morning coffee strengthens us to keep trying, growing, and we just enjoy the company and laughter of each other. If you have taken the time to read this, then I consider you a friend dropping by as well. I’m enjoying this exact place this very moment and am honored you joined me.
I hope you enjoy this strong reminder. Remember, your friends come with wrinkles. But so do you. So do I. We try to straighten each other out, don’t we? But we forgive and take each as we are, wrinkles and all. Who wants the alternative—to be alone?
I think this voices what I’d like to say to all of you.
Take some TIME …
and enjoy … this.
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
~ Charlotte, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
Posted by Alexandria Sage on March 12, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/03/12/weekly-photo-challenge-friendship-the-beauty-of-a-true-friend/
Weekly Photo Challenge: Create | Portraits of Success
Children have an insatiable desire to create, to dream. What better way to adorn a front porch than with these beautiful child drawings? Don’t children provide a continual delight with constant surprises of the creative urge? We smile, we laugh, we delight. We are captivated, enchanted.
But there is deep within us a simultaneous lament, an angst that pains the delight. We look bare-faced at ourselves. Life progressed and the weight of the world gradually nudged out the child—and the dreams, drowned in the cares of life, swirled in a whirlpool down the drain. The child within seemed to disappear. Then we become bearers of children and begin a quest, and cultivate to make it different for them.
But should we do no less for ourselves? Should we not reclaim the artist, the child within? For the artist within leads to one of our Creator’s intentions for us—joy. Sheer joy.
A twenty-something picks up a brush for the first time and discovers something wonderful
The insatiable desire to create was given by the Creator to feed our dreams throughout life and create, create, create into adulthood—to keep us, in the words of Steve Jobs—”hungry and foolish”—and become all we were intended to be. And we can find our “adult work” through nourishing the artist within. Our work will not seem like work. In a sense, it can even seem like play. As Thomas Jefferson said, “Find a job you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.” Children are risky and lavish as they create. They are not gripped with insecurity, fear, and hesitation that bounds we adults.
A great-grandpa stays a child and builds something wondrous—Thomas the Train!
As grown-ups we must practice the art of creation and reclaim our childlike wonder. We must be intentional this time because we have lost our natural inclination to do so. Keep creating, keep looking, keep finding. After all, our Creator has the same insatiable desire. Look at the intricate beauty He presents to us everyday, everywhere—touches of heaven. Let us mimic Him.
Chalk is a great place to start!
Thoughts on this, please?
Peace,
Alexandria
Other thoughts on this:
https://simplysage.org/2012/01/22/nourish-joy/
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14 NKJV)
“To laugh often and much—to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children—to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends—to appreciate beauty—to find the best in others—to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition—to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Posted by Alexandria Sage on March 4, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/03/04/weekly-photo-challenge-create-portrait-of-success/
“Do It Again”
“…it might be true that the sun rises regularly because God never gets tired of rising. His routine might be due, not to a lifelessness, but to a rush of life.
The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children—when they find some game or joke they especially enjoy. A child kicks his legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again!” And the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.
It is possible that God says every morning “Do it again” to the sun, and every evening “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike—it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy—but we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.”
~ G.K. Chesterton
Posted by Alexandria Sage on February 19, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/02/19/do-it-again/
The Valentine Secret
“Every heart sings a song incomplete, until another heart whispers back.” ~ Plato
“Love is friendship set on fire.” ~ Bruce Lee
“The heart has reasons which reason cannot know.” ~ Blaise Pascal
“They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am quite smitten with these true love quotes. I hope you enjoy them as well.
Who doesn’t love a great love story?
Happy Valentine’s Day 🙂
Daily Prompt: Smitten
I heart you.
Posted by Alexandria Sage on February 14, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/02/14/the-valentine-secret/
Beauty Secret
“Do you love me because I’m beautiful or am I beautiful because you love me?” ~ Cinderalla
Posted by Alexandria Sage on February 7, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/02/07/the-beauty-secret/
Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting Moments | Onward!
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens.
But often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
~ Helen Keller
This is a contribution to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Fleeting. It is a redo of a previous one titled Fleeting Moments. My cats are the hardest creatures to photograph. Just when you think you have the perfect shot they move. So here is an opportunity to showcase this one’s fleeting movements one fleeting moment. 🙂
For other contributions to the Challenge, visit the following link:http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/06/07/weekly-photo-challenge-fleeting/
Posted by Alexandria Sage on February 5, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/02/05/onward/
Protected: A Bright Idea
Posted by Alexandria Sage on January 30, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/01/30/a-bright-idea/
Nourish Joy
“We can thwart the work of God in our own lives. We can choose to nourish that which should be crucified and ignore that which should be nourished. In my own life I came to a point where I realized, joy wants to live here and I don’t have room for joy because I’m full of cynicism. I came to a point where I realized I had to cut out nurturing the cynical part of me.”
~ Rich Mullins
Posted by Alexandria Sage on January 22, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/01/22/nourish-joy/
Make Your Master Piece
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted by Alexandria Sage on January 15, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/01/15/your-master-piece/
Home Sweet Home
“There’s only one address anyone lives at and it’s always a duplex called Joy and Pain.
They co-habit every season of life. Accept them both and keep company with the joy
while the pain does it’s necessary renovations.”
~ Ann VosKamp
Dusk … is just an illusion, because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are; there cannot be one without the other, yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel … to be always together, yet forever apart? ~ Nicholas Sparks
Isn’t this so true about life? Burly storm billows amid glimmers of sunray. Keep company with both. Learn the lesson of the storm and savor the comfort of joy.
Then all becomes joy.
Peace,
Alexandria
Posted by Alexandria Sage on January 6, 2012
https://simplysage.org/2012/01/06/home-sweet-home/
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