{Finger Print Friday}

Hi there!

How is your week? Are you ready for the weekend?

It has been a H.O.T. week here!

As in...

106!

I am just so glad that were I live we don't have the humidity.

Yesterday,

while driving to celebrate a friend's birthday a random, summer storm blew-up.

I may or may not have seen several gust-natos & the beginning of a huge tornado that quickly died out.

{And...it was the one day I don't take my camera....gosh.}

But, as I was thinking today of what to write for today's Finger Print Friday I realized...

that I see God's work most often in nature.

And, the random storm/shower of last night reminded me of one that we had in 2009.

It was one where yes, our town, does go out and watch the storm, but this time our local

fire department actually drove through town telling us to be ready to take cover.

We do have tornado sirens, but I don't remember them ever going off.

And where was I???

Yep! You guessed it...outside watching.

The clouds that day were eerily, awesome.

Something that only God could paint.

So, I ran in. Grabbed a camera and this is what resulted.

Note...the only changes to the photo is me adding my watermark. 

That is it.

No editing. No color changing. Nothing.

Big storm moving in from the West.

And....

The large storm from the west meeting with the one from the east.

I could not believe what I saw.

We were speechless standing on the porch. 

To God Be the Glory!

{The storms ended up passing us that night. We had some hail, strong winds, and lightning.}

Linking up with Beki and Finger Print Friday!!

Go check it out!

Have a Lovely Day,

Cole

A walk in the park...

Earlier this week on my way to Bible Study...

I took a few minutes to take a walk through a park.

My soul was desperately needing some quite time,

time to slow down, to listen,

time to "Be Still."

I see God's fingerprints in nature...

the way the sun shines through the trees,

the different colors,

fields,

sunsets,

flowers,

the list goes on.

Each season is different...

Each season has its own colors...

its own beauty.

Just like nature...

we have seasons and "colors" in our lives.

A time for everything...

¹ There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace. 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Each of us are in different seasons. Maybe you're on the mountain top...

Maybe you're in the valley...

Maybe your dancing to some wonderful news...

the birth of a son or daughter, a new job, an answer to prayer.

Or, just maybe...

your searching for new ways...

Or, being torn down by lies,gossip, or illness?

Whatever our season is, God has made all things beautiful in His time {Ecc. 3:11}.

It can be hard...

It is hard...

But, it is also beautiful too.

A friend said once,

"It is the valleys where we get the rain, where it all runs to. And it is the rain {in those valleys} that causes all things beautiful to grow."

I just love that!

Myself loving nature, that was such a vivid comment, I could see the beauty she mentioned.

Praise be to God who:

"...changes times and seasons."

Daniel 2:21a

Whatever the season...
I pray we can see the sunshine through the rain...
the beauty in the dance and laughter...
because we are dancing the seasons of life...
together.

*Today I'm linking up with Beki over at The Rusted Chain for her, Fingerprint Friday. She is an inspiration in her words and her beautiful, hand-stamped jewelry.*

Have a Lovely Day,

Cole

Photos property of Simply Created by Cole

What reminds you??

A good friend awhile back asked me if I collected anything...

other than the mandatory cute scarf, purse, or jacket *sigh*...

my reply was, "No, not really. I really don't like a lot of clutter."

To which her reply was, "You sure have a lot of nature pictures on Facebook."

And, as I processed what she said I realized that she was right...

In almost every album I have a picture of something from nature...

whether it is flowers, the first frost of the season, a storm rolling through, or a sunflower field *sigh again*...
I have tons of pictures...

I love the colors, the stillness, the peace that comes from those shots and from being outside in general...

It is a constant reminder to me of Gods' greatness and goodness...
How He could create something so beautiful for us to enjoy...

I'm not a professional photographer, I don't even profess to be...

 all I do is point and click when something catches my eye...

sometimes it turns out and sometimes it doesn't...

But, I do want to share some of the Greatness of Gods' creation in picture form with you...

All of them where taken by me, Simply Created by Cole...

some on a bright, sunny day...

others while *chasing* tornadoes with my sister and sometimes mom...

in the Kansas countryside...

(lots of photos coming up ;)

(all photos are as they were when taken...no photo shop)

Photo credits courtesy of Simply Created by Cole

What reminds you of Gods' greatness and goodness??