HAPPY EASTER!
Sending lots of love your way
at Easter and on every day.
~Bette A. Stevens
Archive for the ‘Scripture’ Category
Aside
May the Love, Joy and Peace of Christmas follow you through the New Year!
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”
LUKE 2:11 (KJV) Bible
Christmas Eve Pondering
A Poem by Bette A. Stevens
The last cookie baked, the final gift wrapped.
Christmas Eve is upon us…
It’s time to relax.
Christmas music is gently reminding us why
Lord Jesus, the Christ Child…
Came down from on high.
He came as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Lived among us on earth…
God’s gifts to bestow.
Loving God, loving others —Christ bought with his life
He epitomized love…
Not anger or strife.
God’s love is a precious gift we’re to share
Not with just those we know…
But with folks everywhere.
Wishing you Peace, Love & Joy—Gifts of The Christ Child—at Christmas and always… ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author
Christmas music in a 3 hours long playlist (tracklist below). Traditional Christmas songs & carols featuring piano, violin & orchestra – arranged and recorded by Peder B. Helland. Christmas songs in the mix: “O Holy Night”, “Silent Night”, “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “Angels We Have Heard On High,” “In The Bleak Midwinter” & “Fairest Lord Jesus.”
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Aside
1311. I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… ~Leo Buscaglia
It’s the little things in life that mean so much. May your days be filled with wonders! ~Bette A. Stevens, Maine author http://www.4writersandreaders.com
Perfect happiness is a beautiful sunset,
the giggle of a grandchild, the first snowfall.
(even if the snow is just on our WP blogs)
It’s the little things that make happy
moments, not the grand events.
Joy comes in sips, not gulps.
~Sharon Draper
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into Springs
These are a few of my favorite things
When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
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Aside
Grandma’s Legacy: A Poem by Bette A. Stevens
Grandma’s Legacy is a poem that I wrote several years ago in honor of a truly great woman—Elizabeth A. Babcock, born January 1, 1898, died January 1, 1975. Grandma lives on in the hearts and memories of all whose lives she touched. The photo ( circa 1952) of me and Grandma was taken by my dear father, one of Grandma’s eight children. ~ Bette A. Stevens
“A writer inspired by nature and human nature”
“Look Inside” Bette’s books at http://viewauthor.at/BetteAStevens
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Aside
1295. A writer lives, at best, in a state of astonishment. Beneah any feeling he has of the good or evil of the world lies a deeper one of wonder at it all. ~William Sansom
Enjoying the wonder of it all! ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author http://www.4writersandreaders.com
How can I stand on the ground
every day and not feel its power?
How can I live my life stepping on
this stuff and not wonder at it?
~William Bryant Logan
The many gardens of the world,
of literature and poetry,
of painting and music,
of religion and architecture,
all make the point as clear as possible:
The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden.
~Thomas Moore
A garden is like the self.
It has so many layers
and winding paths,
real or imagined, that it
can never be known, completely,
even by the most intimate of friends.
~Anne Raver
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy. ~Psalm 65:8 ✝
1267. The air is different today; the wind sings with a new tone sighing of changes coming as barbarous summer dies… ~Edited and adapted line by Rhawk
Our amazing Monarchs are migrating to Mexico. Only spotted four here at The Farmstead in Central Maine this July and August. October’s calling, “Collect those milkweed pods. Save the seeds to plant and feed next year’s amazing Monarchs.” ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author http://www.4writersandreaders.com
“I grow old, I grow old,”
the garden says.
It’s nearly October.
~Robert Finch
The gentian’s bluest fringes
Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.
The sedges flaunt their harvest,
In every meadow nook;
And asters by the brook-side
Make asters in the brook,
From dewy lanes at morning
The grapes’ sweet odors rise;
At noon the roads all flutter
With yellow butterflies.
By all these lovely tokens
September days were here…
~Adapted part of a poem
by Helen Hunt Jackson
All things must come to an end and I can’t say I’m sorry to see summer finally go! We’ve had some lovely cool mornings of late and warm, honeyed afternoons, not hot but warm, and that is such a relief! I pray that as we welcome October tomorrow, this is the way we’ll continue be blessed in the coming days. And…
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1183. A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives. ~Jackie Robinson
Kindness counts and compassion is a beautiful thing… ~ Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com
The purpose of life is not to be happy.
It is to be useful, to be honorable,
to be compassionate,
to have it make some difference
that
you have lived and lived well.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10 ✝
**Image found on Pinterest; text added by Natalie
Aside
1131. The rose is without an explanation; she blooms because she blooms. ~Angelus Silesius
Picture perfect images. Oh, the wonder of it all! ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator http://www.4writersandreaders.com
Roses of the field whisper divine poetry,
but you must listen carefully to hear it
because noise from the wheels of progress
drowns out everything that sings.
~Edited poem by Judith Cody
You love the roses – so do I. I wish
The sky would rain down roses!
Why will it not?
Then all the valley would be pink and red
And soft to tread on. They would fall as light
As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be
Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!
~Edited poem by George Elliot
He(the Lord) will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. ~Psalm 91:4 ✝
**Image of my Night Owl roses
Aside
Hallelujah, Christ’s Alive!
John 3:16 (NIV)
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
Hallelujah, Christ’s Alive!
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1091. Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. ~Desmond Tutu
“Hope is a thing with feathers that perches on the soul…” one of my favorite lines from Emily Dickinson ~ Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com
We must accept finite disappointment,
but never lose infinite hope.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
~Emily Dickinson
It has been my privilege to meet some incredible people through my blog. They are people I never knew to ask God for, but He has given them to me anyway. When I asked Him why He blessed me with their presence in my life, He let me know that it’s because they can fill my life in ways that no one else can. And it’s true…
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Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author 
Written
on 04/15/2017