Labor Day Bridge Walk

One of my pics from my Labor Day activity: the 51st Annual Mackinaw Bridge Walk! It was my first time. My husband and I did it in under two hours (even though I stopped to take a bunch of pictures)!

Can't they read?

It is almost the last day of August and if I want to keep up my pattern of posting, I need to post! Since I’m short on time; I’m leaving for the weekend soon, here’s an interesting picture I took this summer (interesting to me anyway). Enjoy!

Cardboard Testimonies

My small group Bible study has been discussing passages from the book Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, a book on the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew. Last week we discussed Matthew 5:22 “22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother [1] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults [2] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell [3] of fire.” (ESV) According to Willard, “Filthy language and name calling are always an expression of contempt. The current swarm of filthy language floats upon the sea of contempt in which our society is now adrift.” Discussing these things made me realize how often I judge people on superficial levels, I don’t see people the way that God sees them. I saw this video on the blog of a friend of a friend later in the week and it caused me to think even more about how judgmental I can be, without even realizing it. God works in the lives of all sorts of people, who am I to judge those around me, especially those I don’t even know. I hope this video touches you in some way, for HIS glory.

American

“I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free” is a line from a song that brings out the patriotism in me. Generally speaking, we have it pretty easy here in America. Our faith is rarely tested as it is in countries that don’t know freedom as we do. As we reflect on our independence let’s get out of our comfort zone and stretch our faith to see what God will do when His people believe. Here’s a video of some fireworks I watched to celebrate the independence of the United States of America.

Feast of the Strawberry Moon

Last weekend my husband and I went to the Feast of the Strawberry Moon. It was held on Harbor Island in Grand Haven, MI. We have no idea why it is called the Feast of the Strawberry Moon. There was not enough food to call it a feast, we didn’t see any strawberries, and the event was during the day, so we didn’t see the moon either. What we do know is that it was a reenactment of life in the 1700s. People portrayed Native Americans, voyagers, crafts people, fur traders, and merchants. The most exciting part for us was one of the entertainment acts, a couple of juggling brothers. If you were a kid the candy cannon was pretty cool too. They had a small canon that they loaded down with candy and at appointed times kids would gather in the middle of the camp. A couple of men would shoot it off and candy went flying! Here's a video of the candy cannon. Unfortunately I shot it sideways and don't know how to edit it, so I guess you'll just have to tilt your head.

Great Lakes Kite Festival

This weekend I went to a portion of the Great Lakes Kite Festival in Grand Haven, MI. It was a really cool event. I never realized that you could choreograph kite flying to music! This picture is of one of the kites that flew to a song. My husband took this video during the ‘mega flight’. Fifteen kites flew together. This choreography was not practiced beforehand as everyone with this type of kite was invited to join in. Everyone of course was experienced in flying kites.

Tulip Time!

Every year Holland, MI has a tulip festival called Tulip Time. If you are interested in seeing lots of tulips, of all different varieties, you should definitely come! It’s a great way to welcome in spring. Last weekend I went with my friend Nichole, her mom, and her aunt. We visited all of the regular tourist locations. I had a lot of fun! This picture is from Windmill Island. You can visit the island throughout the year and get a tour of the windmill. If you are lucky it will even be in use when you are there!