It’s here, the New Year 2013 and everyone is asking what are your resolutions? I prefer to ask what is your view for 2013?
I’m a visual person. I get more done when I visualize what I’m working toward. One year I made a vision board slide show that I kept on my desktop. Every morning I watched it. That was a very good year for me.
My view for 2013 is centered around what God wants me to do. The problem for me is figuring out what that looks like. While I prefer to think God would like me to be comfortably well off-food, health insurance and a fat savings account, I have a feeling that’s not His vision for me.
So how am I going to figure it out?
I’m not.
I’m resting on this verse. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
But in case God needs a view of MY 2013 and the beach I’d like outside my door:
My View for 2013?
What’s your view of 2013? Tell me in the comments. I’d really like to know.
Maybe you have snow, or maybe you are celebrating where the sun shines bright and warm today.
;
The packages are opened, paper crumpled and tossed in fun, bows are stuck on top of heads. What? You don’t put them on your head?
The tree once beautiful with all the packages looks a little bare.
Wait! There is another gift!
Now the baby Jesus in this picture was born Jewish, so I think he’d have dark hair, brown eyes and a little darker skin. It doesn’t matter what he looked like though.
What is important is to know what Jesus did for me, and for you if you want to follow Him.
In case you missed the birth announcement of Jesus Christ let me tell you about him.
God sent his only son to live among us to keep the Jewish laws perfectly. He lived as Jewish man the way God wanted us to live, but we find impossible. We break the commandments all the time. We are not perfect people. Jesus was and he did follow God’s laws.
He did it for us. He came here for me, to take my sins, the ugly mistakes and things I’ve done that I’m not even aware of being wrong. Because of Him I get to stand before God, my father without fear of damnation. Grace has given me eternal life. I hope that you also decide to follow Him.
Part of my job as a writer is to check out what other writers post on their blogs. I ran across Liz Tolsma’s Changing Scenes blog. She had Pam Hillman, author of Claiming Mariah as a guest discussing how photos look different by changing filters on her camera. Read her post Old World Christmas. I have Photoshop Elements 11 and wanted to see what I could do with my Christmas Tree. It’s a very small tree and not all that impressive–unless you are a cat, then it is an amazing playground.
It’s very busy, you can see the light switch and part of the lamp and photo behind the tree.
Over at the Coffeshop Blog they offer free actions (filters) for PhotoshopElements 11 and older versions. I used the Autumn Vintage filter on the Christmas tree.
It’s softer looking but I can still see the problems in this photo.
Much Better! I can still see the unwanted elements but they aren’t as distracting. If I wanted to I could use the healing tool and make them go away.
Oops forgot to remove the photo behind the tree but it’s barely noticeable.
Besides having fun playing with Photoshop 11 have I learned anything else?
Yes. It may seem odd but the more I played with the photos and made the mistakes disappear it reminded me of someone who made my mistakes now and in the future disappear. Jesus is our filter when we stand before God.
I came across this Gluten Free Pretzel recipe on pinterest. It’s super simple. I’ll show you mine, but check out Cooking Classy’s post because she has cool photos.
I used Synder’s gluten-free pretzels for this candy treat.
Unwrap a bunch of them and stick them on the pretzels. (cover the pan with parchment paper!!!!)
Put them in the oven at 200 degrees and watch them melt. When they are soft take them out.
Start dropping the M&Ms on top of the chocolate, once your done put them in the fridge so the chocolate will get hard.
In an hour pull them out and eat! Caution: They are addictive!
I came across this Gluten Free Pretzel recipe on pinterest. It’s super simple. I’ll show you mine, but check out Cooking Classy’s post because she has cool photos.
I used Synder’s gluten-free pretzels for this candy treat.
Unwrap a bunch of them and stick them on the pretzels. (cover the pan with parchment paper!!!!)
Put them in the oven at 200 degrees and watch them melt. When they are soft take them out.
Start dropping the M&Ms on top of the chocolate, once your done put them in the fridge so the chocolate will get hard.
In an hour pull them out and eat! Caution: They are addictive!