Garden Walk Week 18. Wandering the Gardens is a way to slow down my week.

I wish that summer would drift by slowly as I walk

the gardens I wish that life would slow down.

Summer this year has been so sweet.

It hasn't been blazing hot.  We have had cool days, and

we have had rainy days.  I have

enjoyed my weekly walks in the garden.

I love looking at the flowers and thinking of

The Great Creator of our world. 

Everything denotes of a creator. 

I enjoy seeing all the different plants, 

the different colors and shapes.

I enjoy seeing the creatures that inhabit the gardens.

I have decided that from now on when I post my photos

I will journal about my life and my thoughts and

perhaps share some favorite scriptures or quotes.

I like to collect small things.  I think that with my 

photography I am collecting flowers and plants and the

insects that live in the garden.

I'm collecting a moment in a day and sharing it.  I'm not

sure that anyone really reads this

blog but I enjoy the process of making it.  

 

My blog is very scattered, but I think that is 

how my life has been lately, scattered going

in so many different directions.  I'm going to 

try in the last few months of this year to be more focused.

I want to bring my life into a more simple focused state 

of living.  In my photography (I'm very much an amateur) 

I have been playing with photographing the same flower from

different angles and changing how I focus and zooming in, and taking a 

photo from a distance.  It's been fun to do this.

These flowers bloomed for so long this year and I just find them to 

be beautiful.

I love the Black Eyed Susan's and Purple Cone Flowers together.

So as you look at the photos I've taken let me 

Share with you the bits of the life I have been living.

This year has had a lot of loss to cancer.  My

cat died of breast cancer in January.

My husbands best friend died of pancreatic cancer in March.

We just recently lost another of my husband good friends

to cancer last month.

Cancer makes you stop and think.  It can happen to 

anyone and seems to come into their lives by surprise.

Then there is the battle against it, and I wonder at this

point how many people really win the battle.

What cost does it take on you to battle cancer with radiation,

chemo therapy, and surgery?

I don't think I would choose these options.  I hope

never to have to face it.  I would like a year of not losing friends to disease.

But the reality is that we are in a world where there is 

loss and suffering.  

How do you remain at peace in this world?

How do you remain hopeful in this world?

How do you remain faithful in a world like ours?

I go to the garden.  I stop and I look at the 

beauty of the garden and wait for the Lord to 

whisper to me, to say "I Am Here."

I also practice gratitude. I may not be so

strong in my faith at this moment.

I feel very on the edge, but I am struggling to 

stay, to continue to believe.

I am on a quest to slow down, to focus and

to try to find my Savior. 

In the beauty of the garden I see his creation.

I see the beauty, the care of a creator. 

I see all the small details of the flowers each

filling it's purpose. 

I wonder what is my Purpose? What is

it that I am supposed to be doing?

I've been wandering, a little bit lost the last few years.

I'm hoping to remove distractions from my life

and find better focus in the next few months.

Are you feeling like life is going by fast?

Do you wonder at the purpose of it all?

What do you do to slow life down?

Do you even try?

Do you stop and savor the moment?

Do you stop and smell the flowers?

Or do you keep rushing forward?

What is it that we are frantically rushing towards?

There were so many beautiful lilies this year. 

I learned today that is is called a "Texas Parking Lot Coleus."

Fall is coming or at least that is what the stores would

have you believe.  I'm not ready for it. 

I want summer to stay longer.

This little humming bird has a small nest it is protecting.

This is a favorite photo.  

Here is a quote I found today: " I don't have to chase

extraordinary moments to find happiness - 

Its right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude.  -Brene Brown.

Thanks for stopping by and looking at my photos.  Which one do you like best.

Sorry that I'm a bit boring and scattered.  Perhaps I will get more focused by the 

end of the year.

G.G.