The Little Things

It is important to me to take time to stop, listen to the music of life, take a deep breath in, and look around. What amazing things I find when I do this! God has given us such beautiful gifts each day if we simply choose to look for them. Often we do not have to look far.
I was rather bored one day. I had finished as much math as my brain could handle, I had cleaned the house, and I needed something to do while grandpa napped. So I decided to take my camera and see if there was anything interesting laying around for me to take a picture of. Much to my delight there was! You may have seen some of these pictures on my photography blog already but let me share with you what really made me interested in these photos.

Upon a glance this is simply a purple flower...but if you take the time to stop and look closely you will notice some very fine details. First, the vibrant orange pollen. Now look at the little bits of orange coloring in the center of this little flower... it makes the pollen "pop" a little more. And that lovely blue has a way of pulling more color out of those soft purple petals while the blurred green background sets the perfect stage to show case this little flower.

This vibrant yellow flower is just a puff of delight to me! The way it seems to capture the light in it's very petals amazes me. My grandmother tells me often, any garden with a dash of yellow is always the pettiest and I find that to be true. Yellow is a very cheerful color!

The white rose. Notice the traces of pink throught it's petals, the way the petals seems soft, and light seems to elluminate each petal. So much beauty and detal in each petal is what I see in this photo.

This is a from one of the beautiful trees on my grandparents property. The tree's branches are often completely covered in this pink fluff and makes for a beautiful thing to behold.  Look at the way the light hits the petals and how soft they seem in this picture.

Isn't it wonderful?! Look at how many different shades of pink and red are contained in just one flower!

The flowers in this photo are less than pefect, you can see the time and the hot summer have had their toll, and you can see a tiny creature working dilligently to provide its family with food for the winter. What I liked about this photo is that it reminded me of how fleeting life is and the words of James in the Bible.

What makes each of these photos important to me is how great our God is. I see God's handiwork in each of these photos and that is what makes them important to me. He thought about the colors blending together and how they would seem pleasing to the eye. He also thought about the importance of pollenating the plants and how we would need a little bee to help us out. He thought about the wonderful aroma of the roses and how their petals offer us many healing benefits. He thought about each and every single one of those things and so much more and I don't want to take it for granted.

Have a great evening friends!

To God be the glory,

Bethany Joy

Volunteering @ CRMC: Day One

I started my day by reporting to Mrs. McCloudy, she sent me to Mr. Cruz, and from there I went to Ms. Rose, the unit clerk. It was a wonderful first day! I learned many things about the NICU that I hadn't known before, I learned how the doctors on the floor wanted everything done a certain way, I learned many little random facts about the hospital (for example, they don't like card board sitting around), and I got to see many precious babies. I learned that Ms. Rose has a sense of humor...quite a funny thing she is! She was great to work with. She made things easy to understand but kept things moving along. At the end of the day she was happy with the work that we got done and we both look forward to seeing each other again soon. 

I also got to learn more about their codes...All hospitals have "codes"  that they use to announce things over the intercom without disturbing patients. I remember my mother telling me about it when she was a nurse. Now I get to memorize each and every single one and the "plan of action" too. SO much memorizing! I also have to learn where everything is... The good news about that is that I will spend most of the time in one unit (the NICU) so I don't have to remember quite as much.

I met two other volunteers, both already knew each other because they attended the same medical school. Both were Asian and quite silly! We worked together for about 15 minutes before they had to leave for a class at their medical school. Almost the entire time they were giggling about something. Most of the time I couldn't understand what they were saying but nonetheless we enjoyed working together.  

My favorite part was when Ms. Rose and I were doing inventory and we went down to L&D (Labor and Delivery). The mommas there looked so sweet...holding their babies for the first time. The looks on their faces were priceless.

After I finished doing inventory we made some family care packages (with blankets, hats, and a note), some crib cards, and that completed my day. I was very thankful that everyone was so friendly and helpful. It made my first day very enjoyable. :-)

Thank you everyone for praying and offering words of wisdom and encouragement. I appreciate it! :-)

To God be the glory.

Bethany Joy

Rose Petal Blessings

It has been a wonderful week here in sunny California. My grandfather and I trimmed the rose bushes a couple weeks back and now they are covered in the most beautiful array of colors! Tomorrow the gardner will bring some fall looking flowers and plant them along the walk way. I am looking forward to seeing what he has planned. He has done a wonderful job caring for the rest of the yard.

Today, I was delighted to collect the rose petals that had fallen from the roses and set them aside for me to dry later. I look forward to using them for teas, tinctures, and balms later. I enjoyed playing around with the roses this afternoon and taking a few pictures.