Easter Jonquils from 2014

My children decorated our home for Easter very early in the morning. This is one of our
family traditions. 

Jonquils or daffodils are some of their favorite flowers.

Jonquils are some of the very first flowers to blossom in the early spring. Most of our neighbors
 grow them beneath their shrubs and in planting beds around their homes.

My girls decorated the center of our Easter table with graphic postcards, white candles, large shells and chocolates.

Before plates, silverware, and goblets are added to the table, a runner is arranged down the
center of the table.

More close-ups of daffodils.

My Children's Easter Decorations from 2017

Coral colored floral bouquet with baby's breath. Speckled lavender, white and yellow Easter
 eggs, on top of a pale yellow table cloth.

The Easter cake decorated with just bit of splatter, edible Easter grass and chocolate eggs.

A close-up of the Easter basket, bisque porcelain egg box and milk glass vase.

The girls used a bit of butterfly figured wrapping paper to create a table runner.

Close-up photo of our Easter flowers.

A fake feathered chic and speckled eggs resting in pink and lavender Easter grass.

More Spring flowers at the guest tables.

"He Is Risen" Easter, strawberry baskets loaded with candy eggs and chocolate shaped carrots.

Vintage Digital Papers in Shades of Green

       Visitors here may craft many lovely cards, scrapbook pages and other paper creations from the following digital printed papers. I have restored five green designs including all sorts of floral and fauna motifs from 1953. Enjoy! For personal use only.

"Field of Flowers" digital paper

Sampler for pinning only.

Visitors here may craft many lovely cards, scrapbook pages and other paper creations from the following digital printed papers. I designed five color variations from an vintage print of flowers. Enjoy! For personal use only.

"Field of Flowers" in green.

"Field of Flowers" in lavender.

"Field of Flowers" in mango.

"Field of Flowers" in raspberry.

"Field of Flowers" in teal.

The Crescent And The Cross

THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS

BY THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

Kind was my friend who, in the Eastern land,

Remembered me with such a gracious hand,

And sent this Moorish Crescent, which has been

Worn on the haughty bosom of a queen.

No more it sinks and rises in unrest

To the soft music of her heathen breast;

No barbarous chief shall bow before it more,

No turban'd slave shall envy and adore.

I place beside this relic of the Sun

A Cross of cedar brought from Lebanon,

Once borne, perchance, by some pale monk who trod

The desert to Jerusalem - and his God !

Here do they lie, two symbols of two creeds,

Each meaning something to our human needs;

Both stained with blood, and sacred made by faith,

By tears and prayers, and martyrdom and death.

That for the Moslem is, but this for me!

The waning Crescent lacks divinity:

It gives me dreams of battles, and the woes

Of women shut in dim seraglios.

But when this Cross of simple wood I see,

The Star of Bethlehem shines again for me,

And glorious visions break upon my gloom -

The patient Christ, and Mary at the tomb.

• ihopeministries - مَمَرّ
• Jesus calling Muslims from the passage to the garden of paradise.

The Easter Message

THE EASTER MESSAGE
BY CHARLES E. HESSELGRAVE

       Less than a century ago there were growing up in some of the cultured Christian homes of New England many children who later realized with regret that during their childhood days they had never known the symbolism or ever heard the name of Easter. Yet no more significant, spontaneous, or universally attractive festival has ever been instituted than that which celebrates the return of spring, the budding of leaves and flowers, and the triumphant hope that eternally beckons forward the human race.

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone."
Song of Solomon 2:11

       Older than Christianity and deeply rooted in the love of life itself, the spirit of Easter finds its most perfect expression in the Resurrection story of Jesus, There is, indeed, good cheer in the sight of flowers lifting their faces once more toward the sunlight, after the frosts and storms of winter have spent their force. The swelling seeds and changing tints of green give promise of the coming harvests and assure us of nature's ready response to our physical needs. The songs of the birds and the humming of the bees remind us of the rising tide of life that surrounds us and through countless channels is rushing onward with the pulse beat of recurring years. In all this stir of creative energy, this bursting of winter's fetters and the renewal of life's struggle for undisputed supremacy, we feel a kindling interest and secret joy, which carry us outside the old limitations and broaden the horizons of our purposes and hopes.

       But did the springtime come and go with no other message of inspiration, the world of mankind would grow old and weary and discouraged with its toil and disappointment, its wasting wars and ceaseless oppressions, its heroic attempts and saddening failures, and the oft recurring sight of its shining ideals cast to the earth and trampled upon by the gross feet of selfishness and indifference. Humanity knows but too well its own weakness and defects. Memory as well as science reminds us that one spring is like another, that man's life too is but a coming and a going, as the budding spring bursts into summer and comes at last to rest beneath winter's snow. But Easter adds the everlasting crown to man's hope and inspiration in the Resurrection story. Therein we pass from intimations of nature into the realm of human struggle and aspiration where the organizing forces of life surge to and fro with tragic consequence and man more often questions the worth of the final result.

       Back to the Gospel source go those whose faith in human possibilities and courage for unmeasured tasks must needs be renewed in some lifegiving stream. Not only in the buds and blossoms may we see the victory of life, but also in the story of Calvary and the Garden, where we find goodness and righteousness eternally triumphant over villainy and injustice, non-resistence over aggression, humility over pride, holiness over sin, love over hate. We are assured that though evil may hold the reins for a season, dominion and power belong ultimately to justice and right. However complete may be the temporary defeat of truth, error shall not always abide.

       Easter proclaims that man shall overcome all his foes, including death itself. His pathway may lead him through the sorrows of Gethsemane, the pain and darkness of Calvary, nevertheless his winter of distress will yet turn to the spring of delight, defeat will be forgotten in the joy of final victory, and the life of the spirit will rise in glory from the shadows of the grave.

• God's Life-Giving Waters 
• Streams of Water In The Desert 
• What gives you life?
• Stream, flood and spring

The Soul Does Not Sleep.

       I cannot agree with some people, that Paul has been sleeping in the grave, and is still there, after the storms of eighteen hundred years. I cannot believe that he who loved the Master, who had such a burning zeal for Him, has been separated from Him in an unconscious state, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou has given me." This is Christ's prayer. Moody