Snapshots of Summer

waiting for summer in Southern Alberta

sweet days, sweet little people

 

Bicycling down the Beartooth highway, 14 miles and 4,000+ feet.

 

At the Bear Creek hog races.

 

Green no. 3 won. Cody's pig, incidentally.

Good times with good friends in Weiser, Idaho

at the Nat'l Fiddle Contest. Whoo!

This little red hen of mine went off and hatched two babies in June.

I turned 23. What!?

 

 

Rocky Mountain Regional fiddle contest in Casper Wyoming, August. 

Hannah placed 2nd in Open and FIRST in Female Vocal,

 as her first time entering too.

Third place young adult.

Took a cake icing class. Let's just say the brothers were at least 

happy with all the available cakes for a few weeks. :)

 

The occasional delicious rain over the prairie.

Bellanimous

I coined a word a few years ago. Yes I did!

You know what it's like. We sometimes meet people in the passing courses of our lives that we wish would stay, we wish to spend more time with, and we leave feeling warmed yet with a strange ache for more. For what reason, we try to put a finger on the weight of that magnetism. They may or may not have an attractive face, but you know it goes deeper; they are illustrated on the face with the beauty of their heart. The beautiful light of kindness and goodness gleams in their eyes, and when you look, you see a beautiful soul. They are bellanimous. And I want to be too.

It has roots with "magnanimous", but I think it is distinct enough to merit its own place in a vocabulary.

       Bellanimous: [bell-an-i-mous] adjective

1. Beautiful of soul or mind; marked by a gentle and quiet spirit; delighting the spirit; loving.

2. Dictated by bellanimity; exhibiting excellence of spirit or mind; having beautiful character qualities that give great satisfaction to the soul; honorable.

Origin: 2008  < Latin  bellanimous  beautiful-souled, equivalent to bell(us) beautiful + anim(us) spirit, soul, mind + -us ous.

Of course, a soul or mind is beautiful only in as much as it reflects the beauty of Christ who is the Source of all beauty! He alone can beautify our ugly sin-marred spirits, and clothe us with His own beautiful holiness. As He said in the Scriptures,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
     to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
¹⁹  to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

If that is not beautiful, I confess I must not know the meaning of the word.

So. Add it to your vocabulary if you think it is a good word, and let me know what you think of my definitions. Feel free to help further define bellanimous.

Cheers!

A

If God is good, why do bad things happen? {Video}

I have loved this video clip ever since I first saw it a few years ago, so it's high time to share it here.

This is your rock-solid, heartfelt answer to the age-old question "If God is so good and powerful, why do bad things happen?" By the ever eloquent and apropos Voddie Baucham.

If you haven't seen this video (it's been around a lil' while), you can fix that right now:

-ak