Living in the Dash

 Today is my birthday! It marks the beginning date of my life here on earth, or at least the day I took my first breath of fresh air!  I began nine months prior to that, which would have been Christmas day!  

The story goes that my mother got a new Sunbeam Mixmaster for Christmas that year,

and she was SO happy, well...here I am, nine months later! LOL.  I always wondered why my parents called me their little "sunbeam". LOL.  Just thought I'd start this off with a laugh!  I never knew that story until I was an adult, of course...

Anyway, moving right along...today, __ # of years ago, I took my first breath...and you know the story about how on a tombstone you see two dates?  The birthdate, and then a DASH, and then the date of death.  The DASH represents all these years in between birth and death...in other words, our LIFE...and what we do with it.   We are all living in our "DASH" right now.  There is not enough room on a tombstone to list all the things we did during our "DASH"... but hopefully we are making an impact for good on someone, somewhere, someway, during our DASH years.  The things we do and say and think about and write about are all a part of our DASH.   That is our legacy that we leave behind us.  We can't take any of it with us...no fancy cars, houses, clothes or things...it all stays behind.  The only thing we can take with us are the things we do here that impact the lives of others for good, for Christ's sake.  

Have you ever heard the quote, "Only one life, twill soon be past; Only what's done for Christ will last." ? I had heard it many times in my early adult years, but never knew who said it.  I just looked it up. His name was Charles Studd, and he was a British Missionary, who lived from December 1860 - July 1931.  Being a missionary, I expect there's a lot of life and blessings in his DASH. Yikes, he only lived to be the very same age as me! Oops, I didn't mean to give that away.  

I just found this picture on Pinterest, but we actually used to have this exact same little plaque on our wall for many years. I don't know what happened to it. It may be in the bottom of a box somewhere. It was very old, but it always meant so much to us, I don't know why it disappeared.  It may show up someday.  But anyway...having a birthday tends to make one think about such things as how one is living her "DASH"...

I can only pray that my DASH will have many blessings attached to "what's done for Christ".

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Matthew 6:19-21

Speaking of moths...that cocoon is still just a cocoon...still waiting on the moth to appear...Meanwhile, deep inside the cocoon, there is life...that caterpillar that became a pupa is developing day by day into a beautiful moth, and one day he will emerge from his cocoon and breathe the fresh air and fly away to live his "DASH"...his life here on earth until he is called to his "heavenly home".   I do hope I will get to witness his debut into this world and see his beauty while it lasts...

Today we took a nice ride down to where we used to live in Salt Springs...just to relax and enjoy a country ride. We always stop at the boat ramp on Big Lake Kerr, (because they have a nice public potty), so that I can take some pictures of the lake and whatever other nature we may see.  Here's what I took today:

Yes...butterflies and moths! September seems to be a good month for these beauties to appear, and they are enjoying the nectar/pollen from these wild daisies while they last...

Oh, yes, I did look at the lake too...

looks like the maple leaves have already mostly left the trees...

It was a gorgeous day for being out on the water...

Oh, back to the butterflies...This Gulf Fritillary was hard to capture, but he finally stayed still long enough for a decent picture:

And the little skipper butterflies were busy too...

And then there was this magnificent Swallowtail flitting around...

Such beautiful blessings for my birthday celebration!

Oh about that...we will be having a "big" celebration tomorrow afternoon with family and friends, but today is just kind of a relaxing do what I want kind of day.  I took some pictures on Still Waters Pond this morning...oh wait...first there was this marvelous sunrise in the east:

And yes...the birthday rose from Matthew's memorial garden is still blooming beautifully today! It has lasted all week long, and every day has been such a fragrant blessing from heaven...

Meanwhile...these lovely Great White Egrets were enjoying an early breakfast on the pond...

Such a peaceful setting...

A little blurry, but you get the idea:

Oh, look who else was out there on the pond!  The Sand Hill Crane family!

And then there were these two Egrets again...they look like Siamese Twins! LOL.

All these blessings for my birthday just thrill my soul and make me so thankful for the ways God has blessed me over and over and over again.  

Yesterday morning hubby and I went to town to do a little shopping and we decided to go out to breakfast first.  The place we usually go to was too crowded, so we tried a new place:

Someone had told me they had the best huge cinnamon buns, and so I thought, "why not? It's my birthday afterall..."

Yes, it was HUGE, and VERY SWEET...

(the underside), and we took most of it home for our son Scott to enjoy later... and yes, we did have other real food too...delicious eggs, home fries, bacon, and home made bread toast. It was very good, and we'll probably go back again...

The decor was cute, and I liked the old style diner tables and chairs and booth seats

After breakfast we went to Home Depot and I picked up some mums:

(looking down at them from the deck)

Well, what else is there to say today?  I know I will have a lot more to say tomorrow afternoon after we have our family/friends gathering.  Right now I have put an apple pie in the oven and it has bubbled over and I can smell burned apple pie juice on the bottom of the oven...great...something to clean up later, AFTER we eat the pie of course.  Apple pie is my favorite kind of "birthday cake", which is what my mother always baked for me.  Usually my sister bakes an apple pie for my birthday, but since we are eating at a restaurant tomorrow I don't expect she will be able to do that and besides, I wanted one today!  My gift to myself! LOL (and the rest of the family who are here nearby).

So here it is! Fresh and hot out of the oven just now. Except for the burnt apple pie juice smell in the oven, the pie smells pretty good!!

Thank you for allowing me to reflect on life in the DASH today, my birthday.

You are all a very special part of my life, even though most of us have never met in person...we share our innermost thoughts and dreams and challenges here...and what we say and do here is all a part of

our individual "dashes".

"Only one life, 'twill soon be past;

Only what's done for Christ will last..."

Charles Studd

May your "dash" be filled with joy and blessings overflowing...until we meet again...good night!