Captivate Us

Captivate Us

Watermark

Your face is beautiful,

And Your eyes are like the stars.

Your gentle hands have healing,

There inside the scars.

Your loving arms, they draw me near,

And Your smile it brings me peace.

Draw me closer, oh my Lord,

Draw me closer Lord to Thee.

Captivate us, Lord Jesus, set our eyes on You.

Devastate us, with your presence falling down.

And rushing river, draw us nearer,

Holy fountain, consume us with You.

Captivate us, Lord Jesus, with You.

Your voice is powerful,

And Your words are radiant bright.

In Your breath and shadow,

I will come close and abide.

You whisper words of life divine,

And Your fellowship is free.

Draw me closer, oh my Lord.

Draw me closer, Lord, to thee.

Captivate us, Lord Jesus, set our eyes on You.

Devastate us, with your presence falling down.

And rushing river, draw us nearer,

Holy fountain, consume us with You.

Captivate us, Lord Jesus, with You.

And let everything, be lost in the shadows,

Of the light of your face.

And let every chain, be broken from me

As I'm bound in Your grace.

For Your yoke is easy, Your burden is light,

You're full of wisdom, power, and might,

And every eye will see You.

Captivate us, Lord Jesus, set our eyes on You.

Devastate us, with your presence falling down.

And rushing river, draw us nearer,

Holy fountain, consume us with You.

Captivate us, Lord Jesus, with You.

Saturday Hike

Last Saturday, after the predicted rain clouds skirted us by, Vicky and I hit the trail for a socially distanced hike... for the first time in way too long!

We spent about three hours hiking a moderately rigorous six miles of beautiful country along the Susquehanna River. 

Evening

I stood for a while the other evening after work,

gazing at the evening sky from the nearby cemetery hill.

#Baked

a few of my recent baking adventures:

maple scones (buttery flakes of dough dotted with slivered almonds and sweetened with Michigan maple syrup)

classic rugelagh (miniature butter + cream cheese pastry encasing sweet fillings of choice... cinnamon nut, Nutella, and homemade jam...)

bluebarb cobbler (blueberries and rhubarb sweetened with Michigan maple syrup and topped with a delicious butter biscuit)

rhubarb hand pies (tangy fruit enveloped in a flaky, all-butter crust)

Surprisingly (and unfortunately-?), butter has been easier to source/buy than flour during the current COVID-19 red phase here in our county.

view

I take plenty of walks, but over the past two months, the frequency and length have increased significantly. There are only so many streets and alleys in the neighborhood... and I can tell you a LOT of details about the plants and gardens (and houses!) along these common paths :).

One of the adventures of spending hours wandering the same paths months on end has been watching spring unfold one day at a time. I often play a little hunting game, and choose up to five of my very most absolutely favorite signs of life spotted on that day's walk. Last Friday, the above view was one of the winners-- oh to SOAK in more of the glory of nature at its peaks. Truly divine.

This tree lined path is a common bit of my wanderings, however, the sunlight, warm air, light breeze, and verdant green of the leaves made it feel extra luxurious Friday afternoon.

Wish you could have experienced the breathtaking splendor too.

Wild

I've been picking bouquets of weeds, er, 

wild flowers.

This is my favorite so far. 

There is nothing not to love about a display of delicate, bright yellow 

flowers surrounded by luscious green foliage.

face masks, of course

I decided to jump on the mask-making wagon a few weeks ago, just to try my hand at this little project that's currently rocking the Pinterest and Etsy world as folks are in a frenzy and (here in PA) the governor is requiring masks be worn when in public.

note: since I'm using the ironing board as a desk extension in my remote office, I had to get extra creative with the iron for this project!

After extensive research, I settled on a three-pleat style pattern with homemade ties at each corner, a piece of muslin as a "filter" layer, and four twist ties sewn in place at the nose. 

According to CDC guidelines, these masks now provide some level of protection to others (in case of necessary human contact outside our apartment), and each mask can be worn a maximum of 2 hours before laundering! 

It seems we are left with some combination of a few options: 

1) very limited external exposure with other humans (less than 2 hours at a time)

2) lots of laundry breaks in case of human exposure beyond 2 hours

3) breathing more than the recommended ppm of our own germs 

{wearing a mask for +2 hours at a time, or, gasp... re-wearing a reusable mask before washing...}

4) a need for more masks as the COVID season continues

#BreakfastOfChampions (my version)

It doesn't get much better than starting the day with a parfait of fresh fruit, homemade granola, and plain yoghurt.

oolala.

week 8

Sharon and I started our week by "going" to church remotely...

for the eighth consecutive week.