Tag Archives: summer

On Planting Seeds

On Planting Seeds

planting seedsA Quote to Carry You

September 28, 2015

“Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution.  If you don’t have any problems, you don’t get any seeds.”  Norman Vincent Peale

On planting seeds – Every season brings with it winds of change.  With every change comes a host of challenges.  I believe how we choose to deal with challenges that enter into our lives, determines how we’ll succeed at overcoming them.  No matter how large or small a problem has the potential of becoming, once the seed is planted, the way we prepare and sustain ourselves through it, determines whether we will harvest a bunch of weeds or a beautiful bouquet of wild flowers.

This concept makes me think of how I go about preparing for the transition from summer into autumn.  As a crispness fills the air, and the days grow shorter, these changes in nature remind me of the harsh weather that is sure to follow in a few months time.  As I spend time deep cleaning my home and packing away the lighthearted leisure of summer, I begin focusing on the contrasting heartiness of autumn, filling the rooms with the deep, earth tones that it brings.  I begin pulling out sweaters and jackets to shelter myself from the daytime chilliness and layer myself with blankets to keep warm when the briskness of the cooler nights bites.

I liken all of these things to planting seeds that stout and grow, enabling me to face an entirely new environment as the new season continues to move in.  Like fertilizing and watering soil for healthy plants to develop, knowing that I have prepared for the transition of one season to the next, somehow gives me a sense of comfort and security that an abundant harvest brings.  When I am confident that I have everything in order and ready for the coming months of seasonal change, I can truly enjoy all of the beauty that blossoms and surrounds me.

Like summer fading into fall, when we get through one challenge, another one is there awaiting our attention.  When the winds of change begin to blow in your direction, may you go about planting seeds that will yield a most enjoyable and magnificent bounty for you.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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On Starting Over

On Starting Over

on starting overA Quote to Carry You

September 7, 2015

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”  George Eliot

On starting over – September for me always signifies the start of something new.  As summer fades, students head back to school, and many businesses gear up for the busiest shopping season of the year – the air seems to fill up with a sense of starting over.  If you are like me, there are may activities and traditions that I look forward to and enjoy during the autumn and the holiday seasons.  Although many of the activities are things that I do year after year, as it is with starting over, they all seem fresh and new each time I get to partake in them.  In fact, it is the feeling of anticipating new things to come, that makes those times so exciting.

What is it about starting over that you look forward to?  May your new beginning be filled with all that you’ve hoped for.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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On Warmth

On Warmth

on warmthA Quote to Carry You

August 3, 2015

“The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.”  Oscar Wilde

On warmth – Warmth comes in many different forms, and in many different degrees.  Indeed, this summer we are experiencing some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded.  Sometimes the warmth of the bright sun combined with a thick layer of humidity can feel dense enough to slice through.  During this time of year, there have been days where droplets of sweat have formed on my forehead after taking just one step outside the door!  Be that as it may, there is one form of warmth that can heat up our hearts even faster…the warmth of love.

To me, being loved and genuinely wanted and cared for can cause a warmth to radiate straight through to my heart.  In fact, knowing that I am truly loved can spark a flame within me that causes my entire world to glow.  To experience the warmth that is produced by love is a temperature that I am comfortable with any time of year.

May your heart be wrapped so tightly within a blanket of love today that its warmth causes you to glow…and warm up others around you.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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On Vacations

On Vacations

on vacationsA Quote to Carry You

July 20, 2015

“Laughter is an instant vacation.”  Milton Berle

On Vacations – I am certain that most of you would agree that, ’tis the season…for vacations that is! Whether you are planning some time off to visit with family and friends, trek off to the woods for hiking and camping, or set sail for an exotic adventure in a far off land, vacations are something to look forward to and to enjoy.  In fact, having time off to rest and get refreshed is welcome at any time of the year.  Not only is taking a break from the “daily grind” something to look forward to, it doesn’t necessarily have to want for summer or the holidays.

Given all of the changes in my “daily grind” over these past several months, I won’t have the luxury of taking time off for any vacations right away.  Be that as it may, it won’t stop me from enjoying some of the benefits that vacations provide.  For me, closing my eyes and envisioning myself traveling off to a sunny spot on the beach, wading along the waves and scrunching my toes up in the wet sand can be enough to brighten my day.  Thinking back and reminiscing about the wonderful vacations I’ve gotten to enjoy in the past are often just what I need to get me excited about what I have to look forward to when I do have the chance to get away.  Whether smiling for a brief moment over a treasured memory, or spending time perusing through photographs and laughing aloud at some funny things they’ve brought to mind, vacations have a way of invigorating us long after we’ve actually experienced them.

Whether you get to take one or more vacations for real, or at least get to daydream about the ones you’ll get to enjoy in the future, may they transport you away long enough to be refreshed…it is amazing what a little time away can do for you.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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On Living Deeply

On Living Deeply

living deeplyA Quote to Carry You

June 22, 2015

“The universe is wider than our view of it.”  Henry David Thoreau

On living deeply – Summer has arrived, a whole new season has blossomed right before our eyes.  Isn’t it amazing how no matter what is going on in our daily lives, the cycle of nature silently revolves, uninterrupted and consistently.  Outside my den window right now, the trees are adorned with vibrant shades of green leaves swaying ever so gently in the mild breeze.  It is as though they are whispering a song of welcome to the new season.  In three short months time, those same branches will be splattered with hints of red and golden hues signaling that autumn is fast approaching.  Their leaves will surely rustle and clamor to a different tune by then.  I only hope that, like today, I will take the time to pause and receive the beautifully fascinating gift that God has created and bestowed upon us.

Living deeply, experiencing our world in the profound way that it deserves…can you imagine how much more valuable your own life would be if you do just that?

Peace and love,

Felecia

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The Beauty of Change

beauty of change

“The Banks of the Bievre near Bicetre” (Detail),1898-1910, Henri Rousseau (Le Douanier). Image from a page of the 2014 Desk Calendar, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Store

 

The beauty of change is hidden sometimes…but oh what wondrous splendor there is to experience when we find it.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens…”  Ecclesiastes 3:1

I am sure you’ll agree that change can be uncomfortable.   In fact, it can be down right scary, ugly even.  We all have a certain way of doing things, a certain level of comfort in knowing what to expect, for the most part, from day to day.  When our routine, our way of life gets disrupted, it can seem impossible to see the beauty of change.

It is easy to see the beauty of change between the four seasons,  The gradual melting of winter into spring is a welcome transition full of brightness and hope.  Then that brightness fades as the blaze of summer tempers itself into the subtle coolness of autumn. When change takes place in our lives, things don’t always happen so serenely.  Often times it comes from out of nowhere, and it throws us way off balance.  We can hardly stand to face it, let alone see the beauty of change.  Is there really such a thing?

Honestly, I can say yes.  The very word “change” indicates that something is about to or has become what it was not before…it is in that transformation where the beauty of change is found.  The life changes that I have experienced just recently seemed at first to be horrible.  Actually, they were terribly painful and the residue still coats my days.  But what they’ve spawned is a resilience that I could never have mustered without going through those changes. I do not understand why they happened, but I have come to accept and embrace them.  In that alone is a quiet beauty that I enjoy…knowing that whatever changes come about down the road that I travel in life, there is only good awaiting me when I arrive at my destination.

“There is beauty in change, in that I never doubt.  When I face them and embrace them, I know goodness will come about.”  Felecia R. Weber 2014, OntheWingofaDove.com

Peace and love,

Felecia

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On Prosperity

On Prosperity

on prosperityA Quote to Carry You

August 11, 2014

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”  Josh Billings

Prosperity doesn’t just happen out of the blue.  Prosperity is something that is grown over time. Like the seasons in nature, I believe that some degree of exertion has to be put forth in order for the fullness of pleasure in life’s most treasured possessions can be realized.  The fierceness of winter melts into the delicateness of springtime.  The brutal heat of summer withers along the crisp trails of autumn.  We long for times of abundant prosperity when we’ve suffered far too long with far too little.  We bask in the comfortable richness offered to us by the fruits of our labor; never wanting to have to face leaner times again.  What we may not realize is that prosperity, like the seasons is not necessarily found in our possessions, but rather, it is in the effort and determination it took to acquire them.

May your season of prosperity come and be enjoyed to the full.

Peace and love,

Felecia

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Perpetual Motion

Perpetual Motion 1

“C’est la vie!,” photograph by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

 

Perpetual Motion…Life, vita, vida, vie…whichever way you pronounce it, it never stands still.

“I am a spiritual being having a human experience.  My life is a continual unfoldment of my divine potential.” (Author unknown)

With this new season of freshness, growth and renewal upon us, I can’t help but think of how life is in perpetual motion.  Life itself is a constant cycle of birth, growth, death, and rebirth, growth, and on it goes.  The seasons demonstrate this circle of movement so well.  The dark, cold shadow of winter, can sometimes feel like death with its subdued bleakness surrounding us.  The early light and sprouting vitality of spring is reminiscent of the joy and brightness that we experience in our youth.  The intense heat of summer’s blaze is equal to the confidence and strength that propels us along through our adult years.  Alas, the crowning glory that comes with a lifetime of wisdom and knowledge, fades as quietly as does the fullness of autumn’s majestic colors…life drifts away into subtle hues of gray…and darkness rules once again for  a season.

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.  What is your life?  For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”  James 4:14

Life, vita, vida,vie…whichever way you pronounce it, it never stands still.  It is fascinating to see this principle in every living thing.  Plants sprout from seeds that have been sowed beneath rich, dark soil where they appear to be dead.  Before long, tiny green leaves develop and buds blossom in the matchless beauty of delicate petals that are seemingly here today, and gone tomorrow.  But oh what sweetness their fragrance brings.  And when they are spent, their perfume lingers for all to enjoy.

Perpetual Motion 2

“Vibrance,” photograph by Felecia R. Weber, OntheWingofaDove.com

As with all living things, we all serve a purpose and its meaning fold during every stage of our lives.  We live our days through season after season, year after year.  Like the showers of spring help to grow the brilliance of a field of wildflowers in the summertime; our tears wash away our pain and disappointment, making way for the glimmer of a smile when good news comes.  The pensive mood that brews when watching a leaf bursting with russet hues falling gently to the ground in autumn, mimics the way we feel when we realize how much of our lives have already been lived.  There is something starkly compelling about peering out at a winterscape from a window, safe and warm inside.  The blustery wind that blows and howls outside, they echo death’s hollow song…the melody is one that we will all someday become familiar with.  Yet we will live on in the hearts of those who remember us and draw inspiration and vitality from all that we’ve left behind.

Whatever stage you are in, may you experience the perpetual motion of your life in a beautifully and wondrous way.

 

I bid you peace and love,

Felecia

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