A Slice of Croatia!

Via @cro_explore (Instagram). Follow this account for more beautiful Croatian delights!

#cro_explore

Advertisement

Scripture of the Week: Believe when you pray

Love has a name and that name is JESUS! 💙

The Anhinga

Yay! I can finally start this new A to Z challenge! I’ve been looking forward to bringing more of God’s beautiful and marvelous creation to this blog. Today, we look at the Anhinga bird. I won’t write too much information, just what I deem interesting. 😃

🐦 The name Anhinga comes from the Tupi Indians in Brazil from a Tupi word which means “snake-bird”, “devil bird” or “evil spirit of the woods.”

🐦 Because of its distinctive shape, the Anhinga is sometimes called “snake bird” for its long snakelike flexible neck (this was actually the first feature I noticed in this bird) and “water turkey” for its turkeylike tail. It is also sometimes called the American darter. I’ll just call it a “snake turkey” bird.

🐦 Anhingas feast primarily on fish, but their diet can also include aquatic crustaceans and insects. 

🐦 They resemble cormorants, but they’re no match for the cormorants when it comes to swimming and hunting.

Image: The Cormorant

🐦 Species of Anhingas can be found all over the world including the United States, Grenada, Cuba, and Trinidad & Tobago. They usually live in sheltered waters.

🐦 Additional fun fact: The Anhinga swims lower in the water than many other birds due to its reduced buoyancy-a result of wetted plumage and dense bones. (via allaboutbirds.org)

Learn more about this fascinating bird here:

Images: Pinterest and Mark Thomas/Audubon Photography Awards

Reference/s: allaboutbirds.org; animaldiversity.org; YouTube

GIF: Google Search

Teaser Tuesday: How’s the blog shaping up and new logo.

Salut! And welcome back to this little space on the internet. 

Blog Update

Good afternoon, good evening, good night, or morning! I trust that all is well. La Petit Muse is forever an ongoing work in process, but I am just figuring out how I want it to shape up with God’s direction of course. You may not have noticed, but the blog changes with me. Every time I adjust, tweak and go…

…there is always something that I’m not satisfied with. I’m by no means a perfectionist – I leave that to God – but I do enjoy pushing myself to creative limits for I tend to discover new things… things that I never thought I’ll be doing in my earthly years! 

Logo

This logo was months in the making! I’ve been working on and off on a logo for the blog and I needed to step back and let God have His way. I knew I wanted a butterfly and a coffee cup on the logo so when the final design came together, I was happy with the result. The transparent form of this logo is now in use on the new designs I’ve been coming up with recently.

Banner

Working on it. All in His timing. 😃

Color Coding? 

This is something I’ve been thinking of for a while and it started with the last Teaser Tuesday. I love using colors, but I may eventually narrow it down to a few colors in the near future for all blog posts or just color code a few of the series. 

Category is…

In the last Teaser, I asked what new categories you were interested in and you were kind enough to leave a comment so thank you. Since then, I’ve kicked off trailer reaction and I have plans to begin three new series soon: A to Z Challenge: Birds, What’s Up Wednesday and Travel Tuesday. Just this morning, I was given another short series to work on: Things Christians Should Stop Saying. As soon as God gives me the green light, it’s go- time! In the meantime, I’m working on putting them together and perhaps, a new schedule. 

Currently…

…I’m trying to read. I’m looking for that book that will propel me to enjoy reading once again as I want to complete my TBR. I am currently reading The Woman in the White Kimono a debut from Ana Johns, but I’m not sure what to make of it as yet. 

I’m also writing a lot lately so pretty soon, I’ll start posting short stories once again. Some of them are just thoughts and ideas that may not be formed into full stories, but I’ll post them anyway. 

Time is still limited and although I don’t have much time as before to spend on this community, I am delighted to take whatever time I can get to catch up on your blogs. Thank you for your visits, reads, likes, and comments. May God bless the person reading this. 

***GIFs via Google Search

Devotional Nugget #5: It’s not always about money.

Encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.

1 Thessalonians 5:14

Okay, I’m going to talk about Tom Cruise a little bit, so bear with me. I once dubbed Tom the greatest actor to ever grace a screen, but what I loved most about him was what he did off-screen and here are a few examples:

^ Zac Efron said that Tom taught him to ride a bike. Tom has to find time to do that.

^ Tom never forgets birthdays.

^ Billy Wilder was some sort of legendary director. There’s a long story in there, but to make it short, Tom would just listen to his stories and write him notes. When Billy passed away in 2002, Tom was at the memorial and he let everyone know how much he loved Billy. 

^ Another boy was supposed to be the kid set to steal the show in Jerry Maguire, but he eventually left and Jonathan Lipnicki replaced him. A few weeks later, the boy’s mom calls Cameron Crowe (the director) to tell him to thank Tom for helping her son transition back to his normal life by sending letters and gifts. Crowe couldn’t get over why Tom didn’t tell everyone, but there was no need to shout a good deed from the rooftop. 

What’s the moral of some of those stories? You don’t always need money to help someone. Sometimes, all someone might need is a listening ear or a word of advice or even a little bit of your time. Your thoughtfulness. And what if it’s money? If you’re being led to help someone by giving them money, do not selfishly give to feel better about yourself for we should give without sparing (Proverbs 21:26) while delighting in the Lord (Psalm 37:4). 

Some of us are only willing to help someone in need when a reward is involved (Matthew 6:2), but our giving shouldn’t be advertised on a billboard (Matthew 6:4) as it’s supposed to be a thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:11).

Today’s Reflection

We do not always know what someone may need but do not assume that it’s always money. Ask God for help to give wisely. 

Scripture of the Week: O land, hear God’s Word!

Trailer Reaction: Maverick is back!✈✈

*Ponders* That banner could’ve undergone some more work and the fonts look a little wonky. Anyways, welcome to Trailer Reaction. To be honest, I’m not into movies as before, but this one trailer is currently trending #1 on YouTube as it was a surprise for Comic-Con after Tom turned up himself to announce it last evening and many people were curious enough to view it 10 million times and counting, topping the other trailers that came out yesterday, so we gone watch it. 

Top Gun: Maverick ✈

0:02 – It’s official!
0:05-7 – The opening of this trailer is already visually appealing.
0:50 – *Gasps* Maverick is not a two-star admiral, but captain after all of these years?! Why hasn’t he moved up the ranks? I see where this storyline is going. He’s been through something that stopped him from getting promoted. I bet it has something to do with all those missions that were deemed impossible, but turned out possible in the end after all!
0:54 – First close-up of TC, and he looks great for 57! I aspire to age like this. He ages like a vintage bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 🙄 I mean, the cosmetic and makeup help too, but he is aging well. A huge plus is that he actually looks like a seasoned navy captain.
1:04 – YASSS!!
1:08 – SWEET SHOT of Maverick in the cockpit!

1:16 – The jacket!
1:17 – The shades!
1:18 – The bike! A beautiful Ninja H2R!!
1:20 – Highway tooo the daanggeerr zooneeee!!! No, wait, take my breath awaaaayyyy!🎤

1:31 – Some random female pilot with the call sign ‘Phoenix’. Whose ashes is she rising from? Goose’s? TC’s? Is she the new top gun?
1:34 – Is that a funeral for Iceman? 🤔
1:37 – Because we don’t know who TC is!
1:43 – SWEET! I bet TC flew all 3 jets at the same time, too! Great shot, though! 👏
2:01 – Not today, Satan! Maverick’s kind (fighter pilot and because machines are taking over) is heading for extinction but not today! I feel as if this particular line is a jab at Hollywood. If you look at the new movies coming out, the men are being replaced by the women. TC is a man’s man and women want to be one, too. Right, Brie? I am actually surprised that Maverick was not turned into a woman of color. Don’t @ me.
2:09 – The F-14 Tomcat is only the most iconic jet!! Also, civilians are not allowed to fly military aircraft and the last time I checked, Tom was a civilian. Also, also, the F-14 is used in the Iranian Air Force today so is Iran going to be an enemy?

After 33 years, the sequel to Top Gun that no one asked for is here. I certainly didn’t ask for it, but I give this trailer a solid 5. It’s visually appealing, masterfully shot, and no CGI (If I missed it, too bad, for I’m not going back to look at it). I find no fault in this first trailer so kudos to the team. 

I know many fans prefer the ‘Danger Zone’ soundtrack, but ‘Take My Breath Away’ for me is one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time. Also, I noticed that the Taiwanese and Japanese flags on Maverick’s jacket have been replaced with China. Where China and Iran are concerned, this brings to mind the 200-million-man army that will counterattack the Beast power (Revelation 9:13-21).

This movie will be out in cinemas in the summer of 2020 be it God’s willing. I’ve had my fair share of movies and TC over the years, so I’ll be skipping it. This movie is also sponsored by the US Navy and had production say “no real aircraft are being used in the filming of this movie” Tom was not doing it. When it comes to military propaganda films, nothing beats Top Gun. Tom looks fantastic in uniform and is a walking commercial for the US military. After the first movie came out, the number of young men who joined the US Navy wanting to be Naval Aviators went up by 500 percent. Can you hear the patriotic chants of “USA! USA!” in 2020?

“The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is heading for extinction”.

“Maybe so sir… but not today.”

After this trailer, I am pretty much afraid to watch the other trailers YouTube recommended which include Cats so I’ll leave those for next time for I don’t think I’m going to watch a better trailer than this for the rest of the year… and that’s putting it nicely. After all, there is literally nothing new under the sun. 🌞

*** GIFs and photos via Google Search

Praising Him no matter what!

Despite yes or no,
the ups and downs,
the easy times, the tough times,
the times when I don’t hear Your voice,
the times when I hear it clear as day skies,
the darkest hour,
in ALL circumstances,
I will continue to praise YOU!

No matter what, I’ll ALWAYS direct praise to God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. All blessings, honor, and glory belong to Him.

Peu importe ce que, je vais félicitez toujours directement à Dieu, le Créateur du Ciel et de la Terre. Toutes les bénédictions, l’honneur et la gloire appartiennent à Lui.

LOOK at the world in which we live in!

Take a look.

Take a good HARD look at the wicked world in which we live.

Lawlessness: A young woman decided to have some fun by licking a tub of ice cream and placing the Blue Bell container back on the shelf. She was identified by police and would’ve faced up to 20 years in jail and a $10,000 fine for tampering with food had she not been seventeen. She is not the only one. A 36-year-old man in Louisiana was also charged for licking a tub of Blue Bell ice cream and putting it back on the shelf. When the police came to arrest him, he said that he only wanted to be “famous”.

I have no idea why ice cream, but this so-call #IceCreamChallenge is getting out of hand. 

As if one health hazard is not enough, this decent human being decided to go to Walmart, gargle Listerine, spit it back into the bottle and return it to the shelf! 

I am not okay with this disgusting challenge. You cannot just walk into a store and pick up a product, tamper with it and place it back on the shelf for unsuspecting consumers to purchase. Even if this challenge is staged, it is disgusting behavior. This selfish entitled generation is so starved for attention that they’ll do anything to be the center of it. This is what happens when we live in a godless do what thou wilt society.

And if that’s not enough, last year, a YouTuber from Barcelona pranked a homeless man by giving him toothpaste-fill Oreos. This same YouTuber (Kanghua Ren aka ReSet) is also accused of filling sandwiches with cat feces and offering them to children and the elderly. He has since been sentenced to 15 months in prison and fined $22,300.

We’re living in the days of Noah and Revelation. All that God said will come to pass has/is coming to pass before our very eyes every day. Please keep this corrupted world in your prayers for there are many souls yet to come to repentance. 

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

2 Timothy 3:1-5