The glorious blooms that abound on my street, in my neighborhood, and the whole way to the Burger King drive thru window wave to me with joy. They remind me that the sun is still rising every morning. There is no new thing under the sun. The world has seen worse. God is still in heaven, and we will get through this too. If the earth is breaking out into such harmonious song, as seen in these pictures, then obviously the fat lady ain’t quite sung yet.

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Luke 12:27

I emailed a few friends with cameras and asked for photographs of spring wherever they are currently. Then I went on Facebook and begged a few spring pictures off of people in my newsfeed. These range from my own back yard to Amman, Jordan. Most of them are in the U.S. because I have never lived overseas. All of these photos, with the exception of the Europe ones (2018-19), were all taken in spring 2020, right in the middle of the world-wide shutdown. And you don’t have to click “NEXT” a thousand times to see them all either because you know I would never do that to you. Enjoy!

My friend Kristin sent me these gorgeous European photos. These first two are from flower shops in Amsterdam.

The picture of the yellow fields is from the village where my friend Kristin lives in in Germany. There is lots of farming in that area, and these are rapeseed flowers that they press to make rapeseed oil.

My friend Laura sent this photo from where she lives in Jordan. She said that the scene above is spring in Jordan in the tiny window when there is actual green to be seen before the sun fries all the grass once temperatures pass the 90s. Sheep are grazing everywhere while there is fresh grass! By the end of May this will all be brown.

Some of you may be wondering how I got pictures of Utah. Remember Jennings? She’s my college days friend who is a flight attendant. Well, airline travel is drastically reduced, but she does still get to work some days. Jennings went to Utah this past week and shared a few photos with us.

People of all ages are passing time outside this year instead of at shopping centers and restaurants. These young folks in the photo are all my cousins. I think we are all getting more time than usual in nature. Aren’t you glad it is spring and not winter?

Spring 2020 is no ordinary season. This is my friend Kristina who, like many people across the country, has been busy at home creating masks. Kristina has made tons of these and delivered them to community and hospital personnel. Her designs are cute too!

Look at all these super cute masks, and here I still haven’t managed to make myself one or find one, so I just don’t go anywhere. I really need to order one of these. I am not crafty, friends. Alan made one out of a bandana which he wore to buy our groceries, but I just haven’t left my car.

I thought the photo above was a fun way to end the post. Kelly’s family staged this so perfectly. In a spring where we are all tied to our electronic devices, I hope you all get a chance to go soak in all that spring has to offer. You know, when it isn’t raining. Of course, you could also be like my son Daniel and go out and play in the rain.

Thank you to all of my photographers!

Kristin Voudouris, Laura Childs, Megan Riley, Olivia Burley, Laura Sheldon, Jennings Rhodes, Amber Townsend, Dave Zimmerman, Kristina Tucker, Alyson Mims, Helena Booth, Katie Hedges, Amy McAmis, Sadie Waters, Stacie Harris, Amy Wilson, and Kelly Divito. Some of these I literally saw their photo in my Facebook feed and asked them if I could pretty please have their pictures. Haha! They were kind enough to share.

The post 60 Triumphant Photos of Spring Around the World in 2020 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

White House made of Lego bricks, Legoland, California

Happy 4th of July, friends!

There’s this one DIY/home decorating blog that I love, even though this blogger’s home looks the polar opposite of mine. Seriously. She has 4 kids, and yet she decorates in white.

And yet it looks beautiful. Her blog is Tidbits-Cam.com,  and if you want to be inspired by photos of sheer beauty (who doesn’t?), give her a visit.

Today on her blog, she is showcasing inspiring patriotic images, and I liked it so much I decided to do my own version of that post.

So I give you 25 photos of America the Beautiful.

Since we’ve lived all over the U.S. of A., we have seen first hand just how gorgeous our country is, and I wanted to share that here today.

All photos are my own, except for a few that Aunt Janet provided.

Lego Mount Rushmore, Legoland, California

Go ahead and get that song in your head. “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountains majesties…”

near Yosemite, California

Half Dome, Yosemite, California

Yosemite, California

a day at the ballpark

White House, 2012

Alabama

Sea to shining sea…I don’t actually remember which ocean this is.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

Look closely. Many of those rocks are actually sea lions laying on rocks. Monterey Bay, California

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

One of my all time favorites. Not only was he making snow angels, but you can see all the places he’d already walked, just like the way the Family Circus comics show foot-paths traveled by Billy. So cute!

Climbing trees are a bonafide part of childhood.

Poppies!

Carmel Valley, California, photo by Janet

Carmel Valley, California, photo by Janet

Monterey, California, photo by Janet

youth, photo by Amy Driscoll

on the road again

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Cliff Dwellers, Colorado

Disney World, Florida

Alabama

Billy Graham’s “The Cove” in North Carolina, photo credit The Cove

I count it one of my greatest blessing to have lived in so many different parts of this country. It truly is America, the beautiful.

Happy 4th of July to you all!

The post 25 Inspiring Photos of America the Beautiful for July 4th appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.