The Story Of The Dogwood

I saw this on a friend's blog and had to share! =)

The story goes that when Jesus was awaiting crucifixion and when the crosses were being made the trees begged God to spare them, but the Dogwood begged not for it's life but for the life of Jesus. 

The Roman soldiers picked the Dogwood.

The Dogwood pleaded with God to use another wood but God did not intervene.  The Dogwood would now carry the body of Christ to his death and the Dogwood knew that for all eternity Dogwoods would be known for this horror.

God in his wisdom spoke to the Dogwood and understood the tree; in that time Dogwoods were tall straight trees that provided sturdy timber for homes and vessels, safety for the animals. bowls for food, utensils to cook with; and God spoke.

God told the Dogwood that the burden that was carried would be carried only one time, and from that time on Dogwoods would be knarly small trees with poor timber size so no Dogwood could be used in this manner again. God told the Dogwood that the Dogwoods would now be responsible for eternity to help people remember.

The Dogwood would only bloom for a very short time before and after the date of the crucifixion, the flower would have just 4 petals representing the hands and feet of Christ, they would be marked with a hole and the blood of Christ and the center of the flower would be circular raised and represent the head of Christ wearing the crown of thorns.

And so it is today, the Dogwood is a small twisted tree, it blooms at Easter and the flower....well look for yourself.

Happy Resurrection day! =)

Happy Birthday....

To the man who is my best friend.

To the man who loves me no matter what.

To the man I'm blessed to spend the rest of my life with.

To the man I love with all of my heart.

And secondly!


Happy Birthday to the best Mom in the world.

The one who showed me what it is to be a godly wife and mother.

The one who I know loves me unconditionally.

The one who I can always call and talk to when I need to.

Mom, you're an amazing woman and I thank God for you. Thank you for setting such a wonderful example for me and my sisters to follow! I love you.

Photography Contest ~ Through My Lenz Photography

Hi everyone! My talented friend Olivia recently started a blog for her photography business, and she is having a photography contest! I know she would love it if any of you entered! You can check out the contest post here.

The photo challenge is "Best Self Portrait."

Here is my entry!

Yikes blogger really pixilated it.....  Anyway, I took this picture driving home from work with my husband. The sunset light was really pretty and I was just playing with my camera in the mirror. I edited it slightly to enhance the lighting and give it a more vintage feel. =)

I look forward to seeing the other entries!