Paris : Nature

Here, I'm sharing some "nature" pictures.  For those of you who know the blog or who know me, you know how much I'm thankful for God's incredible Creation !  It's where I feel closest to Him.

1) Paris : People
2) Paris : Nature
3) Paris : Buildings
4) Paris : Animals

 sunrise along the Mediterranean Sea from the train

 fields seen from the train

 going for a walk from the retreat center

 road, fields and sky

 this one leaves me speechless

 this is actually part of the Seine River (one of the northern hooks) - aren't those limestone cliffs gorgeous?

 sunset colors

 from the other side

 frozen morning grass

 frozen morning field

 beautiful manor

 mossy trees

 symmetry

 tree-lined cemetery path

 cherry blossoms

 though man-made, the water and trees add some nature to the city

winter city trees

Love Linz

Paris : Buildings

Now, I'd like to share some pictures of buildings, monuments, structures, churches, tombs etc...  Man-made beautiful things.

1) Paris : People
2) Paris : Nature
3) Paris : Buildings
4) Paris : Animals

 retreat center

 farm house

church

selfie

 wedding

front of church

castle from Richard the Lion Heart

Notre Dame in Paris

Paris rooftops

courtyard to somewhere special (don't ask me where, though)

round turret 

la bastille and port of Paris

church ceiling

inside the church : http://temple.dumarais.fr

Paris at night (Alban & Seb)

Père Lachaise cemetary

Oscar Wilde's tomb

stained glass

Victor Noir - killed in 1870 (position in which he died)

Edith Piaf

funny chair tomb

guy who brought potatoes to France (he gets potatoes instead of flowers)

thankful for such beautiful weather

the Rosetta stone guy

James Morrison

me being cheesy

exquisite

water locks

coming through

Love Linz

Paris : Animals

Hey everyone, I'm back from Paris with good memories and too many photos, so I'm grouping them into 4 categories :

1) Paris : People
2) Paris : Nature
3) Paris : Buildings
4) Paris : Animals

 furry cuteness as the retreat center

 we are definitely outside of the big city

oh da doodie 

 on a walk into the little village

 frozen morning

 this one came over to say hi to me

 cat café in Paris proper : http://www.lecafedeschats.fr

 curled up next to me

 this one wanted to play

 i kind of felt bad for the cats

 as Seb said, it was like someone took the "cat" out of them

 but i think they are rescues, so i don't think they're complaining

 curled up ball of fur

 blackie

 tabby

Seb's expression reveals his deep love for felines - ha!

fun time with Nancy, Sebastien and Alban
Love Linz

deep well

a chat with Oswald Chambers this morning...

{source unknown}

This is sometimes what I sound like :
" 'But, Lord, the well is deep; You cannot draw up quietness and comfort out of it.'

No, He will bring them down from above.

{source}

We will come to Jesus as Comforter or as Sympathizer, but we will not come to Him as Almighty. 

The reason some of us are such poor specimens of Christianity is because we have no Almighty Christ. 

{source}

We have Christian attributes and experiences, but there is no abandonment to Jesus Christ... 

You know it can be done if you look to Jesus. The well of your [our] incompleteness is deep, but make the effort and look away to Him."

--Oswald Chambers

I'm thankful God uses people like Mr. Chambers to give me a kick in the rear every once in a while.  I limit the Almighty God with my unbelief.  Just this morning I read the story in Mark 9 about the dad asking Jesus to heal his demon-possessed son... I like the dad's response, because it's often mine : "Lord I believe; help my unbelief."

Tomorrow I leave for Paris to lead worship for a women's retreat.  Sometimes I doubt that God could ever use such a cotton-headed ninny muggins sinner like myself.  Yet I believe He has already prepared good things in advance.  He truly is ALL-MIGHTY !

See you in a week - I'm going to miss my handsome.

Love Linz