“Take time to be holy, take time with your Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on his Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak.
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.”
“Take time to be holy, the world rushes on.
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him you will be;
Your friends who are watching His likeness will see.”
“Take time to be holy, let Him be your guide,
And run not before Him, whatever betide;
In joy or in sorrow, still follow your Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in his word.”
*Written by William D. Longstaff (1822-1894)
“”That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection.” Philippians 3:10
“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Jude 21
Throughout the day I think of Christ and how much I love Him and need him, how much my soul longs for Him. There are times when I would love to be deserted on a island with nothing but my Bible.
There are so many distractions in my life.
However, we always make time for the things we love.
For instance, I love to read, so I read.
I love photography, so I take pictures.
I love my family, so I spend time with them.
I love Christ, so . . . . . . . . .oh, that I might love Him more.
“For to me, to live is CHRIST” Philippians 1:21
Good to be Home 
AMEN! Beautiful post, Shanda. I love the picture of the bird reflecting in the water, nice shot.
Oh Shanda, I echo that last thought ~ “I love Christ, so . . . oh, that I might love Him more.” I also love the photo of the cardinal and his reflection.
Thanks for the inspiring post this morning, something I needed to reflect on as well. Be Blessed~
Thanks for the nice thoughts this morning. I need to refocus for sure. I really am going to write you back someday. Things have been so busy. I’m hoping for some Amanda-time later this afternoon.
Its always good to read your thoughts from your heart! love you!
Oh Shanda AMEN. The verses and photos you chose comfort my soul to the core.Your post will bless many…I’m going to email it to a few dear friends
Thanks for this.
I just love reading your blog…it is so inspiring, creative, peaceful, real, honest, and refreshing. Thanks for sharing.
what beautiful comforting verses! i love your pictures of the Lord’s creation…. such peace! 🙂
I love this hymn! I was just reading in Philippians 1 this morning. Thank you Shanda. Beautiful photos!
Thank you for this.
Love this post. Thank you, dear Shanda…
“feed on His word…” How important that is for me to make it through my own busy days. Thank you for the inspiring pictures of God’s handiwork! Regarding your comment: I was struggling with blogging and time management for a while, and spent much time in prayer over where my priorities needed to be focused at that time. It just took up too much time that then I just did not have. I considered letting my site stay and walking away for a bit, but it was better for me to just close my blog down so my time would not be tempted. I sent messages to my friends and subscribers trying to describe my situation at that time, only to find out when I was in the shut down process that all my previous messages would be erased. I went through with it anyway; I needed to do that then. Time has gone on and after a lot of adjustments in how I run the house I am a bit more time efficient, and ready to fellowship with all of you again. I’m looking forward to catching up with my xanga friends!
That is exactly why I miss singing the hymns. The music may be traditional but the words are timeless. They lift us up and set us straight.
They remind me that the Christian life is not easy but it is possible and it is peaceful through the mountains and through the valleys.
Wonderful post! May your heart always long for more time with Him!
Beautiful hymn — how sad that so many churches are not singing these beautiful songs but have rather gone to more contemporary, repetitive choruses. “Take time to be holy, let Him be your guide, and run not before Him whatever betide” — oh, how we need to learn that lesson. Thank you for the beautiful post.
Amen and amen, Shanda! Oh, that I would love Him more! “My soul thirsts for you, like a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”
Beautiful pictures……all of them! And…..I have to say that I adore the baseball pictures below. What great expressions you managed to capture on your son’s face. And the one of him and his dad…..tooooooooo cute!
Have a blessed day!
Jana
Such beautiful pictures and words! Thanks for sharing!
I so much agree with the sentiment that we always make time for the things most important to us. Sadly, it seems that Christ is way down the list for some. Thanks for the post and the beautiful words and pictures.
Okay, that did it. I printed this up myself to make into my own little Shanda booklet. These turned out nice enough to frame for that matter. I do love your site. Blessings dear true artist. M in SC
ps. I am entitling “A Look from Shana Book”
“Shanda Book” that is.