I truly believe that God selectively places certain friends in your life that will be there for a lifetime. No circumstance or situation will ever alter that friendship. In fact, I like to think of them as special angels that are there to guide you, sustain you, and even help to pick you up when you fall. Yvonne Reid is one such friend! My friendship started with Yvonne many years ago when I joined a small group that she was leading. A gifted Bible teacher and counselor, she volunteers several days each week counseling at Wiregrass Hope Group. A gifted writer and photographer, Yvonne is a constant source of encouragement in my life along with countless others. She adores flowers and loves the color, yellow. Every time I see a yellow flower I am reminded of our friendship. Yellow flowers seem to burst with happiness, and joy, quite appropriately, is also one of the feelings elicited by the color.
Pictured below are some lovely blooms I photographed recently..
Enjoy the yellow flower arrangements pictured below . . .
My sons gave me these tulips for my birthday, beautifully arranged in a vase from the florist. After a few days, I deconstructed the arrangement placing them in vintage milk glass containers and a cake stand that belonged to my Mother. Lemons, camellia foliage, and hosta added to the cheerful tablescape. The woven blue and white woven coverlet also is a family piece.
Another arrangement I did last summer from my Mother’s garden incorporating roses and hosta.
Pictured below are a few scenes from Yvonne’s lovely woodland garden…
Sunflowers are a favorite of Yvonne’s, and my business partner and I gave her an arrangement as a little gift of gratitude for doing some photography for us . . .
Her precious granddaughters love her playfulness and exuberant personality.
Yvonne writes brilliantly and I keep a file of inspirational writings she has authored through the years. I would like to share this with you today:
“Circumstances should not determine our peace and joy, though I often allow what’s happening around me to do just that. God allows the sweet mornings and the storms, and we are to embrace what He is arranging, and realize that His hammering away at us is done in order to draw us closer to Him. He goes to great lengths and allows the trials to bring us to what He knows is the only thing to make us truly joyful and at peace. We need not fight against it, He will have His way ultimately because He loves us.”
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the field produces no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, YET I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” -Habakkuk 3:17-19
A magnificent dew-drenched camellia photographed by Yvonne in her yard a few months ago.
“Friendship is unnecessary like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value, rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. – C.S. Lewis
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