Plaasabilities

"Heavenly Light" Morning light illuminates the trees at the Missionary Baptist Church in Cades Cove.  Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved This was the featured image on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Facebook page this morning. It's the perfect image for a Sunday morning, especially on Memorial Day weekend when we remember the lives of those lost in the service of our country. This weekend many of us also choose to remember the lives of family and friends that have passed on. And so the illuminating rays of sunlight over the Missionary Baptist Church in Cades Cove speak to each of us and to those no longer with us. It's not hard to feel the spirit and the peace portrayed. This morning my friend, Bryan Nowak, noted that the sunlight looked like heavenly beams. I smiled knowing I had titled this image "Heavenly Light" shortly after the photograph was taken last June. The name is inspired by a sacred ...

Ramsey Prong, Greenbrier Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2014 Kristina Plaas, All Rights Reserved I got home from a late church meeting tonight feeling very tired and sort of brain-dead. I remembered I had not yet written my daily gratitude posts but, in the moment, couldn't think of anything to acknowledge feeling grateful for. It's not that I'm not grateful for lots of stuff, I am, but sometimes I'm just too tired to think. I reflected back on the evening and could only seem to think about how stressed I was over the music and everything I needed to get done. In the middle of the meeting I had to give myself permission to relax and breathe. I took such a deep breath I'm sure I disturbed my friends in the surrounding pews. Seriously. Part way through the talks there was a piano solo by Lynette James of the YSA Branch. I had asked Lynette to play this specific number, her own arrangement of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing , because I had heard her pla...

Gratitude Day 11: Service and Sacrifice Unlike many of my friends and extended family members, I have never known what it is like to have a father, brother, son, or daughter serve in the military. I know Veteran's Day holds meaning for these friends and family members that I cannot begin to comprehend. I am grateful for the military service of my brother-in-law, cousins, and nephews - most of whom served or are serving in the US Navy. For them, the message of The Navy Hymn means much more than I will ever know. I am grateful for all who have served and continue to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep Its own appointed limits keep; Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, For those in peril on the sea! O Trinity of love and power! Our brethren shield in danger's hour; From rock and tempest, fire and foe, Protect them wheresoe'er they go; ...