"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

On May day (yesterday) I went out in the pouring rain and took pictures of flowers...
Yay for editing! I do love peonies!


This one is actually from the aquarium....


It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." That is the famous opening of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. My mom has made me read a lot of good books in my lifetime, but I really appreciated her making me read this one. The whole message of this book is Redemption. The heroine's father is "Recalled to Life" and the unsuspected hero gives purpose to his life by sacrificing it. The recurring thought in this broken man's mind is "Am am the Resurrection and the Life, saidth the Lord: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." The man faces death fearlessly, knowing that, though his life was sinful and broken, though he wallowed in his current status and could never raise himself to anything better, he would LIVE in Christ. I love that so much. I would recommend this to EVERYONE to read. It's quite a page-turner. I couldn't put it down until the wee hours of the morning for three nights in a row. The ending isn't completely happy, but it's completely uplifting and inspiring-closing with this statement (the man talking about his sacrifice)- "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to that I have EVER known." *sigh* what a gooood book!