Browsing Tag

butterflies

Blog, Faith, Marriage, prayer, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

Tweaking things

Daffodil & Butterfly. Copyright 2013 Leah Jones

Daffodil & butterfly.
Copyright 2013 Leah Jones

Last week I installed a new, pretty butterfly theme here at BethJones.net

This week I’m tweaking (not twerking, haha!) things to pretty it up and for easier navigation for you: adding new pages, fixing broken links, inserting pics on posts, etc. 

You’ll find my revised page listing the articles I’ve written as well as other COOL STUFF just for you called Free Stuff: free articles, audios, podcasts, and videos! 

Just click here to access these free gifts!

What do you think of my new butterfly theme? Leave your comments below. I just love it! 

Remember that butterflies are never stressed out, worried, depressed, or angry. Butterflies are free and happy. 

That is what God wants for you and me!

God has set me free out of the darkness into His Glorious Light. Read my memoir, Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search for Authentic Love, here at Amazon

Blog, Ebooks, Faith, Podcast, prayer, Speaking, Spiritual Gifts, Writing

New website summer theme: butterflies

Usually about once or twice a year (or more!), I start getting restless and bored with my website and business. It often results in me changing my website theme.

It helps inspire me. If you don’t like your website theme (or you’re getting bored with it), you won’t want to work there!

sunflowers

sunflowers

For summer, I wanted something that feels light and pretty, like fresh flowers. 

This new theme has butterflies and has what is called a slider at the top of the Home page, where you can see a slide of pictures. Some of the slides have pictures of my books, and when you click on the graphic, it takes you to the book on Amazon.

It took me awhile to find a theme I liked today. I’ve always loved butterflies. Have you ever seen a butterfly that is stressed out, depressed, or angry? No.

Butterflies are happy and free. I would like to become more like a butterfly, because I often stress out and freak out way too much. Can anyone say meltdown, like a chocolate bar in the sun? (Chocolate sounds good right now, but I digress!) I really want to become a more peaceful woman, who worries less and trusts God more. Free.

A butterfly was the symbol and logo for my women’s Released Conference several years ago.

RELEASED Women's Conference attendees during worship

RELEASED Women’s Conference attendees during worship

Our daughter Leah drew a beautiful yellow butterfly and flower for the conference, which I will always treasure. There’s such an  anointing on it.

Daffodil and butterfly, Copyright 2013 Leah Jones

Yellow daffodil and butterfly, Copyright 2013 Leah Jones

My husband Ray also bought me butterfly souvenirs when he traveled to Haiti on one of his five Haiti mission trips, training security guards and setting up a medical clinic in Port Au Prince after the 2010 earthquake. 

butterflies from Haiti

butterflies from Haiti

For me, butterflies are a symbol of the transformation we go through when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and his refining work throughout our lives to make us more like Jesus. 

How to get around this website:

The navigation for my new website theme is pretty simple and easy. At the top of the page are my main page headings (and they are under the slider as well). Just click on them to go to that page. 

You can connect with me on other social media sites by clicking on the social media buttons at the top of the page on the right side. 

Social Media

Social Media

The opt-in box for you to sign up on my personal mailing list is on the right sidebar, with your name and email address. When you sign up, you’ll receive my free gift, a downloadable PDF–5 Time-Saving Hacks for a More Happy Life. 

You can find my newest blog posts by clicking on the “Blog” heading at the top of the page. 

Promises In The Dark: One Woman's Search for Authentic Love

Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search
for Authentic Love by Beth Jones

At the bottom of the page are my newest blog posts again for easy access, the link to my memoir (Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search for Authentic Love), and other places where you can connect with me online.

I’m still tweaking it, but wanted to give you a heads-up of the changes around here. I have to make sure it’s a responsive theme for smart phones and other devices.

What do you think of it? Leave your comments below.  

Here’s a beautiful graphic just for me and my website with hearts (another thing I love), flowers, and a butterfly that my friend Eren McKay created for me. I love it!

Beth-Butterflies-Flowers

Copyright 2013 Eren McKay Copyright 2013 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

 

 

 

Blog

The little things

It’s the little things. It doesn’t take much to make me happy (Ray might debate that!). But simple pleasures give me great joy.

When Ray and I recently traveled to Texas and went through what seemed like the storm from hell, Ray’s mom Judy and his step-dad Leonard had a bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder on their back deck at their house by a beautiful lake.

lake by Ray's parents' house near Quitman, TX

lake by Ray’s parents’ house near Quitman, TX

bird and hummingbird feeders on back deck

bird and hummingbird feeders on back deck

I loved getting up early, sitting on the deck praying, enjoying the lake, and watching the birds. It was the first time I’ve ever seen a hummingbird in person and I was so excited. They are tiny and so adorable! I decided when we came home, that I was getting a bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder, too.

Yesterday, I went to the dollar store and Walmart to hunt for the perfect feeders. I found black shepherd hooks to hang the feeders on and bags of bird seed at the dollar store, and the bird feeder and the hummingbird feeder at Walmart.

The hummingbird feeder came with a kit, which included 2 bottles of nectar. Leah said it smells like Kool-Aid.® I told her NOT to drink the Kool-Aid!®  🙂

bird feeder and hummingbird feeder

bird feeder and hummingbird feeder

I’m going to have to go back to Walmart today to get a bigger bird feeder. At lunchtime, I noticed that some of the bigger birds are falling off the tiny ledge of the feeder when they try to eat, so they need a bigger ledge to be able to sit on it and eat. 

bird & hummingbird feeder in our yard

bird & hummingbird feeder in our yard

 I also bought a few new things for my sunroom, one of my fave rooms in our house: a red geranium, a green (golden pothos) plant, and a red flowered cactus with a white ceramic pot with blue and purple flowers on it. I love it!

My sunroom: red geranium, green plant & red flowered cactus

My sunroom: red geranium, green plant & red flowered cactus

One of the reasons I bought the geranium is because they are so hardy. I didn’t inherit my grandmother Moore’s green thumb, so I didn’t want to kill another house plant. Give a geranium some light and water, and it will love you forever. 

red geranium

red geranium

Same thing with the golden pothos plant and this red flowered cactus. I mean, how hard can it be to kill a cactus? Actually you can. The name of the cactus is a ruby ball cactus or moon cactus, and apparently they only live a few years, so they’re ideal for apartment dwellers.

Since they normally don’t live long, I better start preparing for its funeral. It depresses me when my house plants die! But it’s cute for now. I love the pretty ceramic pot. The blue in the dragonfly goes perfectly with my blue chair.

 You have to keep the moon cactus lightly shaded, protected from the full sun. The sunroom should be perfect for it. You water it thoroughly and let it dry out between waterings.

Red flowered cactus

Red flowered cactus

Right next to our sunroom is the utility room, where we hang our jackets and take off our shoes to keep them from muddying the beautiful wood floors in our house. I decorated the utility room with butterfly art Ray bought for me when he went on one of his missions trips to Haiti and birds that Ray’s mom Judy gave us. Her mother (Ray’s grandmother Hutchins) hand-stitched these.

hand-stitched bird pictures

hand-stitched bird pictures

These are the beautiful butterfly art pieces that Ray bought me as a souvenir in Haiti, which are on the other wall in the utility room. I love butterflies. 🙂 

butterflies from Haiti

butterflies from Haiti

The adjoining wall to this one with the butterflies just has a side window and a tiny bit of wall space, so I hung up these brass butterflies, that Ray’s mom also gave us. 

brass-butterflies

brass-butterflies

This morning I sat in the sunroom, praying, journaling, drinking my hot chai with heavy creamer (my little indulgence now since I’ve stopped drinking Cokes®), and watched the birds. I love listening to the sound of the mourning dove. 

chai tea with creamer

chai tea with creamer

Yes, it’s the little things. 

I have felt happy today. Here I am in a new, warm-weather outfit…peach tank, white wrap, and a long, beautifully-colored skirt. Ray said it’s pretty. 🙂

me in new outfit

me in new outfit

What little things mean the most to you? What makes you feel happy and content? Leave your comments below.