When the year began, I mentioned that I am resolved to take care of my health better than I did before. That included applying sunscreens everyday even when I usually stay indoors. The OR lights also cause photo aging. 😓
I used to think that using moisturizers with SPF is enough. Plus, I have really oily skin so I did not want to use additional sunscreen because they make my face shiny. Five years ago, tiny sun spots started to appear on my face and I was only in my 20's. I tried various BB creams and lightening creams, but I was not really satisfied. The sun spots remained and even started to multiply. So last month, as part of my resolution, I started to use VMV Hypoallergenics Illuminants+ Skin Regimen followed by Armada Face & Body Shield 60 which also protects against skin darkening and melasma. Just what I needed. It's only been 3 weeks, but I can already see a lightening of my old acne scars and my skin tone's more evened out. I no longer use foundation to even out my skin tone. 😉
I wasn't paid to say these things. I'm just really happy with the results I'm having. I believe it's worth sharing. 😊
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| Camille Lepage was a French photojournalist doing a project in Central African Republic. Her body was discovered by French peacekeepers patrolling in the Bouar Region in the west of the country driven by militia from the anti-balaka group. An investigation is ongoing to shine light on the circumstaces of this murder. |
In an interview with the photographic blog PetaPixel last October, Lepage spoke about her ongoing projects, You Will Forget Me and Vanishing Youth, that capture the violence of South Sudan."Since I was very little, I've always wanted to go and live in a place where no one else wants to go, and cover in-depth conflict related stories … I can't accept that people's tragedies are silenced simply because no one can make money out of them."Of her life in South Sudan, she said: "The fact that I live in South Sudan for a while really helps. I live in a local house in a local neighbourhood, with no electricity and little comfort, so I don't see myself as being very different from them [local people]."She ends the interview: "I'm currently in the Central African Republic, working on a new photography project there for a few months before heading back to South Sudan and Sudan." ~ The Guardian
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| I missed this calf. He's only a couple of months old. Last time I saw him he was half his size. He's really friendly and playful, and loves to eat vegetables so they have to keep him away from the vegetable garden. Haha! |
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| Here's a hen with her chicks. She laid and hatched her eggs in the neighbor's property. They locked her up and claimed her as her own. My grandmother fought for her and eventually got her back. My abuela is one tough cookie. :) |
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| A crown fit for a queen. |
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| Can you now guess what this is? |
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| A baby pineapple. :) |
I say this because I know the plans that I have for you.” This message is from the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me, and when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me. I will let you find me.” This message is from the Lord. “And I will bring you back from your captivity. I forced you to leave this place. But I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have sent you,” says the Lord, “and I will bring you back to this place.” (Jeremiah 29:11-14 ERV)Not everything or everyone we seek will give us hope. He is our hope. We can trust Him for He has plans for us, plans that will prosper us and not hurt us. When we don't understand let us seek our Lord with all our hearts, and we shall find Him.
But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die— but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal.
Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?
It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! (1 Corinthians 15:51-57 MSG)You can stop searching the graveyard for the hope, the love, the life you long for. HE IS ALIVE.
In a sham of a trial with an unjust verdict, He shows us that this is how God intended for His only Son to be sentenced. What they meant for evil, God meant for good. John shows us God – working out His purposes in this poor, fallen world. In a situation where God seems to be completely absent, He has been present for ages.
And when Christ breathes His final words before His death, “It is finished,” He not only indicates that the worst ordeal – bearing the wrath of God against sin in the place of His people (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34) – is literally over, He has also completed the work of salvation for His people. ~ She Reads TruthHe did it all. It is finished. Paid in full. He has delivered us. We are set free. For whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Unimaginable. For my King to die for me, a sinner, to ransom me. I can't begin to fathom this. I can't understand why He would do such a thing for me.How great is His love for you and me. Lord, I am ever so grateful.
It is the worst and best of all human deaths. For on this tree he bears our sins in his body (1 Peter 2:24), “the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). And now it is finished. ~ Desiring God
The same Peter who denied Christ three times is the one God used to help establish the early Church.
As you seek the Lord in the coming days in preparation for Easter Sunday, remember God’s great love for Peter. He was a disciple – a great friend to Christ – and yet he fell short. Very short. And Christ loved him still – and called him to do great work for His Kingdom!
Isn’t God good to show us over and over again, even amidst the trial of His Son, that He loves us?
When we are weak, He is strong. And He wants to use us in the great outworking of His plan for His glory! ~ She Reads Truth
And in His love He honored His Father, just as He had promised through sweaty, bloody tears in Gethsemane. Christ’s submission to the Father’s omnipotent hand was unwavering.
In His love – not just for Judas and not only for the Father, but for us – He was led to His trial. And He was sentenced to death.
Your betrayals and mine – His blood covers it all. And He calls us “friend.” ~ She Reads Truth
"After Jesus tosses out those who would pervert the temple of God into a temple of wealth and greed and convenience, He does something revolutionary: He invites the Least inside." ~ She Reads Truth
"The blind, the lame, the children all come in and Jesus welcomes them, heals them, confirms their place among Him. He cleared out those who profaned the temple and ushered in those who humbly sought after God." ~ She Reads Truth
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| Tums' mini me. :) |
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| That rare moment that I can be included in a photograph. :) |
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| Some photographs are more beautiful in black & white. |
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| I love candid shots. :) |
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| Is that a grimace? |
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| Why so serious? |
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| Stethoscope? |
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| Our neurosurgeon receiving updates from his minion, er, junior. |
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| I have to change the settings in my camera, too much blurring on the sides... |
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| Selfie... :) |
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| I just love love love large windows, natural light, and happy smiles that reach the eyes. :) |
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| And this is how you hide double chins if you do not k now Photoshop. :) |
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| Those dimples... |
