Do you see it? The ogee arch? The S shaped curves in the background of the photo? Beautiful, isn't it! Ogee arches can be found throughout the conservatory. The grand ogee arch topping the Palm Court was destroyed by  a windstorm in 1937. It wasn't until 2018, in celebration of Phipps 125th anniversary, that the Palm Court's glass roof was restored to its former glory, and the original ogee arch  recreated!

You can see the arch at the very top of the glass ceiling in the Palm Court. If you look closely you can see a line of Fleur-de-lis topping the arch. Underneath, through the glass panes, the tropical forest is visible. Oh, how  I loved exploring the great jungle at Phipps. I was sure that Tarzan, Jane, and Cheeta were hiding somewhere in the treetops. I half- expected Tarzan to swing down on a vine and swoop me up at any minute...

Stay tuned for more stories about Phipps and the latest on my upcoming book, Mr. Phipps And His Amazing Glass House.

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Always remember that Jesus loves you! He said so!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

Susan

​;)

​
One of the things I love most about Phipps is the architecture. There are so many different shapes and styles to see, from the ogee arch at the pinnacle of Phipps Palm Court, (google it), to this simple brick and wood arch. I must have walked through it a hundred times and never noticed it.

I love the lines and reflections in the glass windows, and the ferns peeping through on the bottom left. The photo has an art deco feel.

​Or perhaps a scene from a film noir, starring Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, The lady wore orchid...


Just a few months from now, I will be releasing my first in a series of Haiku Storybooks!

Mr. Phipps And His Amazing Glass House, will make his appearance in the fall of 2019. 

The story is written, the poems are composed, and the illustrations are being illustrated! 

It's just a matter of time!

Sign up now for my weekly blog notifications! 

Don't miss what's going on with Phipps!!!



Hopefully,

Susan
;)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life...  John 3:16

​Is there any news better than that?


Sign up for blog post and Life Poems Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page!
 
 
Susan Beth Furst is a Touchstone Award-nominated poet and author. She writes Japanese short-form poetry and especially enjoys writing haibun. Susan has published two haiku collections; souvenir shop: memories of the highland park zoo, buddha baby press, 2018, and road to utopia, Yavanika Press, 2019. Her haibun, 57, appears in Old Song: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, 2017. In the secret garden, was nominated for the Dwarf Stars Award and appears in, The 2019 Dwarf Stars Anthology. You can find her on Instagram @sueshaikus, @susanbethfurst, and www.beautifuldefect.com.  Susan lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, with her husband, Herb.

                                                                Beautiful Defect​

On a recent visit to Phipps I captured Van Gogh floating on water, or so it seems...

Dreamlike, isn't it?

And what about that yellow flower?

Phipps Conservatory is my favorite place in the world! Six generations of my family have visited the spring and fall flower shows. And I have the pictures to prove it! I am still seeing spots in front of my eyes...

I will be posting my photos of Phipps, old and new, over the next few months. I want you to get to know the place, because...

Just a few months from now, I will be releasing my first in a series of Haiku Storybooks!

Mr. Phipps And His Amazing Glass House, will make his appearance in the fall of 2019. 

The story is written, the poems are composed, and the illustrations are being illustrated! 

It's just a matter of time!

Sign up now for my weekly blog notifications! 

Don't miss what's going on with Phipps!!!



Hopefully,

Susan
;)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life...  John 3:16

​Is there any news better than that?


Sign up for blog post and Life Poems Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page!
 
 
Susan Beth Furst is a Touchstone Award-nominated poet and author. She writes Japanese short-form poetry and especially enjoys writing haibun. Susan has published two haiku collections; souvenir shop: memories of the highland park zoo, buddha baby press, 2018, and road to utopia, Yavanika Press, 2019. Her haibun, 57, appears in Old Song: The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku, 2017. In the secret garden, was nominated for the Dwarf Stars Award and appears in, The 2019 Dwarf Stars Anthology. You can find her on Instagram @sueshaikus, @susanbethfurst, and www.beautifuldefect.com.  Susan lives in Woodbridge, Virginia, with her husband, Herb.

                                                                         Beautiful Defect​

The Battle Hymn of the Republic

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; 
He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.

Glory, glory! Hallelujah! Glory, glory Hallelujah!
Glory, glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on. 

Chorus

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;
"As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal;
Let the Hero born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel.
Since God is marching on."

Chorus

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men  before His judgement seat;
O be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

Chorus

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory, glory! Hallelujah! Glory, glory! Hallelujah!
Glory, glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

Julian Ward Howe

November 19, 1861

Julia Ward Howe was a published poet, abolitionist, social reformer, and sometime preacher. She was encouraged to write new lyrics to the civil war song, "John Brown's Body."  In February 1862, Atlantic Monthly published her poem. The Battle Hymn of the Republic was played at a rally President Lincoln attended. When he heard it, he cried. 

It is one of my favorite songs. The beauty of the lyrics, and the message of hope, sacrifice, triumph, and redemption, makes me cry every time...

God Bless You And God Bless America!! 

Hopefully,

Susan
​;)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16



Sign up for blog post and Life Poems Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page!

Submissions are open for the August Issue of Life Poems. Check the submission page for guidelines. Write a poem. Send it in. Dazzle us with your creativity!

Send in your poems!!

                                                                                           Beautiful Defect​

Prologue

I play it in the dark,
very softly,
like cats'
feet...
disappearing
in 
the
f
o
g

                          and the clock strikes thirteen​

​
my father says
I can be anything
horsehead nebula
                                                                       
                                               
​             

one red sock all it takes
               
​            

​

road to utopia

​Susan Beth Furst


Yavanika Press
Shloka Shankar: Editor 
Cover Art: Robin Anna Smith 

I am celebrating the release of my third chapbook, road to utopia, this week! I hope you have enjoyed the preview. You can download a free copy @

https://yavanikapress.wixsite.com/home/our-titles

keep looking up...

Susan
;)


Third chapbook, Sixteen poems, Do the math...

​"And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me, I have found my lost coin.'"   Luke 15:9 NIV

​​

"For god so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall  not perish but have eternal life"  John 3:16 

Sign up for blog post and Life Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page. Leave a comment, like, and share widely. Thank you!

​
Submissions are open for the August Issue of Life. Check the submission page for guidelines. Write a poem. Send it in. Dazzle us with your creativity!


Beautiful Defect has a new look! Check out the "new pages." Read about my second Golden Haiku on the About Page. Visit The Life Journal and Submission Pages. And take a look at what's new on the Contact and Newsletter Pages. You might even want to sign up for notifications or submit a poem! ;)



                                                                                   Beautiful Defect

​"Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
​
​Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz
​

"If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with..."

Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz
​

​Until next week,

Hopefully,

Susan
​;)



For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 NIV



Sign up for blog post and Life Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page. Leave a comment, like, and share widely. Thank you!

​
Submissions are open for the June Issue of Life. Check the submission page for guidelines. Write a poem. Send it in. Dazzle us with your creativity!


Beautiful Defect has a new look! Check out the "new pages." Read about my second Golden Haiku on the About Page. Visit The new Life Journal and Submission Pages. And take a look at what's new on the Contact and Newsletter Pages. You might even want to sign up for notifications or submit a poem! ;)



                                                                          Beautiful Defect

Journal Entry

April 23, 2019

(Written before I read my Bible)

I have turned the corner on my depression. I see colors brighter and notice the things around me. I have a hope for my future. This is most certainly signs of my depression lifting...

I randomly opened to;  Job 38:12-15 (The Message)

"And have you ever ordered 'Morning Get Up! told Dawn, Get to Work!' So you could seize Earth like a blanket and shake out the wicked like cockroaches? As the sun brings everything to light, brings out all the colors and shapes, the cover of darkness is snatched from the wicked, they're caught in the very act!"

A word to me, a confirmation from the Lord!


I had been sick since January, with pneumonia, and then the flu, and then another virus, and then, well the doctors didn't know what it was. All of this was on top of the usual chronic pain and autoimmune stuff I dealt with every day. I was feeling hopeless and afraid.

So I began to read my Bible, the Word of God, everyday, and I began to pray. Nothing happened, at least not right away. And then God healed me. It wasn't a big amazing miracle healing. They happen to other people, mostly on TV,  but that's not what God had in mind for me, at least not yet. I had to walk that road, with Him, everyday, and carry my cross. 

My big beautiful cross.

My arts and crafty cross.

My colorful ceramic tile and glass bead cross.

I read the Word and I prayed hard, even when I couldn't feel Jesus' presence, even when it was hard to believe, I believed anyway.

One day as I read His words, I looked out my window and I could see colors. I could see the blue river and the green trees, and the big puffy white clouds in the sky. It was Spring! Wow! When did that happen? And I could feel it too. There was a lifting. I felt lighter, like I could fly.

What a Beautiful Day that was!!

Thank you Jesus!!

Never lose hope. Stay close to Jesus. He is always there, even when you can't feel Him.
He doesn't promise a smooth path, but He will walk it with you. And he always gives you what you need to survive, and then some. He makes all things new!
​

Until next time,

Hopefully,

Susan
​;)



For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 NIV



Sign up for blog post and Life Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page. Leave a comment, like, and share widely. Thank you!

​
Submissions are open for the June Issue of Life. Check the submission page for guidelines. Write a poem. Send it in. Dazzle us with your creativity!


Beautiful Defect has a new look! Check out the "new pages." Read about my second Golden Haiku on the About Page. Visit The new Life Journal and Submission Pages. And take a look at what's new on the Contact and Newsletter Pages. You might even want to sign up for notifications or submit a poem! ;)



                                                                          Beautiful Defect

What do you want me to do for you?

That's what he said.

Yeshua.

Son of David.

The Messiah.
 
I want to see again!

That's what Bartimaeus, the blind beggar said.

Right before all the colours of the rainbow exploded before his eyes.

And he began to follow Yeshua.


What do you want me to do for you?

Something?

Anything?

Go ahead, throw off your cloak, He is calling you, you are his beloved, the one in a hundred, the highly favored.

The master is calling You!

Bartimaeus had it bad. He was a beggar and he was blind. And even worse, he didn't even have a name. Just Bartimaeus, Son of Timaeus.

He wasn't even worth a name of his own. Imagine...

And yet Yeshua, Son of God, called him.

The Son of God!!!

And He gave Bartimaeus much more than his eyesight, He gave him an identity.

Bartimaeus became a Son, not of Timaeus, but a son of the King.

And Bartimaeus followed Yeshua.


What are you struggling with today?

Something?

Anything?

All you have to do is ask, or call, or maybe a text. 

And Yeshua, Jesus, will be there!

Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall...


In that day the deaf will hear words of a book, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.  Isaiah 29:18 (TLV: Tree of Life Version)


Until next week,

Hopefully,

Susan

;)


For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 NIV



Sign up for blog post and Life Poems Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page. Leave a comment, like, and share widely. Thank you!

​
Submissions are open for the June Issue of Life Poems. Check the submission page for guidelines. Write a poem. Send it in. Dazzle us with your creativity!


Beautiful Defect has a new look! Check out the "new pages." Read about my second Golden Haiku on the About Page. Visit The new Life Poems Journal and Submission Pages. And take a look at what's new on the Contact and Newsletter Pages. You might even want to sign up for notifications or submit a poem! ;)




The Tree Of Life Version of the Bible is a translation that uses the Hebrew names of Jesus and his followers. It also uses the original order of the books in the Old Testament or Tanach. It is a wonderful translation which brings to life the Jewishness of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, which is a fundamental and essential part of our Christian faith. 

                                            

Can't touch this
No, not even the king
in his new Threads


"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not toil or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"  Matthew 6:28-29 NIV



Stress and worry, we all do it. In fact, in today's society it seems to be our ever present friend. We kind of wallow in it, in a way it feels good, like a mud bath...


Do we have enough money? Do we have a nice enough house? Do we have enough clothes and are they the latest styles? Do we have enough food? And what about water? Will we have enough to reconstitute all of the dry food we have stockpiled for when it all hits the fan? No one told us we needed water...


And our kids, are they smart enough, are they good looking enough, will they be able to make it into the best daycare academies? You have to start young if you want to get into Harvard. And what about lessons, music, art, or sports, or all three? What if they can't do all three, or any, can they fake it? Can we?


Are we rich enough, are we poor enough, are we giving enough to charity or the homeless shelter down the street? Should we let people see us putting money in the donation jar or should we sneak it in on the sly? Maybe we should keep it all for ourselves, for a rainy day...


Are we praying enough, and how should we do it?  Do we have to kneel, is it okay to raise our hands in church and speak in tongues, and how will we know if it is us speaking or someone else? Will people think we are crazy? Will they throw us out of the synagogue?


And what about God? Have you ever seen Him? Blessed are those who believe and have not seen, or so they say. What if God isn't there? What if he died? What if he never existed? What if he can read my thoughts, will he send me straight to hell?


And the evolution thing. And global warming. And 5G technology.


Is the world coming to an end? 


And what about Trump?


Stop! Stop! Jesus says,


Come to me and I will give you rest.


And as for the basics, what you really need, start here.


"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  Matthew 6:33 NIV


"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes."  Matthew 6:34 The Message


So if you've had enough, let it go, trust God. Give it to Jesus, he will take it. He's already taken it for you, on the cross. And then open your Bible, if you don't have one get one. For easy reading and understanding I recommend the New Living Translation or The Message. You can find great buys at the second hand bookstore. And you might encounter Jesus in the next aisle. He's been known to hang out there. 


Start reading the Gospels, the Good News about Jesus, written by the people who new him best, his disciples and friends.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (his favorite, or so John says), will tell you all about him. And you will be amazed. Oh, and John wasn't lying about being Jesus favorite, it's just that everyone is Jesus' favorite!


And blessed are those who believe and have not seen. That would be you. Seek His kingdom. Read. Believe in miracles. They happen every day, no matter what you've heard.


Jesus will change your life. He changed mine. He is enough, and infinitely more.


Until next week,

Hopefully,

Susan

;)


For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 NIV



Sign up for blog post and Life Poems Journal notifications delivered directly to your inbox. Just click on Newsletter at the top of the page. Leave a comment, like, and share widely. Thank you!

​
Submissions are open for the June Issue of Life Poems. Check the submission page for guidelines. Write a poem. Send it in. Dazzle us with your creativity!


Beautiful Defect has a new look! Check out the "new pages." Read about my second Golden Haiku on the About Page. Visit The new Life Poems Journal and Submission Pages. And take a look at what's new on the Contact and Newsletter Pages. You might even want to sign up for notifications or submit a poem! ;)



photo-haiga (shahai), SusanBethFurst 2019


                                             Beautiful Defect