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Ideas from Heaven


A digital image created by Wombo Dream AI of an aged Messiah representing God speaking. The heavens above Him are filled with ideas represented by lightbulbs and other designs. As He speaks, the bulbs light up over the heads of men why are listening to Him. I used the baroque filter to bring it back in time.
AI (Wombo) Ideas from Heaven by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Where do ideas come from? And just because they formed in our minds, does that mean they belong to us? Well, yes and no. I mean, without being made in the image of our Creator, we would not likely have creative minds that generate ideas. That’s why the image is showing ideas from the heavens finding their way to the minds of men.

April 26th is National Intellectual Property Day, and it commemorates the pursuit of each person maintaining ownership rights for intangible ideas and creations. Thoughts and ideas often lead to tangible creations and/or processes that have huge effects on people’s lives—sometimes even life changing. For example, a sound therapy that can stop a seizure would be a life-changing invention. And it’s not only the sound creators or device constructors that make it possible, because it wouldn’t be possible without an idea that was followed, researched, tested, etc. (I don’t even know if that sort of thing exists, but there are lots of sound therapies, and a seizure seemed like the most visual idea I could point to.)

If you create anything, you have made use of intellectual property. The site linked above (National Day Today) gave a good description, so I’ll cite some of their intellectual property to share with you…

What Is Intellectual Property and Why Does It Matter?
Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind, including inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. The primary categories of IP include:

Patents – Protection for inventions and technological innovations
Copyrights – Rights for literary, artistic, and musical works
Trademarks – Protection for brand names, logos, and slogans
Industrial Designs – Safeguarding the visual design of objects

And, yes, this topic seems a little boring, but I couldn’t remember my idea for tonight’s blog post, so I looked up the day, and decided that this was the one celebration I could “write what you know” about. Though it is also “Jason Day” and “Gabriel Day.” I have a brother named Jason, but I don’t know that he wants me to blog about him. And the only Gabriel I know is not someone I know but is a pretty funny comedian also known as Fluffy.

Back to the idea thing, though, I used to have business cards that listed me as a “Writer and Creative Mind.” I may have mentioned that before because of my desire to have a gathering of creative Christians sharing ideas and creating together. I believe it is being made in God’s image that enabled our creative abilities. Because of the sin when the enemy bit the heel of mankind and inserted his darkness into human DNA, some folks misuse their creativity to produce terrible ideas and products. But the idea of being creative is still rooted in our Creator, and I think that’s something to celebrate and lean into. Please share some of your creative thoughts and ideas in the comments.

There’s a great Bible study on the Bible app by YouVersion called “Created to be Creative” by Marian Parsons. It’s only 5 days long, and each day has creative exercises at the end. Find the study at http://bible.com/r/12I and let me know what you think when you finish. She begins the study from the verse in Psalm 19:1,so I think that’s a great place to end this post…

Psalm 19:1 BSB
[1] For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.19.1.BSB

April 26, 2026 Posted by | Creativity, Current Events, Nonfiction, Slice of Life, special days, Thoughts and/or Instructions, Visual Parables (Images with a Message), Word Nerd with a Bible | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jelly Bean Sisters


A fun image created by Wombo Dream AI using their “knitted” filter with the following prompt: 2 women, a blond and a brunette, grown sisters, are sitting in a car eating a bunch of jelly beans and laughing like crazy. They are having a lot of fun and can hardly stop laughing. Bright atmosphere, professional photography, insanely detailed. It's adorable with this filter making it look like two laughing dolls eating jelly beans.
AI (Wombo) 2 Sisters Laughing Together by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

I think this knitted filter in Wombo is one of the coolest—or at least the most fun—filter I’ve used. With a few trials of different filters, one image was the winner until I looked more closely and noticed the wacky steering wheel in the car. I tried covering it up with the frame, and maybe you wouldn’t even notice unless it’s pointed out, but it was an excuse to put up the adorable knitted girls. But here, you can see for yourselves…

The original image created by Wombo Dream AI from the prompt: “2 women, a blond and a brunette, grown sisters, are sitting in a car eating a bunch of jelly beans and laughing like crazy. They are having a lot of fun and can hardly stop laughing. Bright atmosphere, professional photography, insanely detailed.” The image is mostly good, but it does include a disappearing steering wheel at an odd location in the car.
AI (Wombo) 2 Sisters in a Car Laughing by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

But, hey, why am I using this picture at all? You’ve got to be wondering at least a little, right? Simple: April 22nd is National Jelly Bean Day. While everyone else is busy talking about the earth, I was enjoying a memory of a day with my little sister; a fun day before stress manipulation words like “global warming” were even in our vocabulary. We were grown-up women, but we still knew how to be silly and make each other laugh.

I don’t even remember why we were in the car in the grocery store parking lot that day. Were we waiting for someone? Waiting for an appointment? Or just sampling some of the gourmet jelly beans we had just purchased? (Yes, those gourmet jelly beans! Yay for Jelly Belly®.) Whatever the reason for our being there, we were using our time to read the recipe card that comes with the jelly beans. Some of the tastes are wonderful, but some… Yikes! Let’s just say that if one of us made a face or a spitting sound from something we didn’t like, the other one started laughing about it.

And that’s where it starts. Something makes one of us laugh. 😂 Then, the sound of that laugh makes the other one of us laugh. 😂 And that sound affects the other one until we’re both totally doubled over with laughter until we’re crying. It’s an out-of-control moment that relieves stress and cements sisterly bonds. 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

Living miles apart means we don’t get those days as often anymore, but I’ve smiled through almost every word of this blog post because it’s such a wonderful memory for me. And, no, buttered popcorn jelly beans are not bad, but it is a weird sensation to taste butter and salt but be chewing something gooey at the same time. If you can eat sugar, go get yourself a mixed set with a recipe card and go crazy with experimenting. I wish I could still do that, but since I can’t, at least I have an excuse not to try those new game flavors like vomit and dirty socks. 🤢

Just a couple reminders from God’s Holy Word…

Psalm 126:2 BSB
[2] Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.126.2.BSB

Genesis 21:6 BSB
[6] Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

https://bible.com/bible/3034/gen.21.6.BSB

Ecclesiastes 9:7 BSB
[7] Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine* with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

https://bible.com/bible/3034/ecc.9.7.BSB

*Note: Jelly Belly® even made some wine/champagne flavors, but I'm not sure what is available now. Here is a list of (possibly) all their flavors, including retired ones, at the Fandom website: https://jellybelly.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Flavors

And now that you know joy and laughter are found in Scripture, here’s two more about pleasant taste…

Psalm 34:8 BSB
[8] Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.34.8.BSB

Psalm 119:103 BSB
[103] How sweet are Your words to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth!

https://bible.com/bible/3034/psa.119.103.BSB

April 22, 2026 Posted by | Bible, Current Events, Humor, Nonfiction, Slice of Life, special days, Wombo Dream | , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

   

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