On the 4th Day of Advent My True Love Gave to Me...

On the 4th Day of Advent my true love gave to me, 

a Scrub Jay in a pine tree!

For those of you who do not know what a Scrub Jay is...here is more information:
http://fl.audubon.org/birds/florida-scrub-jay    But to sum it up...This elusive bird lives only in the scrubby woodsy areas of Florida.  The Ocala National Forest, where I live, is an excellent habitat for the Scrub Jay, as the forest is also known as "The Big Scrub".

So, today, on this fourth day of Advent, my true love (hubby) took me to walk where we are searching for our (what I am calling) Charlie Brown Florida Cracker Christmas Tree.  So named because the Christmas trees grown in Florida, at least in this part of the state, are not your perfectly shaped spruce, fir, or scotch pine type trees that you can get in most other parts of the country.  The natural Christmas trees that you can go out and cut here in this part of Florida are known as sand pines...because they grow in the sand and have  shallow root systems.  They grow very tall, but before they do, there are some areas where, with a permit, (and payment of $7.00) we can go and cut our own Christmas tree!

So that is what we have decided to do this year, replacing our almost 20 year old artificial tree with a real live Florida Cracker Christmas tree. I call it a Florida Cracker tree because the "Florida Crackers" were the first pioneer settlers in Florida...mostly cattle and citrus farming people and just good old country folks.  They would go out in the woods and cut their own tree for Christmas, and they weren't the fancy trees of their city and northern friends...just ordinary little pine trees that served the purpose just as well.

Since we live out here in the forest, and these cutting areas are close to where we live, I figured it was a good time to try it out and see how it goes.   We got our permit yesterday, and now we are on the search for the perfect tree.  I'm not in a big hurry, because I don't want it to die before Christmas if we cut it too soon.

So we went back to the woods today to continue our search, and that is when we saw this beautiful Scrub Jay, flitting around from tree to tree and to the bushes, calling us and welcoming us to his part of the scrub woods...

 When we go back again I intend to take some unsalted peanuts and see if he will come to me, as they are known to be very friendly birds.  We shall see how that goes...

Isn't he beautiful?   I feel honored to have had this special visit with him today.  He really didn't seem to be very afraid of us, even though I am sure he doesn't have much opportunity to communicate with humans very often.  Perhaps he is lonely out there in the big old scrub woods!

Of course, there are plenty of other creatures out in those woods to keep him company, I have no doubt.  We saw plenty of tracks of coyotes, bobcats, rabbits, turkeys, and even bears...so you can be assured he isn't too lonely...but maybe he just likes to meet and greet strangers...and has the gift of hospitality!

Perhaps he would make a good innkeeper...and would welcome 

the Holy Family to his woods....

Thinking about which...since it is the Advent Season...the time of preparation for the advent of our Lord Jesus Christ....the time of celebration of His birth...and the time to look forward to His soon return...

I wonder how many of us would make a good innkeeper?

I saw this picture on the internet the other day

How about you?  Do YOU have room for Jesus in your heart and life today?

Would you welcome Him into your home if given the opportunity?

Christmas is more than just the perfect  (or NOT so perfect) Christmas tree, gifts, parties, and even more than church programs and musicals...Christmas is about accepting the greatest gift of all,

Jesus,

born in a manger,

died on a cross,

rose from the grave,

came back to tell us that because He lives 

we can face our troubles and sorrows 

and look forward to eternity in heaven with Him

Forever!!

Hallelujah!!

Amen!

I hope you have enjoyed the opening of this Advent Window for today!  We just never know what surprises we may find in our ADVENTure  preparing for Christmas!  Who'd ever thought a Scrub Jay would appear?  A special gift along the way...Thank you, Lord, for brightening our way!

Click HERE for an UPDATE to this story!