Tuesday 4~ Weathering the Storm

 Weathering the Storm

From our Hostess Annie: 

 "Hello .. This is Toni's Tuesday 4 where we strive to get you thinking and blogging and connecting with others.
The saying used to be on my blog as a description: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."
This was important to me when my spine went south on me. I was born disabled and became a dancer. Now I am disabled again. Que sera, sera, whatever will be will be. But we keep on going. and turn the lemons to lemonade...or we should I think.
Let's talk about it because we have all been there, done that."


1. What/who is your rock through the storms of life?
What beliefs do you have to stand on?

Psalm 18:2 NKJV
"2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

I love this old hymn, "A Shelter in the Time of Storm", and this pretty well sums up what my beliefs are on this subject!

The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide,

A shel­ter in the time of storm;

Secure what­ev­er ill be­tide,

A shelt­er in the time of storm.

Refrain:

Oh, Je­sus is a rock in a wea­ry land,

A wea­ry land, a wea­ry land;

Oh, Je­sus is a rock in a wea­ry land,

A shel­ter in the time of storm.

A shade by day, de­fense by night,

A shel­ter in the time of storm;

No fears alarm, no foes afright,

A shel­ter in the time of storm.

Refrain

The rag­ing storms may round us beat,

A shel­ter in the time of storm

We’ll ne­ver leave our safe re­treat,

A shel­ter in the time of storm.

Refrain

O rock di­vine, O re­fuge dear,

A shel­ter in the time of storm;

Be Thou our help­er ev­er near,

A shel­ter in the time of storm.

Refrain

2. Do you take precautions for bad storms? What precautions do you take?

Here in north central Florida where I live the storms we fear most are hurricanes and occasionally a tornado warning. Tonight we are under a severe "winter storm warning", which for us means that it will get down to freezing or below freezing with high winds so that the wind chill will definitely be below freezing. Our main concern is for plants and for outdoor pets, which we don't have.  The neighborhood kitties seem to find warm places to snuggle up for the night.  We have to cover any tender plants that we are concerned about freezing, which I might have to do before tonight.  For hurricanes we have to make sure we have plenty of water and food that is non-perishable. We do have a generator for if the power goes out, so we need to be sure to have plenty of fuel for that. We take down any flying objects in the yard, like bird feeders and other yard ornaments and anything else that could become a projectile in high winds. Where we live we are not close enough to the coast to worry too much about flooding or "storm surge."  But the winds can blow down trees or heavy branches, so we try to make sure our car is parked in a safe spot and then we hunker down and pray.  We have never needed to evacuate from here, and I pray we never do.  If we get a tornado warning we grab our flashlights and pillows and go into a closet or bathroom and pray.

3. The Sheep are caroling in the snow... do you sing during the tough times? What things, what activities pull you through?

Yes, I do sing a lot when I am under stress. I find singing old hymns and/or other Christian songs to be very comforting.  I pray, and I leave things as much as possible in God's hands. I try not to worry, but give everything to God. However, I am human, and like most humans, I do have times of anxiety and fear, but that is when I cling to God's Word and promises found in the Bible and especially throughout the Psalms.   Other activities, like reading, or playing a game with the family, gathering together with family or friends during the rough times for a meal, these can be very comforting and help take our minds off of the difficulties.

4. Whatever we do, we should be there for others in the difficult times.
What advice can you give to those who are going through a difficult time now?

Some of the things we can do would be to let them know that you care...pray for them...send a card or give them a call or text if calling might be an inconvenience for them.  If feasible, take them a meal or some other food gift.  As far as advice goes, that totally depends on the people and the situation. Not all people are open to "advice" during difficult times. If they seem open to it, then give as God directs, but always pray about what to say and how to say it.  Primarily I would tell others to lean on God...He is always there for you no matter what the situation may be. 

Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 11:28-30 the following:

"28 Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

I don't think I can improve on that advice!

A Very Special Day!

 

Here's some words of Wisdom from God's Word for today:

Psalm 33, NKJV

"The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History"

"1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous!

For praise from the upright is beautiful.

2 Praise the Lord with the harp;

Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

3 Sing to Him a new song;

Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

4 For the word of the Lord is right,

And all His work is done in truth.

5 He loves righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;

He lays up the deep in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

9 For He spoke, and it was done;

He commanded, and it stood fast.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

The plans of His heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.

13 The Lord looks from heaven;

He sees all the sons of men.

14 From the place of His dwelling He looks

On all the inhabitants of the earth;

15 He fashions their hearts individually;

He considers all their works.

16 No king is saved by the multitude of an army;

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

17 A horse is a vain hope for safety;

Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

19 To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

Just as we hope in You."

Amen!

Oh Wow! Today is going to be a busy day in our nation!  It's Inauguration Day!!! And it's also a holiday, Martin Luther King Day, so I think it's wonderful that schools are closed and so are many businesses and government offices, so that everyone can watch the Inauguration!  I'm thankful to hear that they have moved it to an indoor space because of the severely cold weather, but also I believe it is for security. Sadly, what should be a great day of celebration could easily turn into something terrible, so I pray for the peaceful transition of power and a day of joyful celebration for everyone. I also pray for our new President and his family and his cabinet and staff, that God will protect them and guide them in every way. Amen.

So, how are you going to spend this day? Will you be able to watch the Inauguration?  I hope to be able to, and if not LIVE, then later on YouTube.  Today is also our Bible Study day, which starts at 1:00, which would probably make it hard for me to watch it live. However, I am most likely not going to go to Bible Study today because I'm not really feeling quite up to par. Yesterday I had a difficult day with some "tummy issues", and had to stay home from church, and today, although that situation is mostly resolved, the aftermath has still left me feeling not too "stable" in that department, without going into details, and so I'm thinking it would probably be best for me to just stay home and let my body recover quietly.  

I wanted to thank everyone again for your prayers for my brother in law Art and my sister Doris. I did talk to them the other day, and although Art is very sore from that crazy and unexpected accident, he is very thankful not to have been injured much worse. He's almost 81 years old and already has back and heart issues, so it could have ended much differently.  So we give thanks to the Lord for His mercy and grace and protection.  And Doris is getting over her bout with pneumonia day by day, praise God!

Also, in my last post I shared with you about getting a new camera. Here's a picture of Lily Grace and me, both decked out with our cameras and ready to go taking pictures of anything and everything!  However, I have decided to return the camera and get my money back.  After trying to take pictures of all things great and small, I've determined it doesn't work the way I want it too and it doesn't have the same quality as my old camera.  And after changing the batteries in the old camera it seems to be working better, so I've decided to just stick with the old one for now, and if it dies on me I will replace it with another refurbished one just like it for about $25.00 bucks on eBay, and save ourselves a bunch of money. That's where I got that particular camera in the first place, which replaced the original refurbished one just like it that was given to my by my brother (who worked for Kodak), because he felt sorry for me for being the only person left on the planet who was still using a camera with real film and not a digital one! LOL.  So anyway, I have 30 days to return the new camera to Walmart, and so I've decided to do that and be thankful that my old one decided to resurrect itself with the new batteries! (It's very particular about the kind of batteries I use, apparently!)

Now, I must apologize for so many pictures of me...I hope you will indulge me for this next part of this post. On Saturday I received another special package! It was a total surprise, totally unexpected...this beautiful sweater was hand knitted by one of our very special blogging friends, who will remain unnamed but she knows who she is.  

When this package arrived in the mail I suddenly realized what it was going to be as this person had casually mentioned in one of her posts that she was knitting a sweater for someone as a surprise...and I never dreamed it could be for me!

In case you can't tell, my eyes were very teary eyed in these photos that I asked hubby to take so I could share them with this dear friend, so she'd know it arrived and how surprised I am to receive it.

I called my friend to tell her how surprised and thankful I was.  I really do not feel worthy of such a special gift. There's nothing that I've done to deserve such a wonderful blessing.  But you know, isn't that just like Jesus?  

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us:

"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Our Pastor has often used this little acronym to explain GRACE to us:

There's nothing we can do to earn God's salvation...it is a FREE gift, the unmerited favor of God. Why? Because He loves us...it's that simple. Christ died for us so that we could have eternal life...we can't earn our way to heaven...there aren't enough good works in the world that will ever make us good enough to cover our sins and make us pure and holy and righteous...Only a Pure and Holy and fully Righteous Savior can do that for us.  All we have to do is accept this gift and believe that Christ died for us, and we will be saved.

I am wearing this beautiful sweater right now, because it is only about 37 degrees here in Florida today, and it's going to be a very cold week!  Somehow my friend, who lives far away in a much colder climate, knew this, and wanted me to have this sweater in time for the cold weather! Wow! Isn't that just like our Lord? He knows what we are going to need even before we know it and He sends it to us with so much love.  I am still trying to get my head around this.  All I can do is say Thank you, to my friend, and Thank YOU, to my Lord.

While I was feeling so punky yesterday I drank a special cup of an herbal tea that was meant to help my situation, and I noticed this little tag line:

That kind of goes along with this verse from Luke 6:43-45~

"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

And this was another tagline that was on a previous cup of tea, but it got a tea stain on it, so I apologize, but it spoke to my heart as well...

Friendship is like a sheltering tree...something that covers us and gives us shade from the heat of the day, and gives us comfort.

I thank the Lord for this special friend (whom I've never met in person), and for so many others who bless me every day with your posts and your kind words and comments and the love that you show for others as well. Thank you for being such a loving and caring community of friends. I am blown away by the love I've received through this community over the years.  Wow!

Okay, dear ones, it's time to go watch the Inauguration activities...A very special and historic day.  

God bless America!!

Some News Update and Something New!

 Thank you all for praying for my brother in law Art yesterday afternoon...thanks to many prayers, here he is arriving home from the hospital later in the day:

This is what my nephew Dave wrote on his Facebook page when he got to the hospital to check on his Dad, my brother in law Art.  

"Quick update! I won’t post the photo of his laceration but it’s about 10” long and a little over 1/2” wide. The story of what happened is even worse. He was actually hit from a guy on an E-bike. When I asked my dad what happened? He said he left the parking lot walking across the street towards the building and he said he didn’t see anything while he was in the road and he said the moment he stepped onto the sidewalk and was about to reach out for the door. He saw something out of his right peripheral and a guy on a E bike slammed into him. It knocked him backwards and he hit the concrete pillar as he was going down. He said the guy was “cruising.” he said the guy did stay and was talking to the police as he was being loaded in the ambulance. There was also another gentleman who knelt down and kept my dad talking until EMS arrived. Thankfully there is no bleeding on the brain, no swelling, and no fractures. They will probably staple him and send him on his way this afternoon. Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers."    

Which is exactly what they did, as you can see in the picture above!  I said we are thankful to God for protecting him, and also thankful that he has such a hard head! LOL.  This could've turned out so much worse, so we are very very thankful indeed.  Again, thank you for your prayers for Art and still also for my sister Doris as she recovers from pneumonia. I think she's getting better because she's posting pictures of flowers and birds in her garden on Facebook as usual, so that's a good sign! Praise God!

I was reading our friend Myra's post yesterday here Respice, Prospice: Today, and she was waiting for a delivery truck delivering her new dishwasher. They gave her a window of time between 8 a.m.-8 p.m.! So much for doing anything else that day!   And I started to reply in my comment to her that I was also waiting for a delivery all day, but I decided to wait and write what I was going to say in my comment to her and put it here on my own blog post because it was becoming to voluminous of a comment to put on her page! So this is what I did: I opened up a "new post" page and wrote the following so I wouldn't forget it:

"Save this for my next post...

Oh, and speaking again of deliveries, I am actually waiting on a delivery of a new camera. My old good camera keeps refusing to work, and as it was a refurbished one in the first place, I have no way to repair it. After I missed taking photos of a Baltimore Oriole this morning!!! A very rare sighting here in our area!!! I was very upset. So much so that hubby said, "Why don't you order yourself a new camera?"  I said because they are too expensive.  But he found one online that sounds a LOT like my favorite old camera, and the price is not astronomical for a new camera, and he insisted that I order it. It's a late Christmas present, he said. After I hemmed and hawed...I ordered it"

And so, later in the day it finally arrived!

And here I am in my "best outfit" (LOL), holding my new camera...

And doing what I promised I would do,

 the first picture I took was of my hubby, taking that picture of me with my camera!

There, that's more like it...Thank you, sweet hubby, for this very wonderful gift! I told him it could be Christmas, my birthday, our anniversary, and everything else for the year! He knows how much it means to me to be able to take good pictures of the birds and bees and flowers and trees and everything else that my cell phone camera can't do at a distance, and so he wanted me to have this so I can keep sharing pictures here with YOU!

Now I just have to figure out how to use all the little buttons and dials and things to make it work like I want it to...so that will be my new "hobby" for a while until I figure it all out.

Meanwhile, I went outside and started taking pictures of everything I could see. It was a very bright sunny afternoon, and so the lighting wasn't great for really good pictures at that time of day. I may have to try again this morning, and I am hoping that "Baltimore Oriole" comes back to visit so I can take his picture this time!!

Here's some weeds and flowers and things in the woods around Still Waters Pond:

That same little lonely daisy is still blooming!

This looks like a new Maple tree starting to grow!

When I came back to our yard the Sand Hill Crane family showed up for the photo shoot!

They must've heard that I needed some good subjects to photograph with my new camera! 

It was nice of them to pose for me while I tried to figure things out....

Aren't they such magnificent models?

Okay they said, enough photos...let us get something to eat!

We threw them a little bird seed in thanks for their cooperation!

Later on I tried to see how it would do at sunset. There really wasn't any "magnificent" sunset to capture on this evening, but at least I could watch the sun going down...

This is my favorite...I love how the sun looks like a star in this picture:

And with that I will close for today, or at least until after the sun comes back up this morning and I have something new to take pictures of. I'm sure going to be watching outside my "Room With a View" for that Baltimore Oriole to come back!!

Here's the words of Wisdom from God's Word that showed up today in my morning devotions:

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

"16 Rejoice always, 

17 pray without ceasing, 

18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Amen.

Have a wonderful day my friends!

 

Something New for My Friday Foto Friends

 

This morning I was reading one of my blogging friend's posts, Tales of the TCKK Family, HERE, and she (Cathy) was doing a  new photo challenge that I thought was interesting.  She links up with Kym over at A Fresh Cup of Coffee~ Everyday Images #53 to do this "personal photo challenge".  I guess there is one every two weeks, with several prompts for things to look for and take photos of and share.  So since I didn't have anything new to share today, I thought I would try to do this and link up with Kym and Cathy and others who are doing the personal photo challenge.  The prompts for this week are: 

calendar

doorway (quarterly)

letters

chill

hidden

plans

So let's see what I can come up with!  Of course, you know the calendar photo for me is already a regular event each month. Maybe I can find something new to share in the way of a calendar that you haven't already seen:

Not too fancy. That's our church calendar, one with the birthdays and anniversaries for the month,  and the other with the activities for the month.

Below is the box of cards that I use to send out birthday and anniversary and get well cards to members of the church each month.  That is a little ministry that I do for the church that keeps me on my toes, especially lately with the number of people needing get well cards! 

Doorway

I just switched our door wreath from Christmas to a Valentine decoration, which will probably stay up through February.

And when we think about doorways, of course the title of my blog is "Closed Doors, Open Windows", so things having to do with doors are things that I tend to gravitate towards...like this collection of doorknobs:

Letters

I am assuming you mean letters, as in "letters of the alphabet" ?  This made me think of a little bag full of blocks that I've had for years and had stashed them away in a cabinet. So this was a good opportunity to bring them out:

Each side of the block has a different letter on it, and if you arrange them correctly, you will find four different messages!

Sometimes it's challenging to rearrange them and get them in the right order.  Finally I got smart and penciled in a very small number in the corner of each block so that if you put them in that order, all of the messages will be in the correct order for each side.

Chill

Still Waters Pond early in the morning, when it was 39 degrees outside.  That's a way to get "chilled" if you step outside to take a picture!

Hidden

There's something hiding behind that photograph of my great-nephew's graduation picture on the bookshelf in our living room:

Oh, it's this beautiful handmade music box, created with love by my father many years ago:

And hiding on the back is his little note: "Handmade by Bill Mursch,12/90"

It was a Christmas gift to me that year. I think he made one for each of his children.  The little upside down sticker says "These Foolish Things", which is the song that it plays when you wind it up. 

Plans

When I started to write this post this morning I had no special plans for the day. Just figuring out what pictures to take and share was my only plan...and hubby had another plan...He wanted pancakes for breakfast...so here you go:

This used up the last of the frozen blueberries that we got from the Blueberry Farm here in town last summer. So I guess my next plan will be to buy some at the grocery store until we can get the good fresh ones again from the farm when they are ripe!

Regarding "Plans", here's some words of Wisdom from God's Word:

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 19:21 NIV

21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 16:9 NKJV

9 A man’s heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

Just as I was about to close this post, I got a call from my niece, telling me that her father, my sister's hubby, was out running errands, and was stepping out of a store and someone on a bike or e-bike or something ran into him and knocked him down and he hit his head.  Thankfully he didn't lose consciousness, but he's at the hospital getting checked out to make sure there are no internal injuries, especially in his head since hit it so hard.  Apparently whoever knocked him down did not stop.  And my sister now has pneumonia and can't go to the hospital to get him, so thankfully his son is available to go get him.  So please say a little prayer for my brother in law Art and my sister Doris. Thank you so much.  Sometimes the "plans" we have for the day just don't work the way we planned. Praying that God will speed healing to them both.  Amen.

Thank you, Kym, from "A Fresh Cup of Coffee", for these photo prompts for today. I enjoyed finding the pictures and I hope you will all enjoy them too.

Wednesday Treasures

Okay, shall we?

Do you need a "quiet moment" right now?

Sometimes we just need to step away from the world and spend a little bit of quiet time alone...

Maybe not totally alone, but perhaps alone with the Lord...

or maybe alone in the sense that we are allowing God to speak to us as we sit quietly and wait for Him to guide us in what we should be doing or writing.

I needed to do this...today my tummy is actually feeling a bit "uncomfortable", and I am praying it's not a bug that's going around, because hubby is complaining of similar symptoms.  I decided to drink a cup of "Cozy Chamomile" tea, as it is supposed to be good for calming the tummy. 

So I am sipping it as I write. 

"Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness!

You have relieved me in my distress;

Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer."

Psalm 4:1

We took a little walk this morning in the woods. We haven't been in a while because it's been so cold or we had other things going on. It felt so good to get back out in nature and stretch our legs and enjoy some rather chilly, but fresh air.

These little pine tree "flowers" are blooming...a sure sign that spring is not too terribly far away!

I saw this one lone little yellow wildflower blooming actually beside our pond the other evening while I was out waiting for the sunset...

I almost missed it...as you can see it was quite camouflaged...

One blossom blooming on the azalea bushes...

And raindrops on the poinsettias looked like crystal beads:

We haven't seen much of "Pretty Kitty", a.k.a. "Gray Kitty", lately, so I was happy to see her come visit on the back porch this morning.  She was watching my foot movements through the glass door, and when I made a move toward her she took off...

But at least we know she's okay and looks healthy. I think she must belong to someone...

Thankfully my hubby's cousin Linda called us again this morning from California to let us know that they are still doing okay. They are still back in their home, but she said the devastation all around them is terrible. They are wearing masks because of the ash and pollutants in the air.  She said also that because their house was one of the few still standing in their neighborhood they had been opening it up to firefighters to come in and use the restroom and get a drink and just rest for a bit.  They are very very thankful that their home has been spared.  Also, I may have mentioned before that they had already been planning to put their house up for sale this month because they already have a place ready to move to in the mountains of north Georgia. With this fire all around them they weren't too sure now what was going to happen and if they would be able to sell their house as planned.  However, their realtor has assured them that there are so many people now looking for homes that they should have no problem in selling their house pretty quickly, so they are going ahead with their plans to make preparations for moving.  They are extremely thankful to God, and also to all who have been praying for them. She was very comforted that they have actually heard from friends and people that they haven't heard from in many years, people who called to check up on them to make sure they were safe.  So even though it has been a very stressful and scary time, it has been a time for reconnecting with family, friends and also with God.  God works in mysterious ways.  We continue to pray for so many others who have lost everything and who are struggling and hurting so very badly. May God provide for their comfort and healing as well.

This was the sunrise this morning...

I wrote on Facebook when I shared these photos early today:

Psalm 118:24  NKJV

24 This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

While I've been sitting here writing, I just learned that one of our church members, who had some major surgery yesterday, is home, and they said there was no sign of cancer! So that was a big praise!  And another member had surgery on Monday to remove her bladder because it had a cancerous tumor in it, but because the tumor was only in the bladder, by removing the bladder she is cancer free.  

Lately we've had way too many people in our church being diagnosed with cancer. It's hard to see so many having these issues, and we pray for them as they recover and deal with the aftermath of surgery and whatever other treatments they may need to have. In one case, the cancer is already too far involved, and the person has opted to not have any treatment and is preparing to live each day to the fullest until God calls him home.  

It would be easy to get anxious and maybe even a bit angry over so many suffering or having to alter their lives considerably due to these illnesses. 

I draw comfort and wisdom from this Psalm...

Psalm 4:4-8

"4 Be angry, and do not sin.

Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah

5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

And put your trust in the Lord.

6 There are many who say,

“Who will show us any good?”

Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.

7 You have put gladness in my heart,

More than in the season that their grain and wine increased.

8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep;

For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

With all of the crazy stuff going on in the country, around the world, and even right here in our own little church and community, it is good to remember to "Put your trust in the Lord."  Don't let anger over injustice or disaster cause us to sin. Pray for those in peril, but trust in the Lord.  "For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety" ...therefore, I can "lie down in peace, and sleep."  

Well, I do feel a little better now. My tummy is settling down, and hubby is asking what's for supper.  I hope you've enjoyed this little moment of quietness and putting things in perspective, so to speak. 

Those are my treasures for today. Thank you for spending this time with me.