The Secret Garden Chronicles - I Keep Repeating Myself-But I Am Not Alone!

Well dear friends out in blogland...Thank you for your kind comments on yesterday's post, "Sheltered and Protected:"  (Seen in this link: ) http://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-secret-garden-chronicles-sheltered.html

Apparently this is a message that the Lord wanted us to hear again...because after I posted it, I realized that I had just posted a very similar message in January from the Secret Garden: (seen in this next link:) http://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-secret-garden-chronicles-day-6-he.html


And then, on further examination, I realized that I had written about this a few years ago as well:
http://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2010/10/he-hideth-my-soul.html

So now, what am I to deduce from these repetitious messages?  Either I am going senile and can't remember what I wrote even  a little over a month ago...or it is a message that the Lord is wanting to get across to not only me but others out there in blogland!  I prefer to think of the latter as the truth rather than the former...even though I was at the Doctor's office with my husband today, and the Dr. gave my hubby a "memory test"...you know,  gave him some objects to remember...and then came back to it ten minutes later and asked again what those three objects were...and I hate to admit it that we both missed one of the three objects...our favorite fruit...apples!!!  Yikes!  The other parts of the test were also a little challenging...I was glad that I wasn't the one being tested...and then I come home and realize that I keep repeating myself here...and well, help!! 

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has issues like this...but it is a little embarrassing to put it out here for all the world to see!!!  However, maybe that is a good sign...I am still coherent enough to recognize that this could be a problem rather than just continuing to do it over and over and over again and people start whispering behind my back that I keep repeating myself, and...and...Okay...enough of this!

So, friends, what have YOU been up to lately?  I have confessed my frailties...please tell me I'm not alone!

Speaking of alone...This is the only picture I took today...of this Sand Hill Crane standing all alone down by the pond in our neighborhood.

I have a feeling she/he really wasn't all alone, as this is most likely their nesting season...and she/he may have been standing guard near the nest.  I know I heard the cranes calling each other not long after I passed by here, so I'm sure they were close by.  

You know, we are never really alone either...even when we may think there is no one else around us...we are never truly alone...

Here are a few verses that I read today that I found interesting...

Genesis 28:15-16

(God was talking to Jacob in a dream...this is from the famous "Jacob's Ladder" story)

15.  "Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land;

for I will not leave you until I have done 

what I have spoken to you."

16.  Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said,

"Surely the Lord is in this place, 

and I did not know it."

I wonder how often we have felt the Lord's Presence in a certain place...and perhaps didn't realize at the time that is WHO it was...but maybe later we recognized that it could only have been the Lord...

I know I've had those kinds of experiences in my life...how about you?

Here is another verse that I read today in my devotional time that brought a sense of comfort and peace to my heart:

Psalm 34:7

"The angel of the Lord encamps all around

those who fear Him,

and delivers them."

The "Angel of the Lord" is thought to be God Himself, according to my understanding of scripture...but, even if it isn't God Himself, it is His angel, sent especially to set up camp and totally surround us, giving us complete protection and deliverance from any foe.  I love this verse. I have it highlighted in my Bible, and a note written in the margin that this verse was read to our son Matthew on the day before he slipped away into heaven. He had expressed some fear and had asked the Hospice chaplain to pray for courage a couple of days earlier.  (Click HERE for more about that story, written just a few days before Matthew passed away) I know the Lord was there with him...and with us during that extremely difficult time.

Just a few verses later, in verse 18, we are told that

"The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,

And saves such as have a contrite spirit."

I know there are many of you who could attest to the truth of that statement...and so could I.  When our son did pass away, we truly felt the Presence of the Lord surrounding and undergirding us with His strong arms, giving us the strength to move forward even in our grief, knowing that our son was no longer suffering and was definitely standing in the very Presence of the Lord at that moment. And He is still here with us, almost three years later...giving us that strength and comfort that only He can give.

Throughout our lives we will experience God's Presence in happy times as well as sad times...because He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. (see Deuteronomy 31:6, 8)  I know I've repeated that verse many times in the past  (Click HERE for one of those times)  But, even God has repeated that message many times over and over again...so I guess I'm in good company after all!!

It's very comforting to know that I am definitely not alone!! Amen?

Just another picture of the chickadee, standing guard near the nest in the bird house...I decided to stay clear of there today and give them a chance to finish building.