Friday Foto Friends: Heeding the Call

Here it is again friends! It is Friday Foto Friends day, and I can tell you that I woke up this morning feeling very frustrated that I didn't have any particular new, good photos to share with you.  I was so restless that I told my hubby I couldn't sit and wait until after our morning devotions and breakfast to take our walk...there was an urgency in me that said, "Go Now!"  Have you ever had that feeling? Not just about taking pictures or taking a walk...but maybe on a deeper, more spiritual level...a restlessness in your spirit that seems to be pushing you forward, drawing you out and away from the mundane, safe, ordinary places and encouraging you to "step out of the boat" and take a step of faith in a new direction?  I'm sure we've all been there at different times in our lives, and lately it seems like I've been feeling it more and more often...maybe because I'm finally feeling stronger since my recent surgery, and I'm getting anxious to go do things again...or perhaps it is a deeper thing...maybe it is something the Lord is saying to me...get ready...be prepared to take a leap of faith..."follow Me..."
Who knows? God knows...and in our devotions this morning (which I read AFTER my walk...) God is calling to Jacob in Genesis 46:1, and Jacob responds in verses 2-3, 

2.  "Here I am".  

3.  So He (God) said, "I am God, the God of your father;

Do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there."

Well, that's a long, winding introduction to what I wanted to show you today, but it was significant, because I kept feeling this urgency to go take that walk much earlier than usual...and so I grabbed my camera and went...

And I came to my favorite little spot on the pond in our neighborhood, and the first thing I saw was that hawk that I showed you last week...and he took off from this tree

and flew to the other side of the pond as soon as I arrived. No time for a picture, so I thought, "well, there went that opportunity!"

So I stepped down to the little dock (that my friends so graciously have given me permission to use) and looked around to see if there was anything worth taking pictures of...

I thought the clouds above the sun rising over the marshy area looked kind of interesting...kind of like a deer kicking up his heels...

And then I took this picture of the reflection of the clouds in the water...

But I still felt dissatisfied, like I was missing something...and I hated to head back home without any good pictures....

And then something caught my eye back out on the marsh:

First there was one...

Then there were two:

Then there were four...

And one by one they started moving out of the marsh, following their mother...

And even though they are hard to see and they are quite spread out, there are actually five of them..

These two paused for another look at the strange creature staring back at them...

And eventually they all followed the mother into the thicket at the far right...

They seem to be varying sizes and ages...

Soon the mother is seen leading the youngest fawn up onto the bank on the other side of the pond, with big sister not far behind...

And here come the rest of them, frolicking up the bank to catch up with the rest

This one kicks up his heels to run and catch up...kind of like that cloud at the beginning of the pictures, don't you think?!!

There they run, around the other side of the pond...

Hurry up and catch up with the rest of the family...and this was the last picture I was able to capture as they disappeared into the woods on the other side of the pond...

Well! I can tell you that I felt so exhilarated, so thrilled, so happy after this encounter that I just couldn't stop thanking and praising the Lord for spurring me onward to see this great sight this morning!  I practically ran all the way back home and couldn't wait to tell my hubby what he missed by not going with me...but he was comfortably sitting in his chair, working on his devotional post that he puts together every day on what he calls Simposious.com, which is a daily compilation of several different devotional readings from various organizations...and although he was happy for me to be so happy...he wasn't the one who had felt such an urgent "call" to go out...it was something especially between the Lord and me....

Then I sat down and read our morning devotions that we do together each day, and another of the scripture passages that we read were from Psalm 37:

3.  "Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4.  Delight yourself also in the Lord,

and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5.  Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

and He shall bring it to pass.

6.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

7.  REST in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him..." 

Wow!  

Don't you just love how God works?  

As for me, I am delighted in the Lord, and He has truly given me the desires of my heart today...not just in these pictures,

but in just knowing that He hears our cries,

He answers our calls...

and He also expects US to answer HIS call when He calls...

Lord, may I always be ready to heed and answer Your call. 

Help me to have faith to step out and follow you, knowing that You will always do what is right and good for Your children.

Amen

Now please leap over to visit our other Friday Foto Friends here