Friday Foto Friends...It's Good Friday!

It's Good Friday...A solemn day for believers in Christ...the day that our Lord was crucified on the cross for our sins...Let us never forget...

(Internet Photo)

I am sure that we are all in the midst of our Easter preparations and traditional activities. But in the midst of the "celebration" of Easter, today we  pause and remember that when Jesus died on the cross, He was sacrificing His own life for you and for me, so that we might have eternal life and victory over sin and death. 


This morning when I woke up I remembered that I had forgotten to prepare a post for today's Friday Foto Friends, so I took an early walkabout the neighborhood to see what I could share with you:

It's a cloudy, windy morning, with the prediction of thunderstorms later in the day. 

But I thought the clouds and sunlight trying to peek through was appropriate for today.

Now for some interesting signs of spring and life in our neck of the woods:

If you are a Facebook friend, you may have already seen this picture this past week. I discovered the first APPLE on our little apple tree that we planted about 3 years ago (as a memorial tree for our son)!  Here in Florida it is unusual to be able to grow apples...but this is a Golden Dorset Apple tree, and it is zoned for this area. However, I learned after we planted two of these trees that we really needed an "ANNA" apple tree to cross-pollinate, but there were none to be found.  Then the other little tree we planted died and so that left this one tree to fend for itself.  It always produces lovely blossoms, but never a sign of an apple, until NOW!!  Even without the cross pollination!!  So you can imagine my excitement in discovering this lovely baby apple...

And then even more my delight in finding this whole cluster of apples!!!! There may actually be enough to make an apple pie if they all survive until ripe!! (However, I will probably choose to just eat them if they are sweet and good!!!)

 And just for the record, because we have deer in our yard frequently who like to nibble at anything new, I hung a little mesh bag with a bar of soap in it to deter the deer.  Hopefully it will keep them away from my little green apples!!


Speaking of memorials...I took this picture of our Memorial Garden for our son this morning.  The Confederate Jasmine vines are blooming all over the fence and it smells so pretty...

More Confederate Jasmine...

More Confederate Jasmine at the gate going into the Secret Garden:

And also at the gate coming into our courtyard from the back yard:

The one lone wisteria blossom was peeking over the fence:

Okay, this is the view we had of one of the Swallow Tailed Kites one morning this week!! I guess I should put this picture at THE END!!

And so it is.  The End... of my Friday Foto Friends photos for today...and you can visit our other friends at Deb's Place at Breathing in Grace and see what beautiful sights they are sharing.


But this is not the end of my post...just a few more thoughts before I go...

Jesus said from the cross, "It is finished!"  (John 19:30)  We know that today is Good Friday, and things may look bleak and dark and sad...but friends, keep looking up and forward...because this is NOT the End of the story.....really it is just the beginning...because Jesus did not stay in that tomb...
and because "It is Finished"...the battle is over...and Jesus is Lord!!!!"


One of my favorite songs for today:  "It Is Finished" by the Gaither Vocal Band:

Have a blessed Easter weekend my friends.  Remember: "Because He Lives...I can face tomorrow...Because He lives...all fear is gone..."  (another favorite Gaither song)

Amen.