A Dream Come True

For those of you who have followed along on this journey into a new chapter of our lives, you may have gotten the idea that we are pretty excited about our new life living "on the pond".   There are so many facets of this move that have brought us such joy and delight that I am only beginning to be able to list them all...and maybe I won't be able to list them all at all!! God has been so very gracious and kind to us, and we are extremely thankful and glad.

The picture above is a kind of fulfillment of many dreams and little answers to prayer...to finally be able to sit down beside our own pond (well, not really our own pond....we don't own the pond, but it borders our property so we feel like it belongs to us...) and enjoy the sights and sounds of pond living.

 (The male and female wood ducks were together above...but I am sorry this isn't real clear. They were pretty far away).

We frequently hear the keen shrill cry of the red shouldered hawk as he warns the other birds of his presence and stakes out his territory.  He is flying across the pond to the trees on the other side:

 And there he is, watching whatever is below.   Actually, I should tell you, that on the other side of those trees there is a highway...and we can hear the sounds of cars rushing to and fro to work each day...so it really isn't all peace and quiet here on this pond.  Some cars, trucks, and motorcycles just love to see how loud they can be as they take off down the road...and that can be a little disconcerting because it drowns out the sounds of the hawk and birds calling...but I've learned that after you live here a while the noise of the traffic kind of fades into the background when you focus on what is better and more pleasant rather than on the negative.

Like this little Chickadee who was visiting the bird feeder while I sat and watched him from my garden bench.  He was oblivious to the noise outside of our little sanctuary, and just went about his business of gathering seeds for his supper and making his high pitched "chickadee dee dee" sounds as he flew about calling to his family and friends...

And as the sun was setting across the pond, the sounds of the frogs and cicadas in the trees took over, and the bats began to wing their way about, drinking in the mosquitoes as they flew...which kept them from finding me as I sat and watched from my chair on the shore...and the sounds of the highway faded into the distance and I was taken away to a place of peace and joy and total relaxation and thankfulness that God has chosen to bless us in this special way. 

When I say it is a "dream come true" for me...let me show you a little of what I mean.  Several years ago I picked up this little book at the gift shop at Cracker Barrel.  I fell in love with its beautiful paintings by Darrell Bush, and the Psalms, Scriptures, quaint verses and poems, thoughts and reflections, and even recipes for lakeside living scattered throughout its pages.  Here are a few examples of what is in the book..."Beside Still Waters...Refreshing Moments to Restore Your Soul". (published by Harvest House Publishers)

You might recognize this picture from a previous post...this is my calendar, and the paintings in it are also by Darrell Bush, and many are similar or the same as the ones in this little book...just another example of my love for this kind of "life"...

 See any resemblance to my photo up at the top?  Yes, this has been a "picture" in my mind for some time of the kind of place that I wanted to live someday...Many times I would pick up this little book and read it through again and just kind of sigh and whisper, "some day, Lord?"

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "Thank You, that would suffice." Meister Eckhart

Well, tonight I want to say "Thank You" to the Lord, for hearing the dreams of my heart and understanding how this would be such a joy and blessing to me and hopefully to those in our family and our friends. 

The Bible says:

Psalm 37:3-6 New King James Version (NKJV)

"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."

Please don't think that if you "do good", that God will automatically give you what you want.  That is not what this means at all.  We should never be doing things to "bargain with God" or to try and influence Him to give us what we want.  No, the important part of this passage is to "Trust in the Lord...feed on His faithfulness...Commit your way to the Lord..."  In other words, live for Jesus, trust Him with all your heart no matter what comes your way.  Be faithful to God, bloom where you are planted ("Dwell in the land").  When you trust in the Lord and DELIGHT in Him...He will actually delight in you and take care of all your needs.  We should never say, "If I do this for God then maybe He will give me what I want."...That's a sure way to run into all kinds of trials and tribulations and temptations that will test your faith and cause you to sometimes question just where is God anyway!  No, we must TRUST in the Lord to give us exactly what is BEST for us...to lead us in the paths of His choice for us because He will never lead us astray.  When we delight in Him, we find that life takes on a whole new meaning.  Our desires of our hearts become Godly desires that cause us to serve Him with gladness no matter where He leads us.  This I know from many experiences in life.

However, for whatever reason we have finally reached this destination that has been a dream for a long time, we pray that God will indeed bless our home and help us to use this gift to share Christ with others and to love our neighbors as He would want us to do.   There are many lonely, unhappy people on the other side of that pond...as a matter of fact on the far side of the pond beyond the trees there is a bar, and we can hear the noise from there a little louder on Friday and Saturday nights. Thankfully, it isn't real loud, but enough for us to know that it is there, especially when the motorcycles drive in and out... But I thought about that today and said a prayer for those who are over on the other side of the pond...that God would guide them to a place of peace and trust in Him, and that they would find restoration for their souls perhaps as a gentle wind of the Spirit moving across the pond to blow across their hearts when they come outside for a breath of fresh air...God is able to do that, you know?  So as I sit in my Adirondack chair or on the Secret Garden Bench or on the deck overlooking the pond, I pray for those on the other side.  Maybe that is a reason why we are here...who knows?  God knows...

So now you know about my little "dream come true".  Sometimes it isn't everything it may appear on the surface, lest some may be prone to covet the beauty of this place...there is always a hidden purpose or cost or challenge...but that is life...especially when we choose to "Trust in the Lord, feed on His faithfulness, and Commit our way to the Lord." But He is right here with us to guide and lead and bless us, yes, even with the "desires of our hearts".  Praise God!!!