Mid-Week Breath of Fresh Air

 Remember a few weeks ago when these trees looked like this? 

And the blossoms looked like this:

And then they looked like this:

Well now they look like this:

And the myriads of blossoms now look like this:

Yes, those are tiny little wild plums forming where the blossoms once were! What an amazing transformation in such a little amount of time!

The picture doesn't do it justice...but all of those wild plum trees that were once covered with so many blossoms are now covered with pretty green leaves and tiny little plums popping out all over!  If the birds and squirrels don't eat them all up first, I just may have to go pick some this summer and make some wild plum jam! We shall see how energetic I am at that time.  If it is anything like when I make wild grape jam from our wild grapevines, I may reconsider! It was fun, but a LOT of work for not much jam!

Here's a few fruitful thoughts from God's Word, The Bible:

Colossians 1:10 (NKJV)

10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

John 15:16  (NKJV)

16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Galatians 5:22-23  (NKJV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Matthew 7:17-20  (NKJV)

17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Switching gears for a minute here...I discovered these lovely flowers while walking in our usual walking place...and I had to find out what they were. There aren't very many of them, but those that are blooming are so beautiful:

Have you ever seen this before?

Well, after doing my research, I have discovered that this is what's commonly known as "Lady Lupine", or Lupinus Villosus  Here is a  link to a website that has a nice article about it http://www.flwildflowers.com/gallery/  (you just have to scroll down a ways to find this particular flower)  It is apparently related to the Texas Bluebonnet! I didn't know that!!

I brought some home with me and it is actually starting to bloom. But according to the articles I read, it can't be transplanted, so I guess I will just have to enjoy it while it lasts.

Matthew 6:28-34

28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Hmmm, those verses must be for me, as I am preparing for my upcoming surgery in about a week and a half. I had my pre-op appointment with the surgeon yesterday afternoon, and went over all the details and particulars regarding the surgery and what to expect. I wouldn't be human if I didn't admit that I have a few concerns about this, but these verses remind me that our heavenly Father knows all about what I need...and that I do not need to worry. I know He has me covered and that He will take care of everything. So I am going to just keep living each day as it comes, and trust God for tomorrow.

A little levity here:  As most of you know, we celebrated my hubby's birthday this past week. If you are a Facebook friend, you may have already seen this picture of my hubby with his favorite birthday gift:

Yes, it is a new toilet seat.  But not just any toilet seat...This is a "No Slam, Never Loosens" toilet seat! Something my hubby has been asking for because, well, he doesn't like a toilet seat that slams down...when least expected.   So, this gift was much appreciated. He also received some other nice gifts, but none as exciting as this! LOL.

We also had some fun visiting with my hubby's brother and family on President's Day, when we met them at a restaurant for lunch and to continue celebrating my hubby's birthday.  Here's a few fun pictures of their family, doing what they do...just being family and having fun:

 Our niece Shannon decided it would be fun to give her Dad, my husband's brother, a new hairdo. (No, he doesn't usually wear his hair like that)


 Then she decided to give her brother Nicholaus a similar hairdo:
 While her mother watched

and laughed.  I guess we didn't think about the issues of styling hair at the table and the ramifications of that while it was happening. But thankfully we were already done with our meal and the food and plates were already gone.   "Teen-agers!" was all I could say. LOL.

Here's the budding hair stylist. (Below left) I guess she takes after her grandmother (a.k.a. "Nanny") in more than one way. Nanny was a hair stylist for over 50 years. And Shannon actually looks a lot like her grandmother at this age...Although in this picture below on the right of Nanny, she was probably 10 years older than what Shannon is today, but there is definitely a close resemblance.

(and btw, Shannon plans to be a lawyer, not a beautician. I'm sure she will do quite well no matter what she decides to do in life).

And in this picture of "Nanny", she was actually carrying my hubby: 

So that makes this photo an appropriate birthday picture for my hubby...just a little "premature look" at his beginning of life!

Okay, I guess this is a good place to end this "Mid-Week Breath of Fresh Air".  Tomorrow will be another busy and wonderful day. Having some other friends/neighbors from our old neighborhood coming to visit, and they are also bringing lunch! Wow!!! We sure are blessed with friends "old and new". I think we are having an early St. Patrick's Day meal: Corned Beef and Cabbage, and all the trimmings! Should be wonderful! 

This will most likely be my last round of company for a while. I need to settle down and get ready for March 2nd. But it sure has been fun having  family and friends get together!

"God is so good...He's so good to me."  

Oh, well, what's a few more pictures?  I may not be writing as much the rest of the week, so I might as well share these with you. All the while I was writing the above post, I kept looking out my window above my desk and couldn't help but see the changing of the skies and sunset every few minutes.  So, I kept running in and out of the house, taking pictures of the sunset as it was changing. So I apologize if this has all seemed like I was distracted while writing. I was. God paints the most amazing sunsets in His skies! They are never the same, and I just have to stand in awe and give Him Glory!!

 Even the clouds were beautiful...

And then they transformed into this:

Okay, that's the grand finale for tonight. I hope you enjoyed this magnificent sunset with me.

Good Night dear friends.

May tomorrow be sunny and bright and beautiful wherever you are.