What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Monday, May 18, 2020

Some Monday Meanderings

 Good Evening! Somehow this day (and weekend) got away from me and I never got around to posting anything since Friday!

Not that I've been so busy...but I was just..well, yeah, busy! The picture above can be explained here:
I finally finished reading that book that was so good that someone sent me anonymously!


This book was about life the way it was back in old Florida, back in the days of the "Florida Crackers"...cowboys who drove wild cows to market, cracking bull whips to keep them moving, and thus came the name "Florida Crackers".  In the picture above, at age nine, I was pretending that I was a pioneer and I was shooting away any intruders to my woodpile fort.  And here below, is my hubby as a child also growing up in Florida...perhaps he could have been a "Florida Cracker" too. By the looks of the two of us, it appears we were destined to end up together!
The book followed the lives of one family of Florida Crackers through three generations, starting in the mid 1800's.  They had a very hard life...and I will tell you this much...keep a kleenex box handy when you really get into this book. It was definitely a tear-jerker! But so good! If you like realistic historical fiction, you will enjoy this book.

I've also mentioned to you that I like to sit outside in my little garden area overlooking "Still Waters Pond" , while I read or pray or just enjoy watching the birds.

If you've been with me for awhile, you will remember when I first got this lovely bench below that my son restored for me for Christmas (Click HERE for that story)

 And thus began a season of spending time in my "Secret Garden" and writing as the Lord spoke to me in what became the Secret Garden Chronicles.  Well, then we moved from that house and although the bench came with me to our new home, the "secret garden" was left behind.  However, I've been working toward setting up a new "secret garden"  here in our new location.  Little by little we are cleaning up the brush and foliage surrounding that area where I love to sit, and it is beginning to take a little more shape.

 Well, this morning something interesting happened.  As I was reading our morning devotions from a little devotional book that my hubby and I enjoy reading together each day, the writer of the devotional reading for today was talking about how "prayer has its place".  The scripture reading came from Acts 16:13, where Paul had heard the famed "Macedonian Call" and was entering Philippi to begin his ministry in that area.  In verse 13 it says,
"And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there."

After reading that scripture reference, the devotional writer asked, "Where is your prayer place, your sanctuary, your hidden room?.  She went on to say that Paul and his companions had found their place to pray along the river. Then the writer said something astounding to me when she wrote that perhaps your place is "the bench your son made you for your garden..."  I stopped reading and looked at my husband and said, "Did you hear what I just read?"  He said yes. I said..."That is so amazing! How did this writer know that my son made a bench for me for my garden?"  Well, the answer is, that writer knows nothing about me or my son or my bench, but God does...and I took this as God's cue to get back to using the special bench that my son made for me for the purpose for which it was intended...Prayer, Meditation on God's Word, Writing as the Holy Spirit leads!  What was interesting was that today we actually had a friend coming over to help clean up the brush and trim the limbs under the trees that surround the bench so that it will be a little cleaner and safer for me to sit out there. (always have to be on guard for snakes in the brush in Florida...so need to keep it cleaned up). 

And as if that wasn't confirmation enough about the special purpose of this bench, I got up and went into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast, and I looked at the refrigerator door. And this is what I saw:

Yes, that is a picture of my son who built the bench. It's an older picture of him, but one that I love so I keep it on my refrigerator. But I want you to notice something else that I had never paid any attention to until today:

 Did you notice that magnet that was holding the picture in place?  Yes, that's the one...the one that is a picture of a garden bench...  Funny how I never noticed that before today. I mean, I've had that magnet a long time, and I love it, but I never noticed that that was the one I was using to hold up my son's picture before!  I just noticed something else...of course the birdhouse and the bird and hat...all things that I love, and the flowers...but look at the flowers on the tree. Those are magnolia blossoms!
Well, when I first got this bench and put it in my "secret garden" at our other house, guess what kind of tree was right over it?  You guessed it...a Magnolia Tree!!!!  Wow...I don't believe in coincidences...but I do believe in God sharing special little whispers of love and nudges to get me moving in the right direction again...and this was definitely one of them. 


Of course now, the bench sits under an oak tree, looking at a lovely holly tree, overlooking the pond.
It is a beautiful setting...a perfect place to sit and pray and listen for God's voice.


A wonderful place to
  "Be Still, and Know that I Am God..." 
Psalm 46:10

So, how has God spoken to you today? Isn't it exciting to see the ways He uses to reach out to us?  The problem is that so often we are just too busy and not really paying attention. But He sure got my attention today! Perhaps this will be a reminder to you as well to pay attention to those little signs along the pathway that could be special messages to you from the Lord.  Certainly something to consider.

Have a blessed and wonderful day and week my friends!

27 comments:

  1. Isn't it wonderful when God speaks to us like that! So affirming! I love your pictures today and your witness to God's glory!

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    1. Thank you, Terri. Yes, sometimes it's like He just bonks us right over the head with His message to us...then other times it's like we are on a scavenger hunt chasing down clues. I kind of like the bonk over the head as long as it isn't painful! God is good. We are blessed. Hope you are doing well tonight after your PT today.

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  2. Wow, just a few random coincidences, right? Nope! So clearly God is sending you kisses! Wonderful Pam!

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    1. Exactly!! No coincidences with God...and I love the thought of Him sending me kisses. That is beautiful! Thank you for that blessing!

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  3. Oh, goosebumps! I love it when God speaks like that. I sometimes need those flashing, neon pointing arrows to get the message.

    The book sounds wonderful. I don't typically like historical fiction, but old Florida is kind of a different setting and subject. Loved the pics of you and your hubby!

    Do you have alligators in that pond?

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    1. Thank you, Stacy! Isn't God awesome in His dealings with men (& women)? He knows just how to reach us and get our attention! Re: the book...I loved the book. It took a little bit to really get into it, but once I did I didn't want to put it down. It was definitely a different kind of setting than what we are used to reading. In answer to your last question: No, we do not have any alligators in this pond, and I pray we never do. Right now the pond is almost dry in a lot of places, and if we don't get some rain soon, it will be a good place to dig up worms for fishing, but there won't be any fish. So we are praying for rain. It will probably fill back up after a typical Florida summer of rain every afternoon...hopefully that is what we'll get. Thanks for visiting my "neck of the woods" today.

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  4. I love your post today Pamela and all the God moments HE has given you in relation to the bench and devotions. Simply awesome. I do like historical fiction so your book would probably appeal to me. I also love the old photos of you and your husband as children. It seems you two are peas in a pod :-))

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    1. Thank you "Joyful". I just love it when God deliberately gets my attention like that! Now I have to follow through and start doing what I know I need to be doing! I am sure you would enjoy that book. You are an adventuresome person, having spent so much time in Africa. You may even see some similarities with that... And yes, hubby and I both grew up in Florida when it was still a bit rough around the edges (Before Disney World came in and ruined it). We lived about 20 miles apart but never knew each other until college. That was definitely another "God thing"! Have a blessed day.

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  5. I was all set to tell you how much I love those pictures and I will, but I have to say I just loved your post today. What a blessing! I can't tell you how many times a simple devotional book has been used like that to speak to me. I would buy a book and even wait to start it and YET the very day I read a page is just the thing I needed for THAT day. I do believe He does that just for us! I have literally stood in the aisle of bookstores and prayed for God to lead me to the one He might want me to read. Anyway, He does use so many things to talk to us if we get STILL enough to listen.
    I love your bench and the story, but oh how I love those photos of you and your husband. Classic Florida in the background. We are blessed to live in such a beautiful state.
    Thanks for such a sweet read today.

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    1. Thank you, Sandy. Isn't it awesome how God reaches out to His children to get our attention, even in the simple things of life as well as in the big things? Yes, I've experienced the devotional book message just for me today thing many times, even when I may have read that same book before, each new day seemed like another "new day" that God had a message for me. His Word is always new and fresh. And yes, I am glad you recognize the "classic Florida" in the background in our old pictures. We both grew up here when it was still a bit rough around the edges, before Disney World came and ruined what was left of the old natural beauty in the majority of the state. I think North Central Florida on up and in the Panhandle are still more like the old Florida we knew and loved, and that is why we live where we do. It is a beautiful state. But it was a lot more beautiful back before so many people came and destroyed its natural beauty in so many places. That book is very much about that, but even before all of our modern hype over the state. I am glad you enjoyed this post. I enjoyed what God was doing (and IS doing!) Have a blessed day today!

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  6. WOW! Our God loves to use everyday things to remind us of His love. That bench is calling your name and inviting your presence, but even more, god is waiting to meet you there.I just recently heard a song i had forgotten about and the words brought tears as they spoke directly to my heart.It talks of troubled times, but the words that struck me were, Jesus will love us still.

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    1. Oh yes...in troubled times...Jesus WILL and DOES loves us still! Sometimes I think even more so than in the untroubled times...but that's not really so. He loves us all the time...we just tend to get too caught up in our own little world to forget to see the ways He is demonstrating His love for us. That is one reason for "the garden bench"...a place for me to focus more fully on the ways God is demonstrating His love to us. Thank you for your thoughts today! Have a blessed week.

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  7. I love this post, Pam. I love how the devotional spoke directly to you about the bench your son made and how for the first time you really "saw" the magnet with the bench and magnolia tree. I love the beginning of your new secret garden. At the home we shared with my late mother, we had a secret garden with a swing. Each night, mother and I would sit on that swing and around 7 p.m. we could hear a small church chimes playing old familiar hymns. I treasure those memories. Have a blessed day.

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    1. Oh, what precious memories for you, sitting with your mother on the swing and hearing those church chimes. I love to hear church chimes playing hymns. I really miss that. Such a beautiful way to close the day. Wow. I really do miss that. I'm glad you have those precious memories to treasure in your heart. Thank you for visiting here with me today on "my garden bench".

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  8. ps I forgot to say how much I enjoyed seeing the childhood pics of you and your husband. John and I like looking thru our old photos and comparing how similar our childhoods were, even though he grew up in MI and I grew up in GA!

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    1. Thank you, Mildred! I also love old photos. It is fun to look back and remember when life was so much simpler, at least it seemed so to us as kids. That is a wonderful way to spend some special time together...reminiscing about the "good old days" of our childhood. Thank you for sharing that!

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  9. I am contented to know that indeed, the good Lord knows everything, smiles.

    Thank you for sharing, you always make my day. smiles

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    1. Yes, He does! And He is always looking out for our best in every situation! Even in the tough times...He is there with us!! Praise God!

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  10. Love your bench...love your story...would make a lovely book/memoir someday. My friend whose husband died the end of March, after 54 years of marriage, said that night after the burial-no funeral-her granddaughter called and asked her to look outside. There was a rainbow...Linda took care of rodney until the end when he died holding her hand. It has not been easy with that disease, Alzheimer's...but she did it...she and I have been together since almost birth...and I don't live near her anymore...but we stay in touch...that rainbow was a sign to her and her grand...that grandpa was ok. I always believe, as others do, that seeing a Red Cardinal or a butterfly...or a star falling...

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    1. Oh yes, I have experienced a similar event after the passing of my father...it was a Barred Owl, with which I had become very familiar in the months previous to my father's death. I've written about it: https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2011/04/last-farewell.html Thank you for visiting here today, Brenda. I hope that your dear friend will be comforted. Thank you for sharing her story. Have a blessed day.

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  11. Reading your post here today, Pamela, definitely gave me "God-bumps!" Yes, God does speak to us if we take the time to be still and listen. You certainly found your miracle in the mundane with this one!
    Blessings!

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    1. Isn't it wonderful when God reaches out to us through the simple things of life? It makes me really want to pay closer attention at all times...but perhaps these moments are reserved for special "callings" that would lose their significance if it was all the time...we'd start to tune them out again... Hmmm, I wonder how many things we have been "tuning out"? Makes me think. Blessings to you today too dear Martha.

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  12. Your story of the bench, the photo of your son, the magnet -- it is all so special!!!!

    Yes, today the Lord gave me a desire of my heart (something too personal to share). It was a confirmation to me that He hears me, understands "where I am" in some matters, and takes action at just the right time. My prayer is now that the matter is resolved, I want to move on to things more worthy of my time and attention.

    Beautiful post, Pam!

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    1. The Lord knows exactly what we need at the very precise moment. What a blessing! Thank you for sharing that. Doesn't it feel good when we get things "resolved" so we can move on? God knows what we need. Blessings to you today.

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  13. Pam: I had some anxiety creep into into my heart today. I shed a few tears, texted most of my prayer group. I could not tell them my need. Hubby went to the store and I put away the groceries. I then fixed my lunch. As I opened our refrigeratior door, my eyes fell onto a refrigerator magnet.
    It said,"Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Proverbs 3:5. How is that for confirmation?

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    1. Oh yes! Isn't that something? Those little refrigerator magnets have been hard at work, sending us some positive messages! I love how God uses things that we oftentimes overlook in our rush through our daily lives to suddenly cause us to stop and blink and see for what seems like the first time: Be STILL and KNOW that I AM GOD! He wants us to pay attention to HIM and Focus on HIM, and our anxieties will be relieved and comforted and even taken away. Thank you for sharing this today. I needed to see your refrigerator magnet message this morning! Blessings!

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  14. Pam, what an amazing post. What a blessing coming in the form of a book from an anonymous person. History is riveting at times and also sad and so much more.

    God knows when we need to read certain things to prompt us to do something.

    Blessings!

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Thank you for visiting here today. I would love for you to sign my guestbook and let me know you stopped by. I always enjoy reading your comments and words of encouragement! May you be blessed as you go on your way. Please come back and visit again soon.