Thankful for the rain that has been falling for the past few days. Still Waters Pond is starting to look like a pond again instead of a mud-pit. The water birds are starting to come back again.
Can you see the Wood Duck couple above? And the White Egret below?
This Red Bellied Woodpecker is enjoying a feast in the top of this dead pine tree:
Yes, he's really way up there!! But he doesn't seem to mind.
He can see all over town from way up there.
I am thankful that my hubby and I can get out and walk every day, even in between the rain showers. (sometimes during, but not on purpose!)
Found some new species of flowers while walking this week: (Do you see that little green grasshopper again? I wonder if he is the same one that was on my rose blossom last week? He sure gets around town! LOL)
Fungi growing on old dead logs. Kind of like the age spots that grow on our "old bodies". LOL.
One day this week our friend Sylvia, who used to write her blog A Grandma's Blessings, invited me to have tea with her on Facebook. (Sylvia hasn't been able to write her blog since her sweet hubby passed away last year and she has moved and hasn't unpacked her computer. We've missed her here!) She sent me a picture of her teacup and delicious looking cranberry orange muffins. So I responded with this picture of my teacup and an apple bran muffin. Soon a few other friends joined us...I think there was Mary from "Visits with Mary" and a banana muffin, and then Linda joined us from "Simply Linda", along with her lemonade because she said it was too hot for tea up in New York!
We had a great time visiting on Facebook, and you are welcome to join in here if you'd like. I think we are all ready for some kind of tea parties and friendly visits with one another.
I just picked up a little book off my bookshelf here beside my desk.
I think someone else mentioned this book or another by Emilie Barnes recently. I love her books and have several of them.
I turned to the chapter that says: "Fill my cup, Lord...I offer you my cup of loneliness and selfishness, that You may give me Your cup of communion."
I think many of us are suffering from various forms of loneliness during this time of isolation. Even if we have family all around us, we can still be lonely. We are missing our friends and our times of fellowship and friendly visits. I don't think it is selfish to miss that. I wrote yesterday about missing our times of worship at church and my concerns that even when we go back to church it just won't be quite the same as before. I've been really thinking about that praying about my attitude toward that today. You know, "the cup of communion" with Christ is not only talking about "The Lord's Supper" that we share with other believers at church on a regular basis. It is a daily communion with Christ...reading His Word, praying, and communicating with Him throughout the day as we walk or sit and watch the birds, or whatever we enjoy doing that is relaxing and peaceful. And even though our "communion" with others may be somewhat limited right now, we can still have a kind of communion here, through our blogs as we encourage one another and lift up each other in prayer. As we share stories of hope and faith from our own life's experiences...these are all ways of filling our lives with the "cup of the Lord's communion".
I am thankful for this group of people here who gather sometimes daily to share their lives with us. This gives us each a feeling of friendship and fellowship that we sorely need.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20
"I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
So in my combined thankful Thursday and Friday Foto post, I want to thank you for being here! Thank you for listening when I share my concerns and frustrations as well as my joys and blessings. I look forward to hearing from each of you and seeing what things are happening in your lives each week. We are a kind of family here, and you are each very special to me. My cup is full because of you!
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."
Philippians 1:3
Lovely photos, Pam, and I think we are feeling pretty much the same. Speaking of Communion, I really miss going to the Lord's Table with other believers. Our in-person worship services are to begin in June!! Happy Friday, dear friend!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Terri. Yes, I also miss having Communion at the Lord's Table with our church family. It is a very special time together that the Lord intended for us to do whenever we gather in His Name. The Apostles had communion with new believers as they gathered house to house in the early church. I truly do miss that. I am happy that your "in person" worship services will begin in June. Ours may be by the end of June, I am hoping. But our sanctuary is so small and our group so large, I am not sure just how it is all going to happen...we shall see. I am trusting God to work it out in a way that will be a blessing for all. Thank you for visiting. I'm so glad your knee is getting better each day!
DeleteA virtual tea party? Now, that's really being creative, Pamela! Your photos, as always, are so soothing and calming as I start my day. Nothing like seeing God's creation for making us thankful.
ReplyDeleteHave a blessed weekend!
Thank you, Martha. I am glad that you find these photos soothing and calming. That is what they do for me as well. I keep many of my nature photos circulating on my desktop as my background and I see them scroll by throughout the day and they bring smiles to my face. God's creation is always a reason to smile. He created this beauty for us to enjoy. We have such an awesome God, Who loves us so much He even cares about bringing smiles to our face. I pray your weekend will be blessed and beautiful too.
DeleteI love your pictures of Stillwater Pond and from your walks. I’m so glad you’re getting rain and your pond is filling up again. I look so forward to seeing your pictures of it. A virtual tea party is such a neat idea. Hope you have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is a way we could do some kind of "watch party" together. I guess we'd all have to be on Facebook to do it. It would be such fun if we could figure it out! I am not that technologically savvy to figure it out. Maybe someone else is!
DeleteIt is so great to hear that your pond is getting some much needed rain. Hope you can enjoy all the. activity that is sure to happen there.I'm off now to have tea or coffee with a dear friend.Yes we are meeting in person.
ReplyDeleteOh, I am so happy for you to be meeting a friend in person for tea or coffee...just to be together...what a blessing! So happy for you!! Enjoy!!!
DeleteGood Afternoon, Walking has been a nice activity during the coronavirus. I've also cooked more than usual! Blogging and reading about how others are dealing with the changes in the world right now has been inspiring. I did see you, Sylvia, Mary and Linda inviting one another to tea on facebook. I enjoy talking by phone with my sis at least twice a day...we've been dreaming of a sweet, juicy, cold watermelon to eat!
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish you had joined in the party! We will have to plan that next time! We had some good watermelon for Memorial Day. It was very good!! I am glad that you and your sister can talk often. I am sure that is a blessing for both of you! Yes, it seems that I've cooked more than usual as well...my hubby is complaining of gaining weight...so we just need to get more active I guess!! Thank you for visiting. We will have to plan our impromptu tea party next time to include everyone!
DeleteBeautiful post, Pam! Your photos are quite stunning, as always. I'm glad that tech is available--to some people--allowing us to connect with each other. All this isolation is causing more problems than it's solving, in my opinion. Two weeks ago Saturday evening I "hit the wall"--I was simply done with being isolated (and I'm an introvert), even while getting out I was missing hugs and handshakes.
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings!
Oh Kim, I totally understand what you mean. I think I have hit the wall a few times...yes, missing the hugs and handshakes and just being together. Praying it won't be much longer.
DeleteBeautiful photos, beautiful thoughts, Pamela, I too wonder how church will be once they are fully opened, I will miss the hugging, and hand shaking.
ReplyDeleteYour virtual tea party was such a sweet idea, Emile Barnes is one of my favorite authors, I think I have almost all of her writings. Thank you for sharing.
Blessings,
Sue
Thank you, Sue. It is so good to hear from you!! Praying you and yours are doing well!! Oh, another Emilie Barnes fans! My collection started with "If Teacups Could Talk", and then went on from there! I love her tea books as well as her devotional type books. Such a blessing! Yes, we are anxious to get back to "real church", but trying to prepare ourselves for how different it will need to be, hopefully for just a little while. Please Lord? Have a blessed day!
DeleteYou need to get some techie person to help you set up zoom tea parties! Art joins in with several other men early Wednesday mornings for their men's prayer group that used to meet in the parlor at church. Now they are all at home, but they can see each other at the same time to meet .
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I haven't used Zoom yet, but I hear others do and seem to have it figured out. Maybe there are some others out there who can help us figure it out! Maybe you could even join in!! Love ya, Sis!!
DeleteHaving a fresh infusion of rainwater at Still Waters Pond must be a real delight for you. I've been enjoying the rain here, too. We all have needed it.
ReplyDeleteMore than that, our nation needs those 'showers of blessing' in the form of Living Water, our Lord Jesus Christ, washing over our hearts, cleansing of sin and revitalizing a relationship with Him.