A Very Nice Day

Today was a very nice day. How often can we or do we say that? Especially over the past four months or so, have we really thought much about having a really nice day?  I know times have been difficult for everyone in different ways, and for some having a nice day is something you can only pray will happen again.  But even in our darkest days and hours, there is always hope. God has never forsaken us, and He never will.  We can rely on Him. Yes, there will be very nice days again.  In the meantime, we need to look for them and treasure them when they come. Not take them for granted like perhaps we may have done in the past. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is to never take our "normal" way of life for granted, or never forget to appreciate the beautiful ways God has blessed us even in small ways.

Here is one of my special blessings of this very nice day:

A few weeks ago, on Memorial Day, we decided to go ahead and reestablish our Secret Garden here at our new house. Instead of having two separate gardens, we have combined the "Secret Garden" with the "Memorial Garden" that we had in memory of our son at our other home.

And today the first rose bloomed on the Memorial Rose bush that we brought with us from the Memorial Garden...well, I say the first rose...I mean the first rose that has bloomed since we moved it into the new "Secret Memorial Garden" on Memorial Day.

I know, I still need to actually plant the rose bush in the ground, but I was waiting to see if it would like the new location and bloom here before planting it in the ground. And today it answered that question.

The Rose Bush not only bloomed, but it reached out toward the sign that we made in memory of our son, it reached out toward his memory as it also reached for the sun and the beautiful Still Waters Pond in the background. So yes, I believe the memorial rosebush is happy here in its new location, and so we need to go ahead and get it planted, along with that Rose of Sharon bush in that other bucket. It hasn't bloomed yet, and I think it is because it needs to be planted. It also came with us from the other house and the Memorial Garden.  So now we know...it is time to plant these special plants and let them thrive!

The other part that made this a special day was we finally went out to eat at our favorite special place on the St. John's River, "Corky Bells".  We haven't been there in many months and we've really missed it. They are still at 50% occupancy, but because they have many outdoor places to sit and dine and watch the boats on the river, it was a safe and lovely place to be this afternoon with our family. If you are a Facebook friend, you may have already seen these pictures. But for the rest of you, I wanted to share our lovely afternoon with you.

Here we are, hubby and me, while waiting to be called to our table. 

Such a lovely view of the boats on the river while we waited:

It was a beautiful day, although a bit breezy on the water, but it didn't stop these people on their jet skiis or in other boats from having a great day. We've all had "cabin fever" much too long.

Oh, look who's here! Here's our kids Rose and Benton, taking a stroll on the dock. We decided that we needed to celebrate something today, so we celebrated their third anniversary of their engagement, which was three years ago this week. Then they got married just a few months later in November. It definitely has been a "marriage made in heaven".  So thankful for this precious couple.

Oh, they found Daddy, sitting on the dock waiting...

And then along came another of our handsome sons, Scott, to join the party.

So proud of these three wonderful men!

Finally we were called to our table, and were so pleased that it was right up on the deck overlooking the river, and in the shade, with a wonderful breeze...thank the Lord, as it was 90 degrees today!

My son loves to take candid shots of me...but can you tell I'm happy? I was...I am...

You can see more of the view of the river beside me.  I just wish someone would have told me that my "strap" was showing...don't you just hate that? 

This little lizard was doing acrobatic tricks on this fence wire alongside our table...

He kept us entertained while we waited for our delicious seafood dinner to arrive...

He managed to work his way down each wire by turning flips over the wire and hanging down to the next one. Very talented!

I especially loved seeing this boat with the American Flag waving proudly in the breeze!

From the parking lot we could see this Osprey on her nest in the top of a tall dead tree. There were babies in the nest because we could hear them chirping all the way from where we were. I guess they were hungry!

That's all the pictures, but now you see why I said it was a "very nice day".  

Oh, one more thing:

This book and workbook arrived in the mail today. I ordered this last week after listening to Anne Graham Lotz talking HERE , and HERE, and I thought this was a book that I wanted to read and maybe even do a Bible Study with some ladies this fall...so I am anxious to get into reading it. (Thank you Sandy and Barbara both for mentioning her in your blogs.) We need to encourage each other more in these days of so much confusion and anxiety. 

Okay friends, that's all for tonight. 

"To them God has chosen to make known...

the glorious riches of this mystery,

which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Colossians 1:27