Starting off the New Year with Geese, Snowmen, and No Worries!

 

Good Morning! Here it is, the first Monday morning of the New Year of 2021! The first Monday after the holidays, and I expect some people have to go back to work, or kids may have to go back to school. Thankfully I am no longer in that category of having to go to work or get kids off to school. I "did my time" in that regiment of life, and thankfully I am now enjoying retirement and no real scheduled responsibilities.  Although, like many others I have heard it said, I don't know how I ever had time to work now that I am retired...there is always something that has to be done! Doctor appointments, grocery shopping, housework, post-holiday clean up.  

But before we jump into all that work, let's just relax and have a cup of hot tea or a cup of cocoa on this chilly January morning, and start the week off right!

Today my only "appointment" is our Ladies' Bible Study this afternoon.  I look forward to meeting with this special group of women each week.  We have been studying the book of Joshua..."Winning the Worry Battle", a Bible Study by Barb Roose. 

It looks like our little mother at Pamela's Victorian Cottage is working on "winning the worry battle" with having so many little girls to look after.

Just in case you didn't notice, there is another new "little angel" added to the family, thanks to their kind Auntie from the city (a.k.a. my sister, who loves to give me these little dolls for Christmas each year). I expect this sweet little "Twinkling Star Angel" will add to the fun and excitement around Pamela's Victorian Cottage in the days and months to come.

We are working our way slowly through this Bible study book, because as is the case with most women's gatherings, we have lots of things to discuss and each week brings out more and more areas of need in the lives of our ladies...and we find ourselves spending more time encouraging one another in our walk of faith and life than in just plain old study. But God's Word is the foundation and backdrop for all of our conversation, and that is exactly how God intended it to be.   Here is one quote from the sidebar of our workbook from last week's lesson:

"If we remember God's generosity in those moments when we experience uncertainty,

then we can wait in faith for God to act."

And another one when we were studying in Joshua 7 about "fighting in fear", and it appears that even Joshua "melted in fear", or as we would call it, he had a "meltdown". But we saw that Joshua turned around his "meltdown" by turning toward God in his distress.  He expressed his truest emotions and brought his questions and concerns to God.  Our takeaway from that lesson was: 

"When stress and fear are mounting, I can avoid a meltdown by pouring out my heart to God."

This little lesson actually helped me during the stress of the holidays by remembering that God is always there for me, and He is my strength and my refuge, even when my distresses are caused by my own lack of appropriate planning and preparation. I also have made a commitment that I will not allow myself to get into that same kind of panic situation again next Christmas. May God help me to remember this and start planning way in advance.  

Speaking of having a "meltdown", if I don't move these snowmen away from in front of this fire, they may have a "meltdown" for sure! LOL!

I just realized that snowmen were playing an important part of our decorations this Christmas, and of course snowmen are fun to keep around even in January if it is cold enough!

Even in Florida you could work through your "worries" and anxieties a bit by having a snowball fight with the family:

Our family did do this, and it was fun until one landed in my hubby's cup of ice water and splashed it all over him...he actually thought we were outside in the snow it was so cold! LOL.

Yes, there were snowmen everywhere! Up at the cabin,

down on the pond,

and even up at the cabin in the hills above the train village...

Here's a little treat for you! I received a late "Christmas gift" (from myself) in the mail:

It takes a lot more breath than expected to make that thing work. LOL. Maybe that will be a good breathing exercise for me to work on each day.

I have seen this Bible verse floating around through our blogs and social media quite a bit lately. It is the theme verse for our Bible Study in Joshua:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 ESV

I believe (my One Word for 2021) this is also an excellent verse to carry with us into the New Year.  And the verse that precedes that one is also one that will help guide us so that we will learn more and more about trusting in the Lord and not giving in to worries and fears:

"Study this Book of Instruction continually.  Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.  Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." Joshua 1:8

Yes, study God's Word and BELIEVE what you read as you meditate on it day and night...and as you BELIEVE, you will want to OBEY...and only then will we prosper and succeed in all that we do and attempt to do!  If I were to make a New Year's resolution, it would be to do just that...

Well, since I can't really go outside and build a snowman or skate on the pond, I think I will take a lesson from these Canadian Geese who earlier landed on Still Waters Pond, and just glide gently into the new year with no worries or fears.  How about you?