Happy New Year from Still Waters Pond

 Why I don't get anything done these days:

A flock of Canada Geese flies in and swims around for a while...

Then one lonesome Sand Hill Crane comes ashore and looks lost and hungry...

Until he sees bird seed that has been scattered on the ground under the feeder:

So he helps himself and cleans it all up nicely...  Not sure which one this is. Is he one of the Colts, either Pat or Val, who has been sent out from their family unit now that he's too old to hang around with Mom and Dad?  Or is it the Mom, because she's been spending some time alone out on the marshy island during the day...is she getting ready to build a new nest?  I don't know...time will tell...

Now who's this?  Never saw this character before on Still Waters Pond...

I try to zoom in and figure out who this is, but it's a bit blurry...

Oh good, it's coming my direction, so maybe I will be able to make an identification...

Very interesting looking duck...never saw her before, and she appears to be alone.

Meanwhile, the Ring Necked Ducks are still out there in the pond diving up and down and bobbing all around in circles, just having a good old time...

Here comes that duck again, getting closer to my side of the pond...

Closer...

Closer...

She stayed in the water and in the grassy reeds along the shore...

Ah, now I see that red marking on her beak...

Yeah, I think I know what kind of duck this is...

She has some pretty greenish looking feathers on her back...

So I looked it up and sure enough, this is a Muscovy Duck on Still Waters Pond !  You can read that link to get the scoop on this kind of duck. I don't know where she came from or if she'll stay here, but they say they really aren't a desirable kind of duck to have around because they can spread disease among other kinds of ducks...so hopefully she will figure it out that she'd be awfully lonesome here without any other ducks of her kind and go back and find her family and friends, wherever they are.   We shall see what develops...

Mr. or Mrs. or young  Sand Hill Crane isn't bothered at all by her appearance...he just keeps on foraging for more food along the shore as well...

And soon Mrs.Muscovy Duck swam away to the other side of the pond again, and Mr./Ms. Crane headed back out to the marsh island after a while,

And soon peace reigned once again on Still Waters Pond...The End (for today). LOL.

So now you see why I have a hard time concentrating on things like housework and reading and writing and doing other important things.  But this was a kind of therapy for me this morning.  It seemed like I was developing a kind of anxiety over things that I hadn't done or needed to do or should be doing and couldn't do, and I could feel myself getting all tense and frustrated. And then I looked outside and saw all this activity on the pond, and the next thing I knew I was standing on the back porch with my camera in hand and was mesmerized by all the beauty of God's creation in that place, and it was difficult to go back inside until all the lovely "critters" were back in their place and I was free to go back to my duties...but I went back with a sense of calm and awe and peace and had a much better attitude about doing what needed to be done.  I thanked the Lord for giving me that special time apart from the "world" for a little while...He knew exactly what I needed...and it gave me the strength to keep forging ahead.

Speaking of "strength"....you remember, my  new "One Word" for 2024?  Well, let me tell you another amazing little story about God's blessing on this selection...

Yesterday I wanted to get a special gift for someone in my church who is going through a difficult time right now, and I remembered that our ACE hardware store had some lovely Christian gift ideas, yes! At the hardware store!  So I went and found what I was looking for to give my friend right away, but then you know what happened?  I also found something for myself...I had no intention of buying something for myself...I was trying to be totally unselfish for a change and do something nice for someone else without thinking about myself.  So of course I tried to talk myself out of it, but it was the only one left and it had my name on it...well, you know what I mean...it was calling out to me...and I couldn't resist, because look at what it said:

Yes, a tea mug with the verse "The LORD is my strength and my song".  

See Isaiah 12:2~

"Behold, God is my salvation,

I will trust and not be afraid;

‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song;

He also has become my salvation.’ ”

Well, so much for being totally unselfish...This mug came home with me and will be my "mug of the year" to help me remember my "One Word" every day.  

But wait! The story isn't over yet!!!

The other day when we went over to "the kids' house" for New Years Day dinner, my sweet DIL Rose gave me a little package that came for me from her sister, who lives in Minnesota. You might remember her sister Sherrie stayed with them for a while a couple of years ago, and we spent a lot of time together while she was here. She is a dear sister in the Lord, and I feel like we had a special kind of bond.  Well, anyway, she sent this little Christmas gift for me, and I really didn't have a chance to open it up and look at it really well until yesterday after I got home from the store with that mug that I bought.   The gift was a set of two pillow cases that she made for my couch pillows. She had made the couch pillow cases for me that I already had when she was here before, so these were a second set to change up the design. Now, keep in mind, she had made these I am sure a few weeks ago at least, and she had NO IDEA what my "One Word" was going to be for 2024, because I didn't even know for sure a few weeks ago and I hadn't told a soul about it!  So look here:

Do you see what I see???  "The JOY of the Lord is my STRENGTH"?????  Yes!!

Now how's that for a confirmation of my One Word "Strength" for this year??? I couldn't believe my eyes and starting whooping and hollering and my husband thought something weird was going on in the kitchen when I opened up this package!  So I had to explain the story to him, and he was appropriately amazed as well. Then I had to text Sherrie and tell her too, and she was also amazed at what God had done!

So there you have it...two blessings in one day!!  How many more, Lord?  You are so awesome!

And then I saw someone had posted a reference to this scripture passage on Facebook tonight, and that was like the icing on the cake:

Psalm 59:16-17

16 "But I will sing of your strength,

in the morning I will sing of your love;

for you are my fortress,

my refuge in times of trouble.

17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;

you, God, are my fortress,

my God on whom I can rely."

I guess that's enough excitement for one day, what do you think?  Our God is so great!  I am very very thankful for Him showing me His kindness and love in these special little ways today.  And yes, I still got some things done in between all the excitement.  So very thankful indeed.

Good Night dear friends. I pray your days will be filled with the strength of God's mighty love. Amen.

And Happy New Year from Still Waters Pond!