Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

This past Tuesday we had severe thunderstorm warnings followed by a tornado watch followed by a tornado warning, which means a tornado could be imminent and take shelter.  We live in a manufactured home, which is another issue when there is any kind of major storm alert. We discussed whether or not to leave our home and go to our son's home about a mile away, which is a concrete block home and therefore should be safer in such a storm. But actually leaving in a vehicle can be just as dangerous as staying put, so we opted to stay put and were ready to run to our closet if things looked like they were headed in our direction. We also prayed and asked God to watch over our home and us and our community and family and friends.

While watching the storm rolling in I decided to take pictures of the changes in the atmosphere on our Still Waters Pond.  As you can see below, the Sand Hill Crane family decided to hunker down on our shoreline of the pond.

Some of these pictures were taken on my "good camera" (above), and others on my cell phone, (below), so that is the difference in quality, Because it was getting so dark (it was about 3:30 p.m.), the lighting for pictures was not very good, so that also affected the quality of the photos, but you will get the "picture" of what was happening I am sure...

The Crane family stood perfectly still while they waited for the storm to approach from the west.

Once the rains started they still stood there, braced against the strong winds that were howling across the pond.

It was almost a "white-out" of rain and wind, moving across the waters and definitely changing the waters from "Still Waters Pond" to "Swift Waters Pond." 

Our strong family still stood firm against the winds and rain...

It was hard to see across the pond for certain.

At this point the wind was blowing so hard it was pelting the rain against our glass doors under the shelter of our back porch.   This was at the height of the storm, and then soon after it receded back to a more normal rain and lower winds...as the storm blew its way eastward and up the coast of the state and country.

 And once again peace was restored on Still Waters Pond...

And the Sand Hill Crane family lifted up their wings and flew away once they knew the danger was past. But they were too quick for me to get a picture of that! 

And we give thanks to the Lord for seeing us safely through what could have been a very bad situation, but He covered us with His wings and sheltered us in the height of the storm and all is well once again.

Psalm 46: 1-3, 10

1 "God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah

10 Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!"

So now, what have we been doing since the big storm? Thankfully, by that evening the rains were gone and I was able to drive to choir practice at our church! We were all thankful to see each other there and again gave thanks that no harm had come to anyone in our midst.  I know others in our state, up on the panhandle area, were not as fortunate, and many others in the country are dealing with records snows and flooding and winds. It's been a strange winter so far. I hope you and yours are all safe and warm and being taken care of.  

I have been slowly but surely taking down all the Christmas decorations. I am taking my time because it is just too much to try and do all at once.  And there's no rush. As far as I know I don't have any company coming!  We are going to finally get together with my sister and her hubby and my hubby's brother and his family this Saturday at a restaurant about an hour south of us, so we can celebrate Christmas together! We don't really expect to exchange a lot of gifts or anything like that, but just want to be together and give each other hugs and enjoy one another's company. We've all come through difficult things this past year, and we are thankful that we can still come together as a family and be happy.  So I am looking forward to that. 

While taking down the ornaments on the Christmas tree, I was looking at some of them that I don't believe I've ever shared with you before. They are kind of fun and different, and were each one gifts to me from an old friend with whom we've exchanged such kinds of "silly stuff" for years, except for lately because we don't seem to be able to see each other anymore due to distance and "life".  But here are the ornaments that I think you will enjoy. They are very typically a Floridian thing:

Yes, these are all Pink Flamingoes, in various costumes...

Don't you agree these are fun and unique and very Floridian? I reserve a special place on the back side of my tree each year for these lovely "birds", where they have a birds eye view of Still Waters Pond.

I thought they'd go nicely with the previous pictures of the Sand Hill Crane family, who must be some kind of distant cousins. LOL.

Well, friends, I do hope and pray that you and yours are safe and sound and keeping warm. And that no matter what life throws in your path, you will be able to stand strong in the face of adversity like our Sand Hill Cranes were doing in the face of that storm.

Good Night and God bless you each and every one!