Thursday Thankfulness! Praise God!

I woke this morning with this song on my mind:

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise His holy Name

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise His lovely Name

I just came to praise the Lord

He came into my life

One very special day

He came into my heart

To show me a better way

He said He'd never depart

This is why I say

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to thank the Lord

I just came to thank the Lord

I just came to praise His holy Name

I just came to thank the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

(I just came, just came to praise the Lord)

I just came to praise the Lord

(Praise His name)

I just came to praise His Name

(Lovely name)

I just came to praise the Lord

We woke up around 4 a.m. to the sounds of "silence", for which we were very thankful indeed.  The winds had died down and the rain had virtually stopped. The "eye" of the storm had already passed over with all of its fury, and things were calming down in our neck of the woods.

When we first went to bed last night around 10:00, the power flickered on and off a few times, but then thankfully stayed ON!  We kept hearing things beating against the side of our house on our bedroom wall (below), and in the dark we couldn't tell if this oak tree was bent over that far and hitting the house or what was going on.

We just prayed that God would control the winds and the tree and keep it from doing us any harm, and praise God! When we woke up this morning the tree was still intact, and there was no sign of any damage on our house at all.  But it is amazing how far a tree can bend in the wind to reach our house!

So, at first light we looked out and saw this pine tree leaning against the other two down by the pond:

But here's what really happened:

Obviously it was already damaged and dying, so it was no surprise that it broke off at that spot.  I see little faces in there, don't you?

LOL.  They are happy to be set free from the tree! LOL.

We will have to cut this up and remove it, but not today. It can wait a day or two until we have some helpers with a chain saw.

As I looked around the yard further, I found these little "knock out rose-rosebuds".  

And the bottlebrush bush is blooming! That's unusual for October!

And look at those holly berries!

Still Waters Pond didn't really come up that much, considering we had 4.5" of rain in 24 hours!

This was our "celebratory breakfast" this morning... praising God we had power, and we didn't have much of any kind of damage, and we are alive and well!  So far I've heard from most of our family members and friends and they are all doing fine as well, and we are all VERY THANKFUL!

Oh, and our big old oak trees in front of the house are still standing big and tall, and only lost a few little tiny branches like last time.   Another big answer to prayer!

So, "I just came to praise the Lord..."

Isaiah 61:3  King James Version

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

 Praying still for our friend Sandra, "Mad Snapper" down in Bradenton, who said she is okay, but without power, and another friend who comments from that area, Brenda, who is also okay, but not sure yet what damage may be where she lives as she had evacuated with her son.  So keep them in your prayers please.   

Thank you again for your prayers for us.  We are SO thankful for you and for God's answers to prayer.