Happy Thursday...and it's Halloween! So hard to believe the last day of October is here already! It's been a very busy month, and I am thankful that we made it through without any major incidents...taking a long trip with many hours on the road...surviving two major hurricanes (one was in the end of September, but still close enough to be October), and then catching a cold but today I feel SO much better...and hubby is starting to feel better too, although I think he still needs to take it easy for another day or so...but still...we are very very thankful for God's protection and care of us throughout this past month...
So today I want to "Give Thanks" with a grateful heart for all of God's wonderful blessings and protection and grace...
It was wonderful to come home to our own "Still Waters Pond", and find that the pond was still alive and well with our resident water birds...
Mr. Great Blue Heron stopped by to say welcome home...
And then he went on about his business of catching fish for dinner...can you see him in the camouflage below?
And Mrs. Great White Egret has been stopping by on a regular basis as well...they seem to like the same fishing spots as the Great Blue Herons, but they seldom ever come at the same time...
After a few more warnings from Mr. Crane...
He picked up his mighty wings and flew over to his mate, and actually, The Great White Egret flew away at the same time, but I couldn't get it in the same picture.
A little later I saw the whole Crane family fly in across the street together, and they were on about their duties for the day...
Meanwhile, Mrs. Cardinal was busily getting her breakfast from the bird feeder in our yard...
Yes, it's good to be home again! It's wonderful to see that all is well here in God's beautiful wild kingdom along the shores of Still Waters Pond!
Meanwhile, inside, I realized that today is Halloween, and I haven't really done much about decorating or preparing for it. So I got busy this morning and put out a few more decorations...oh, and I did buy some candy at the Dollar General up the street a day ago so I will have something ready for the trick or treaters. We still get quite a few here on our street, and even though I haven't been feeling all that great this week, I just couldn't bear the thought of not being able to greet the sweet little children when they come...so I am getting ready little by little today.
I put out Mr. Scarecrow...
This will have to be my "jack-o-lantern" for the yard, as I didn't even buy a real pumpkin this year!
However, this little ceramic jack-0-lantern will join me on the front porch tonight.
The "pumpkin patch" little church is lit up and ready...
Thankfully when we were up in the mountains, my SIL Peggy and BIL Billy went to a pumpkin patch and brought us back these little pumpkins and Indian corn. So I have some fresh items to decorate with.
Oh, Lily Grace and friends are ready for the trick or treaters! Lily hasn't figured out her "costume" for tonight yet...hopefully we will come up with something special before then...
So now I just need to prepare the little bags of candy for the trick or treaters:
And this year I decided to do something different. I have these "Prayer Cards", which are actually cards with a scripture verse printed on them, and I am going to include one in each little ziploc bag of candy. I wanted to get some smaller business card sized cards with a verse, but I didn't get around to it, and I already have these, so these will work as well. I think I have 60 cards, so that will probably be enough. My thought is that this is an opportunity to share the love of Christ with our community, with those who are coming right to my door! I actually found these at the Dollar Tree some time ago, and they are called "prayer cards", even though they aren't really a prayer, but the Word of God, and my prayer is that God will use this to bless the children who receive them, as well as their parents.
Many people see Halloween as something totally dark and evil, but my feeling is why not take advantage of this opportunity to spread the LIGHT of God's Word in the darkness? I am thankful that there are churches in our community who are also using this opportunity to be a positive witness for Christ, as they have a "Trunk or Treat" event at their churches and have a fun time, but they also share the love of Christ with those who come. I believe that we as Christians need to take advantage of every opportunity to be His ambassadors of His love and grace. There's already too many negative influences out there vying for our children's hearts and souls...Let's be the LIGHT!
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 5:14-16
So let us light our lamps and shine brightly for the world to see!!
Have a blessed and safe and Happy Halloween!
I wish my mother could see your home and/or this blog post. she died before blogging began. the table and its center piece would be the focus of her attention. its beautiful and just how she would do it if she could and all your beautiful treasures, she would adore. the teapot and the round lamp, also. she was much like you, a pastors wife, kind and gentle and and loved God. those cards would have jumped into her hand and she never got to see a dollar general or a dollar tree. she and I were night and day, I am out of the same pod as my daddy. I would love to have your view of the pond and its residents, except of course NO gators allowed. ha ha
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have met both of your parents. I can imagine they each had their own special qualities that helped to create you into the very interesting and talented woman that you are today. And I would love for you to come sit by my pond. We do NOT have any gators here!! (at least none that I've ever seen! LOL). This pond is really too shallow for gators to enjoy. At least that's what I keep telling myself when I hear a bullfrog croaking and wonder if it could be a gator? LOL.
DeleteYour water birds are so beautiful to look at in your photos and I’m sure much better to watch in person.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that Halloween can be a great opportunity - after all that is what many of our Christian holidays were at first - pagan and the church saw the opportunity. I know Jesus wasn’t born in Dec 25 but I can still honor his birth as we should do on every single day of the year. However, for me who once thought of myself as a witch - did the seances, was always trying to communicate with the spirit world, after coming to Christ it was confusing and still is. I’ve never cared for Halloween since becoming a Christian 40 years ago. Sure I tried the prayer cards, and other Christian paraphernalia and it hurt the next morning to find all of that stuff littered on the ground. You wouldn’t invite someone who struggles with alcoholism to your party and serve alcohol and for me as someone who was caught up in the darkness, that is how Halloween is to me. If I wasn’t so sure of my steadfast faith, it could be a stumbling block. My concern are with those who struggle with this and then coming to Jesus. I know 2 old friends who also were with me back then, accepted Christ and eventually went back due the confusing message or silence from the church.
My Halloween opportunity would be to one day share my story of what I experienced - its effect on my young children and that struggle with good and evil when I finally made that choice “ to put off my old self, which belonged to that former life which was corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, to glady put on my new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph.22-24.
Thank you, Debby, for sharing your story with us. I was not aware of the struggles you had faced and the history that you endured. But how wonderful that the Light of Christ has overcome the darkness in your life, and has given you new life free from those things that bound you. We each have our own stories of what was once darkness for us and how Christ has redeemed us to be His very own. And yes, we need to be sensitive to those things that may be stumbling blocks for others and respect the journey that each one is on. I have not experienced the negative aspects of "Halloween" that you have. Where I grew up and in the culture and norms of our communities, Halloween was a fun time for families to go out and wear fun costumes and go trick or treating in our neighborhoods. It was something that the children looked forward to and it was always a fun time. Oftentimes in our churches we would have a fall party instead of a Halloween Party, and play games and the kids could still wear non- scary types of costumes. It was never considered an evil thing, but a fun time with friends and family. I do realize that there is that dark side, where Satan has taken advantage of this opportunity to try to draw people away to himself. But that is happening in many more places than on Halloween...as I am sure you are aware. Evil lurks in so many corners of our world and that is why it is so important that we be the Light of Christ, sharing His love to people everywhere, so that especially the little children will see something beautiful in our lives that they want to know more about. If we shut the door in their faces and not show them that LIGHT of Christ, they may never have another opportunity to see it. It's a decision that each person must make for themselves, and we should not judge one another for each other's viewpoint, but each do our own part to share the love of Christ in whatever way is reasonable and acceptable for us to do. I've learned by living in different parts of the country that what is acceptable in one may be totally taboo in another. And we must learn to respect one another in that what I may feel free to do, others may not and so I should not expect them to see things the way I do, and vice versa. We learn to live in love and respect one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, realizing that we may not always agree on every thing, but Christ is greater than all of our thoughts and expectations...and hopefully we can always agree on the truth that it is in Christ alone that we have life and salvation. Without Him, all our efforts would be in vain. Thank you for sharing your story. I would love to hear the rest when you are ready to share it.
DeletePam, I just love your cozy home and all the warm colors and decorations. It makes me want to sit there and have a cup of tea and just chat.
ReplyDeleteLove your Still Water Pond and all the creatures that visit it. Wonderful photos.
Glad you are feeling better and pray your Hubby will continue to heal too.
I love your feeling about being the Light. That's going to be my emphasis tonight as I smile and chat with each kiddo that comes to our door.
Sue
THank you Sue...How I wish you could come and have a cup of tea and visit. I would LOVE that! Oh, I do hope you have lots of little ones at your door tonight. I can imagine your smiling face will be a blessing to them! (((hugs)))
DeleteGlad to hear that you are both feeling better. The photos from Still Waters Pond are so pretty. Your Halloween/Fall decorations are really cute.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debby. I am much better. Hubby ended up going to the Dr. today because he was getting bronchitis. Now he has lots of meds to knock it out and knock him out tonight so he can sleep! LOL.
DeleteHi Pamela! I love your Halloween/Fall Decor and I think including the prayer cards in little bags of candy is a wonderful idea! So sorry to hear that you are feeling under the weather. I hope you feel much better soon. I enjoyed my visit here today, as always. See you again soon!
ReplyDeleteHello Deb! Thank you for your kind words. The halloween bags with the cards are all gone...every last one. Now I pray for those who received them...the children probably won't know what they are, but I pray for the parents that the messages will speak to their hearts in some good way. It's like planting seeds of hope and faith and love. Now the rest is up to God. I'm still trying to get around to visiting everyone since we were gone. I hope you are doing well. I'm sure school is keeping you busy! Thanks for visiting!
DeleteMr. Sand Hill Crane really does look angry. Interloper!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're feeling better and looking forward to greeting all the little beggars who come your way. That idea of including the prayer cards is so wonderful. Let the light in!
Thank you, Myra. All the bags with the prayer cards are gone now, and so it is up to God as to what He will do with them. The children probably won't know what they are, but I pray the parents will see them and be blessed in a positive way. We had a good turnout of kids...more older ones than really little this year. So maybe they will read them afterall...it's in HIS hands. Hope you are doing well. I am still way behind in reading.
DeleteAll those birds are so majestic.
ReplyDeleteI like your decorations, especially that church.
And I love your idea of spreading light.
I am so glad that you are both feeling better today! Pam, those prayer cards for the trick-or-treaters are such a great idea!! I hope you were able to give out all 60!! I think the birds were all thrilled to have you back on Still Waters Pond!! Great photos, as always! Happy weekend!! Take care!! xo
ReplyDeleteWelcome home and Happy Hallow's Eve. We had our usual 10 or 12 trick-or-treaters, so now we also have York Mints left over. I guess we'll have to eat them...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you're both feeling better and able to enjoy your home and it's myriad of creatures that call Still Waters Pond home. We don't have any trick or treaters here in the condo, but Mandy sent a couple of photos of their neighborhood and it's like Grand Central Station there. She usually has over 300 kids! Piper went out with her Dad and came home with a pumpkin full of candy. I did ask her to save a Reeses for me! :-) My favorite.
ReplyDeleteLove all of your sweet decor, especially the pumpkin patch.
Blessings and hugs,
Betsy
I absolutely love the idea of prayer cards, Pamela, and will have to look for some myself here at our local Dollar Tree. Your photos of the birds who frequent Still Waters Pond are wonderful, and always remind me of how diverse and unique God has made all of His creation. Hope you had a great Halloween! Blessings!
ReplyDeletePam: Your post is very special. I spent the afternoon yesterday reading a book and then going to the doctor. It rained here most of the day. My wait to see the doctor was almost an hour beyond my appointment time. Had I been in the mood for trick or treat or trunk or treat. The time I spent in the doctor's office would have changed all that. Peace and blessings to you and yours.
ReplyDelete