What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Tuesday 4~ New Year's Eve

 New Year's Eve

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 and the eve of 2025. (Per Annie, our hostess:)
"Growing up New Years Eve was one of my favorite times of the year. Everyone would come to our home for snacks and drinks before heading out to parties. And I do mean nearly everyone we knew.
All dressed up in formal clothing they would join in the fun.
My father would play ragtime on the piano, our German friends played German music and everyone would dance to it.
My mother made hors d'oeuvres on tiny bread rounds and crackers... bayberry candles burned down for luck. Guy Lombardo was on the TV in the background."


1.What memories of New Years Eve do you have?
To be honest, I don't really have too many special memories of New Year's Eve.  We may have had some church "Watch Night" parties in the past, where we had a fun time at the church with snacks and games and ringing in the New Year together with prayer at midnight for the New Year.  But that has been a long time ago.   You mentioned Guy Lombardo. I remember my parents watching him on TV too. But I just can't remember doing anything very special very often.  When you have little children and not much money, you tend to just stay home! And being in the ministry did not lend itself to going "out on the town".  LOL.
2. Do you go to bed early or stay up until midnight to ring in the new year?
We usually are in bed at our normal hour, but we may wake up at midnight and say Happy New Year, especially if there are fireworks going off all around us!
3. Do you have special foods or customs for the New Year?
In the south, where we live, the custom is to eat black eyed peas on New Year's Day. The real southerners eat them with hog jowl. We might have them with ham, or a dish called "Hoppin' John".
Sometimes our families get together for New Years and we have this special dinner all together. This year we will be meeting with our extended family on Friday at a restaurant in a half-way point for all of us, and we will celebrate New Years, Christmas and Rose's birthday!  Pray that we are all feeling 100%. So far hubby and I are fine, but with the kids both having had this virus thing, we are being very cautious.
4. Will football and New Year parades be on your agenda for New Years Day?
Football, yes, for hubby.  He will probably be watching football all day long.  Maybe I can catch a little bit of the Rose Bowl Parade.  We don't have any special plans for the day since Rose has to work and also since we are all going to get together on Friday. So it will probably be a quiet day, unless something develops between now and then to change that!  (something good, I hope! LOL). 

Here's some thoughts to ponder as we head into the New Year, and as we entrust another year to God, to guide, protect and care for us as we face uncertain times in our world 

Proverbs 2:1-9
1 My son (daughter!), if you receive my words,
And treasure my commands within you,
2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
And apply your heart to understanding;
3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment,
And lift up your voice for understanding,
4 If you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord,
And find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
8 He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints.
9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice,
Equity and every good path.

Amen!

Happy New Year!


Here's where I'll be for New Year's Eve...





Sitting right here snuggled up by our cozy fireplace "Beside Still Waters Pond".  


Monday, December 30, 2024

The 6th Day of Christmas...


"On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
Six geese a-laying, 
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree."

Ha Ha! I should've used that verse with my last post HERE, where I showed you all the birds on Still Waters Pond!

Today I don't have any new birds to show you beyond what I already shared.  So we will have to move on to something else just as interesting!

How about this for a "Partridge in a pear tree"?   LOL.  Well, maybe the Golden Arches in an Oak tree? I thought that made an interesting picture from our walk one day last week:


And this grand old oak tree has some interesting creatures "growing" upon its trunk.  You can't see them from here, because the Spanish Moss is covering them up quite well, but let's take a closer look and see what we can see:

Do you ever see "monsters" or faces in the trees around you?  Well, this tree had several interesting "faces" to share. Maybe there's a good reason they hide behind the Spanish moss!
Hello there!

I will leave it up to you to see what you can see in these "faces" in the burls of wood on this old tree trunk.  This one is certainly grinning at something...do you see the teeth?


"A burl (American English) or burr (British English) is a tree growth in which the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small knots from dormant buds. Burl formation is typically a result of some form of stress such as an injury or a viral or fungal infection.

Burls yield a very peculiar and highly figured wood sought after in woodworking, and some items may reach high prices on the wood market. Poaching of burl specimens and damaging the trees in the process poses a problem in some areas."  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burl


 A little different angle of the same burl as above:
That poor tree must have had some difficulties in its life, and these burled faces are trying to tell us about it! Although I think I see that one laughing!

Nearby was the ruins of another old oak tree that had finally given up its poor diseased branches in our most recent hurricane.  They are still laying on the ground in this walking area of town, waiting for someone to come and take them away.  I think they are fascinating, and I'm glad I was able to take pictures of them before they were removed or totally disintegrate!

Looks like there was quite a battle here on this battlefield, and these are the remains of many fallen soldiers and perhaps some petrified animals...

I wonder what you see in these "faces" and figures?  I found them quite unique and interesting, however a bit grotesque.  Nature has many faces, some beautiful and lovely, and some showing the marks of disease and devastation. It's all a part of life, even among our own humanity.  
Some of us may show the marks of disease and devastation, while others bear the marks of a peaceful beauty because we know we fought hard and did our best and we are at peace in knowing that God is with us...our poor old bodies may eventually lay in ruins and decay, but our souls remain alive and well and happy with Jesus! That is the hope we have in Christ.  

Here are some words from the Bible that give us this hope and promise...

Job 19:25-27  NKJV
"25 For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!"

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 NKJV says this:

"50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; 
nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— 
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

I find these words comforting as we approach a New Year, filled with hope and yet some concerns about the future.  But our trust and faith are in the Lord, who "gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ..."   Amen.

Moving on now to another very pleasant story...Today is our sweet dil Rose's 50th birthday!  And yes, praise God, she is feeling much better and we were able to celebrate her birthday here yesterday afternoon after church.  

Here are the pictures to show you what a great time we all had. Our son Scott did as he promised and brought some delicious ribeye steaks and grilled them for us.  I prepared the baked potatoes, broccoli, tossed salad, and jello with fruit...and Hawaiian Rolls.  Oh, and the birthday cake! Vanilla cake with a vanilla buttercream cheese frosting ( frosting homemade by me! Rose's recipe that she taught me.  Betty Crocker cake baked by me.)

Here's the dinner table before we gathered...the tablecloth has roses on it, as do the napkins, and the centerpiece has little white roses (silk of course).  This was a refreshing change from the Christmas decor of the past several weeks, and Rose appreciated it as well.  Oh, and we used my good wedding china!  My mother always used her good china and crystal for our birthday dinners. She wanted us to feel extra special for our special day. And so I wanted Rose to feel that same way, because she is very special to us in every way.

It doesn't look quite as elegant with all the food,  but everyone was happy and thankful...

Happy Family...

Happy Me! (with hubby, of course!)

After the dishes were washed (by Scott and me...Rose was not allowed in the kitchen to do dishes!), then we prepared things for her birthday party.

She was a good sport with all those extra candles!   You're only 50 once!









She did get them all!  Might have taken more than one breath, however! LOL.

And even though I could've used fancy dishes for serving the cake and ice cream, Rose wanted me to use these Christmas paper plates and napkins, because she loves that little red truck design and the deer and the red barn, so that is what we used!

Next came the opening of gifts...


Sometimes little things come in big bags, and little things come in little bags too,

And sometimes BIG things come in small envelopes, which was the case today...but we won't say exactly what, but it was enough to make Rose smile!  I know most of us ladies like to do our own shopping for clothes, and Rose is no exception, so some cold hard cash for whatever she needs most was the best gift we could give her. She will have fun shopping for some things she wants/needs.

And these pretty coasters were something that I knew she'd love...they have roses and butterflies on them, along with some wonderful verses.  She was very pleased. 

After the party was over and the kids all left for their homes, I noticed there was a lovely sunset developing out over Still Waters Pond, so out I went with my trusty cell phone/camera to capture the beauty at the end of a perfect day.  Oh, I forgot to mention, that yes, Hubby and I did go to church at that little country church in Florahome in the morning, where hubby was the guest speaker while their pastor took a little time off for the holidays.  Our son Benton also showed up, but Rose stayed home and rested after having to work the night before until after 10:00 p.m., her first time back at work after being so sick. Thankfully she felt so much better for her birthday dinner/party.  Sadly, Benton later called us in the evening to tell us that now he was having some similar gastro issues. Uh Oh, we are praying that it stops there and doesn't travel over here...we've been on alert today.  He's feeling some better tonight, but said he had a very rough night and morning.  Also, Rose found out that at least 10 other people at her place of work were sick with the same thing that she had! So that explains the origin of that!

Anyway, back to the sunset last night...It started out light and golden...





And then as I watched, it changed into a beautiful deep orange sky...







And  these were the final moments before it was swallowed up by the grey clouds above...





As I stood there in awe, I remembered the first song we sang at church in the morning,
"How Great Thou Art".
We can sing along with Carrie Underwood.


Oh Lord, my God
When I, in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration
And then proclaim, my God, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Stuart Keene Hine

And with that, I will close for this night.  Praise God for His beauties in His creation, even the things that aren't so beautiful and yet are unique and amazing.  Praise Him for all His goodness and kindness and love and mercy shown to us!  We have a lot to be thankful for as we approach this New Year!  I want to start the New Year off right by giving praise to God in all things.  Amen.


P.S.  I still don't know my new "One Word" for 2025, but I know God will reveal it to me on time...so stay tuned for further developments.

Good Night!!





















Saturday, December 28, 2024

4th Day of Christmas on Still Waters Pond

 It's been a while since I shared any pictures from Still Waters Pond with you.  I've been so caught up with Christmas and all that is involved with that, and you'd think that there was nothing else going on around us. But oh no!  All of God's creation is still very much alive and active here in our neck of the woods, or pond.  So how about we switch gears for a little while and see who has been visiting our pond and/or yard lately, okay?  Some of these pictures may be a couple of weeks old. I've been saving them up, so bear with me and enjoy the view!

I'll start with our latest feline visitor to our yard.  I call him/her?? Pretty Kitty.  He loves to lay in our butterfly garden and watch the birds all around him. I don't want him trying to catch/kill our birds, but cats will be cats, and this may be his only way of survival. I don't know who he belongs to, but he looks healthy.  He just enjoys exercising his predatorial instincts.  I haven't actually ever seen him catch anything, but he sure tries.  If I go out to talk to him he runs into the woods, so I can't get close. 





This evening he was actually bold enough to sit up on our back porch railing!
That is, until he saw me looking at him through the glass doors...
So he moved over to get further away from me, but still kept checking to see where I was...

I took this picture through my room with a view window. It's not quite as clear because this window has some sun film on it so it's not so bright in my eyes.  I don't like it, but if I take it off the glare is too much and I don't want to have to close the blinds, or I might miss something, like "Pretty Kitty"!
Shortly after this picture he took off to go do some hunting elsewhere.  

One day we had just come home from the store, and as I stepped out of the car I could hear the loud raucous call of the Pileated Woodpecker up in the trees. I had to run in the house and get my "real camera" with the zoom lens so I could try to find him.  By the time I came outside I could hear him farther away in the trees over behind the new house next door. Thankfully no one lives there yet, so I ran over there and started searching the treetops for this huge prehistoric looking woodpecker!
Sure enough, there he was, pecking away in the treetops.  Actually, there were two of them, as I saw them following each other from tree to tree! Here are a few of the better pictures I managed to get.


It's always a treat to see these beautiful creatures!  I'm so glad they stayed around long enough for me to get a few pictures!


Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird have been popping in and out, checking out the birdhouse to make sure no one else is squatting in there!  They probably won't be ready to move back in until early spring, but they do like to keep "abreast" of the situation!


Isn't he beautiful?
Mrs. Bluebird lets Mr. Bluebird do all the major inspections.
She's sitting in the tree, while he's on top of the house checking out the roof, like any good husband should!
It will be fun to have them back building their nests again!

The Sand Hill Crane family fly in and out periodically, checking around for any birdseed or other tasty treats...

Pretty Kitty is sitting there on the shore, watching the Canada Geese in the water.  Do you see the goose?
Honk Honk!  The geese know to stay out of reach of Pretty Kitty. 
When the kitty started to stalk them, crawling toward the water, the geese swam far out into the pond out of reach.

And Yay! Our black and white Ring Necked Ducks are back!  They have been coming back each winter to Still Waters Pond, and they are so much fun to watch. They are diving ducks, and it often looks like they are playing Marco Polo, bobbing up and down as they dive under looking for food and pop back up again.  I LOVE that they come back here each year!
So far I'm only seeing four of them, but that could change.

They prefer the smoother waters in the back part of the pond where there aren't as many lily pads to impede their swimming.  Can't say as I blame them.  Don't we all prefer to take the easier way when we can?

That's about all of the excitement on the pond for now, but things usually ramp up after the holidays, when the geese and the cranes start thinking about building nests and claiming their territories. So stay tuned.  Things could get more interesting.

Now I am thinking about the fact that it is almost the end of 2024, and it's time to consider what my "One Word" for 2025 will be.  I honestly don't have a clue at this moment. Strength was my word for 2024, and one thing I learned is this:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10  NKJV

"9 And He (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

I translate that to say that in my own strength, I am nothing. It is only through God's strength that I am able to do anything.  My body is weak at best, but when I need strength to do whatever it is that God is asking me to do, He gives me His strength to carry on. It would be wonderful to have the physical stamina of a marathon runner, or the strength of a power weight lifter.
 
Habakkuk 3:18-19 NKJV
"18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills."


Psalm 3:2-4 NJKV
2 Many are they who say of me,
“There is no help for him in God.” Selah
3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me,
My glory and the One who lifts up my head.
4 I cried to the Lord with my voice,
And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah

It is God who gives me my strength and stamina. He is the One who lifts up my weary head and provides a shield around me for protection from my enemies. He gives me the ability to keep moving forward when my weary body would like to just lay down and give up. Although sometimes that is exactly what we have to do to restore our strength.

Psalm 23:1-3a
23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;

And that brings me back home...here at Still Waters Pond..."beside the still waters", where He restores my soul...and body I might add.  That's the journey I've been on...letting go and letting God be the One who restores and builds my strength, and helps me to understand that it's His strength all the while...not my own. When I rely on Him and His strength, then His strength is made perfect in my weakness...and then I am strong!  

I still don't have a clue about what the new "One Word" is going to be, but I have a feeling it will be a good one.  So stay tuned and maybe you'll discover it about the same time as I do! Meanwhile, do YOU choose a word for each year? I'm wondering how you go about it.  For me it is a process of listening to God's voice as He whispers in my ear the things He wants me to learn in the days ahead...and that's how He directs me toward the word for the year.  I usually try to announce it on or around January 1, so we shall see what develops in these next few days.

Meanwhile, gotta go. Tomorrow will be a busy day. Hubby is preaching in Florahome (but he teaches our adult Sunday School class here at our church first, and since their service doesn't start quite as early as ours, we have time to drive up there after Sunday School and be there in plenty of time for their church service.)   Then after church we are coming back home and our son Scott is bringing steaks to grill for lunch, to celebrate Rose's 50th birthday and also a kind of Christmas gift as well.  So it will be a nice afternoon. I pray Rose is feeling good enough to eat a steak after being sick for a few days.  If not, she can save it for later, but I have a feeling she'll be hungry and ready for it.

Good night friends. I hope your weekend and Sunday are filled with joy and blessings too.