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.