Welcome to my "Open Window"...a place of hope, encouragement, and adventure as we journey down the road from "Closed Doors" to the new opportunities God places in our pathway. I hope you will take the time to go back and follow the trail of mixed blessings and fears, failures and triumphs from the past and side-trips in the present. Perhaps it will conjure up some of your own special memories, and be an invitation for you to share with others. I look forward to spending this time with you!
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!
Showing posts with label "Beyond the Sunset". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "Beyond the Sunset". Show all posts
Happy Monday of Thanksgiving Week! Let's pause for a moment from our "to-do lists" of cleaning house, baking pies, thawing turkeys, general preparations for the Thanksgiving feast and/or company coming or preparing to go somewhere else, and let's just enjoy some time enjoying God's gifts of beauty in His creation around us, okay?
This lovely golden butterfly was busily fluttering her wings as she flitted from flower to flower in the Butterfly Garden this afternoon. Even though this picture is a bit blurred, it's because she was so busy enjoying the sips of nectar from the flowers that she barely could stay still long enough to rest her wings even for a moment. I thought to myself, I know just how you feel, Mrs. Gulf Fritillary! Sometimes my wings are all a flutter too, as I rush from one thing to the next and don't take time to rest my "wings" for even a moment as well.
Oh there! That's better! She's taking her time and drinking in the sweet nectar that will sustain her in her flight around the garden and beyond...
This is exactly why I planted this little butterfly garden...so that we could enjoy seeing these most delicate of God's creatures drinking in the beauty of what He has provided...
The afternoon sunshine is warming her wings as she rests for a moment...
I'm so thankful that I took the time to venture outside with my camera at just this moment, aren't you?
Oh, and look! Mrs. Gulf Fritillary is not the only one enjoying the afternoon sunshine and sweet dessert from the flowers! There's a Cloudless Sulphur butterfly taking a drink from the Cape Honeysuckle flower.
Well, now I'm going to have to change what I was writing. I just got a phone call from the daughter in law of a dear friend of mine that I've known and loved for over 40 years, telling me that my friend passed away this morning. I've had to just stop what I was doing for a little while and let myself grieve over this news.
Evelyn and Me in 2017.
I am posting these links below about my friend Evelyn Ward, so that I can have them all in one place for my own future reference. If you click on each of these different links, you will begin to understand why I am feeling the way I do right now. I am missing my dear friend, but I know she is in heaven, and she's there rejoicing at the feet of Jesus. She's also seeing her dear husband Howard again,
Evelyn and Howard at our son's wedding in 2017
along with other loved ones who have gone on before. I know she hadn't been in good health for the past few years and she was ready to go "home", but Oh, I will miss her beautiful spirit here on earth. I cannot even begin to tell you, but if you read these posts, you will get an idea.
And this video is especially special, because it shows my friend Evelyn playing the organ at our house, (our former home back in 2015) and my mother in law Vivian is there singing along...and you can hear me singing in the background, and at the end of the video another mutual friend of ours joins in. Her name is Connie, and she passed away earlier this year. Well, today those three ladies are all singing together in heaven's choir, I am certain. And if there are organs in heaven, Evelyn has already found one and is playing it. She loved music, and could play the organ, piano, guitar, and she could sing!
Even though Evelyn was actually quite a few years older than me, she never looked it or acted it, and we became very good friends right from the moment we met...we were definitely what you'd call "Kindred Spirits". God sent her to me when I needed such a friend so very much, and thankfully our friendship lasted all these years, even though we didn't see each other more than maybe once a year, but lately it's been a few years because of distance and health issues.
Well, it's bedtime now, and I didn't really get to write about what I was planning for tonight, but God had other plans.
This was last night's sunset on Still Waters Pond
I dedicate this song to my friend Evelyn Ward tonight:
Beyond the Sunset
Sung by Pat Boone
Beyond The Sunset
by Virgil Brock
Beyond the sunset,
O blissful morning,
When with our Saviour
Heav'n is begun.
Earth's toiling ended,
O glorious dawning;
Beyond the sunset
When day is done.
Beyond the sunset,
No clouds will gather,
No storms will threaten,
No fears annoy;
O day of gladness,
O day unending,
Beyond the sunset,
Eternal Joy.
Beyond the sunset,
A hand will guide me
To God, the Father,
Whom I adore;
His glorious presence,
His words of welcome,
Will be my portion
On that fair shore.
Beyond the sunset,
O glad reunion,
With our dear loved ones
Who've gone before;
In that fair homeland
We'll know no parting,
Beyond the sunset
For evermore!
My friend Evelyn loved Jesus and served Him in so many wonderful ways throughout her lifetime. I know she is hearing those "words of welcome" from Matthew 25:23
"His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant;
you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."
I don't know what things she will be "ruler of" in heaven, but I'll bet there's music involved for sure!
Hug your friends and loved ones a little tighter this week at Thanksgiving if you are blessed to be with them. Every day we have is a gift...use it wisely.
Now I wonder if maybe that fluttering winged butterfly was trying to tell me something this afternoon...
2 Corinthians 2:14 NASB
"14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place."
UPDATE: 4/30/2019, My brother Russell passed away into his eternal home early this morning. Rest in peace, Russell Tedlie Mursch, October 6, 1943-April 30, 2019.
Dear Friends,
You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in a little while. I fully intended to, but last week we had a family emergency, and that kind of changed things. Most of you are probably aware that my brother has been battling leukemia for the past year, and Thursday afternoon we received a call that he was being sent home from the hospital (after almost 2 weeks in there with pneumonia, which I was unaware of), and would be going on Hospice care at home. Since I had not seen my brother since last summer, I knew I needed to go as soon as possible.
So my sister came and joined me and my son and we loaded up the car and headed to Georgia (from Florida) early Friday morning. Thankfully, my son was the driver by choice. Our spouses all stayed home to take care of things at home since this was a quick trip without much time to make plans.
We were so thankful to arrive safely Friday evening after a very long arduous trip through Friday rush hour traffic through Atlanta. Anyone who has been there understands what that is like!
I was especially thankful that our other brother stayed and waited for us to arrive so that we four siblings could all be together again one more time. Then he had to head back home to North Carolina that night.
It was a bittersweet time together, but oh, so special, and my brother was so very thankful to have us come all that way. He said he felt kind of guilty that we made that long trip to see him because he was supposed to be so sick, and yet he said he didn't feel quite so bad after all! We assured him that we were quite happy to be there and that we were also glad that he didn't feel so bad, and he certainly shouldn't feel guilty! In spite of a lot of discomfort and pain, he managed to stay positive and genuinely happy that we were all there.
The next day his kids and some of his grandkids also came so we could all be together again.
I know we don't always like to look at pictures of sick people, especially when we may not even know them, but what I wanted to share was the sweetness of this time together. Some of these people above are step-children and step-grandchildren...but they are all there to show love and respect and to help in any way possible. One of the young men above is the boyfriend of my brother's daughter, and he spent the whole day working outside in the yard, digging up poison ivy everywhere it was growing rampantly out of control. He said he wasn't allergic to it and it didn't affect him...so he stayed after it all day long! What a kind and thoughtful thing to do, as it was growing in places where people would need to walk and get in and out of cars, etc., so this was a big deal. The Step-son and daughter in law brought food for everyone, enough to feed all of us for two days and then some...such a blessing! The others helped with lifting, moving, running errands, and even entertaining us all....it was a wonderful time with a beautiful family...some of whom I had never met yet because they are newly added to the family!
If you are on my Facebook, you have already seen most of these pictures. But for those of you who aren't, I wanted to share a few pictures of things in and around my brother's home that I enjoyed seeing:
These next few pictures are of the boat that my brother was building before he got sick. Yes, he literally built the boat from blueprints that he ordered...it is amazing (and actually it isn't the first boat he has built, but I don't have pictures of the others). It is almost finished, but sadly he won't be able to finish it and christen it with a name and sail away in it. We asked him what he would like to name it and he said it wasn't going to be up to him, but to whomever took over finishing it and using it.
(My other brother and my son, looking things over )
This is the Elk head of the huge elk he killed in Idaho many many years ago. I loved to hear him tell the story of how he managed to get that elk head and all the meat down the side of a mountain to get it back home. It was quite a tale!!! And he and his family enjoyed the meat for quite some time.
These are just a few things in his house that he mentioned to me that he either built or liked and had a story to them... This is a bench made from an interesting slab of wood that he found in our father's workshop years ago...
This antique cherry drop leaf table was in our old farm home where I was born, and my mother told my brother that he christened it with his pablum when he was a baby!!
My brother built this beautiful bed:
And he said he found this old antique desk chair somewhere, and it was a mess and ready for the trash heap, but he took it and restored and refinished it and he said he absolutely loved this old chair:
I loved seeing this painting of a duck in his office...because our father painted this for him...
And this painting my father also painted many, many years ago, and it always hung in the living room of our home where I grew up. I was so happy to see it again here in my brother's house. Made me feel close to "home" again.
These lovely bearded irises were growing all around the front of the house...they were so pretty:
And I loved this front porch, where several of us gathered and sat and visited and laughed and enjoyed being together...
When we left his home Saturday evening we knew it would be the last time we would see my brother on this earth. We said our farewells, but only until we gather together in heaven again someday. He mentioned that he could envision our mother and dad waiting for him "out there, somewhere beyond those trees..." (this was the view from his bed in their lovely sunroom)
This beautiful sunset as we drove out of his neighborhood and back to our hotel reminded me of the song: "Beyond the Sunset"
"Beyond the sunset Oh, blissful morning When with our Savior Heaven's begun Earth's toiling ended Oh, glorious dawning Beyond the sunset When day is done (Spoken) Beyond the sunset No clouds will gather No storms will threaten No fears annoy Oh, day of gladness Oh, day unending Beyond the sunset Eternal joy Beyond the sunset Oh, glad reunion With our dear loved ones Who've gone before In that fair homeland We'll know no parting Beyond the sunset Forever more"
The next morning we headed back home. Thankfully we arrived safely after another long day, but without all of the traffic of the previous trip. Not long after I got home, my other brother called to say that he had heard from our brother's wife that Hospice had been there to check on him, and they believe that he is in a rapid decline and probably won't last the week. So, yes, we are very thankful that we went when we did and that our brother was still alert enough to enjoy our visit and communicate some special things with us, and vice versa.
Because of the expectations of these next days and weeks, I will probably not be spending much time blogging. I know many of you have already been praying for our family, and I truly, truly appreciate it. I will let you know as I can when things happen...but I just didn't want you to wonder what happened to me if you don't hear from me for awhile.
God bless you all...and hug your families close. Take care of any "issues" that could possibly be between you while you can. None of us know when our day will come that we are called to our heavenly home...so don't put off til tomorrow what needs to be done now! And most importantly, be sure of your relationship with Christ! There is nothing more important than this!
