Friday Foto Friends...Making a Mountain out of a Molehill!

Happy Friday everyone!  I have a different kind of story to share in pictures today...if you are extremely squeamish about nature, then you may want to skip over this...but I promise you it has a happy ending.

Yesterday afternoon I noticed Blackie down near the shoreline of Still Waters Pond, looking intently at something on the ground.  So focused was he on his prey that he never even noticed me quietly sneaking up for a closer look, and this is what I saw:

Yes, that is a mole!  Click HERE for a good description from the National Wildlife Federation.

 I guess I just discovered that Blackie is a fierce warrior and a good hunter! At least, that's how it appears right now...but keep reading...

Blackie had a pretty good grip on this wiggly furry creature in his jaws, but I could see that it was a challenge to hold on to the mole who was not giving up without a good fight...

Blackie kept moving to higher ground and looking for a good place to sit down and hopefully enjoy what he had captured...

Sunshine came over to see what all the commotion was about...

But apparently he wasn't interested enough to try and make Blackie share his bounty...so he just walked away...

Blackie continued his trek across the lawn, looking for a good spot to sit...

But alas! Somehow he lost his grip on the mole and the mole escaped and moved away so rapidly that Blackie hardly knew what had happened...

He tried to stalk him again, but, where did he go???

Amazingly, Mr. Mole managed not only to escape the jaws of certain death, but he managed to dig his way back down in the ground so rapidly that there was nothing Blackie could do but sit and watch the earth moving and his treasure disappearing farther and farther down into the ground!!

So Blackie decided to just lay down and watch and wait and guard the gate to the tunnel in case the little mole tried to come back up for "air".  I don't think Mr. Mole was that dumb, and his tunneling probably already had him quite far away and in a place where Blackie could not reach him again...

Sunshine was laying nearby and looked up as if to say, "I could've told him so! I've been there and done that, and already knew who would win that fight."

Click HERE for more information about moles.

In thinking about the term, "making a mountain out of a molehill"... I couldn't help but think about all the times that we humans tend to get all worked up over things that probably really aren't all that important in the grand scheme of life.  We think that "our way is the only way, or the best way"...and we just can't let go of our own self importance in order to allow others who may disagree with us any grace. We try to build up our "mountain" from a little molehill by enlisting the opinions of others who agree with us and making our case bigger and bigger so that anyone who dares to contend with us will be put to shame by our greatness.  

Proverbs 10:12 NKJV

12 Hatred stirs up strife,

But love covers all sins.

Sadly, all too often in creating this big mountain we only stir up strife and people begin to take sides and in defending their own point, people who once may have valued and cared for one another deteriorate into people who barely tolerate each other, if at all.  Families and friendships are hurt and destroyed, and nothing of any great value can ever come out of such disagreement.  

Yes, I do understand that there some points in life that we should never waver upon, but I like the old saying, "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater".    In other words, don't get so caught up in your personal stance that you neglect to preserve and protect relationships that are much more valuable and vulnerable.  Is being "right" really more important than family and dear friends?  

I do know that there are some relationships that are toxic and probably need to be severed, but that's not really what I'm talking about here.  And I don't want to "make a mountain out of a molehill" by trying to explore this subject too much here...but seeing that mole and his determination to survive got me thinking about these things today. 

Here's what Isaiah the Prophet had to say about mountains...

3 

Isaiah 40:3-5 NKJV

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

On that day, all of our grandiose ideas and thoughts and self-importance will be 'brought low"...and "the Glory of the LORD  will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."... On that day, there's only one thing that really matters...where do I stand with God?  Have I repented of my own self-righteousness and accepted God's free offer of salvation found only in His Son, Jesus Christ?

John 14:6  NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Ephesians 2:8-9  NKJV

8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; 

it is the gift of God, 

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."

This is the only mountain I will stand on and not waver...my salvation comes only through my faith in Jesus Christ...and it is His free gift to me and anyone who will believe...and none of my self-important ideas or works have anything to do with it.  Without Christ, I am nothing...I am lower than a mole in the dirt.  My big mountains and grand ideas will NOT get me into heaven...Only Jesus...and that is the only truth that will set us all free from our bondage to grand ideas and big mountains and worthless schemes.  

I hope you are all standing with me on this mountain!  

Tuesday Blessings

 Since there is no Tuesday 4 today I thought I would get caught up with pictures and things happening around here since the last time I wrote!  

Little by little we are getting things prepared at our house for Easter...

Lily Grace and her dog Bailey are dressed for Easter and excited about how special this week really is.

Lily was especially excited when she found out that these beautiful flowers are called "Easter Lilies"!!

She said, "I'm also an Easter Lily, because I'm all dressed up in my Easter dress and my name is Lily!"

Yes, I guess that's true, Lily! And your name, "Lily Grace", is also all about Easter, because Easter is really all about the Grace of God...His "unmerited favor" towards us...we do not deserve God's grace and salvation...it is a free gift to any who will believe!

Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, 

it is the gift of God— 

9 not by works, so that no one can boast."

So yes, Lily Grace, you are a true "Easter Lily"!

So moving along to other things happening so far this week...last night our "kids" came over and brought pizzas for supper!  We had a good time "doctoring  up" a couple of good frozen supreme pizzas and baking them here. We've decided we like that better than ordering from Dominos.  And of course they brought our sweet grandpuppies Sugar and Spice along.

Since we've had to feed the kitties on the front porch now, the kids had to come in through the back door and not let the puppies see the kitties on the front porch. However, it didn't take long for them to discover them out there through the front window:

Talk about squealing, noisiy, excited puppies! Oh my goodness! They wanted to go out there SO bad and see those cats!! Blackie Sue and Sunshine just stared back at them as if to say, "You can't get us! We're safe out here and you're in there and you can't get us!!"   I'm afraid my window blinds will never be the same again. LOL.

I can only imagine what it's going to be like when the kittens finally arrive, which, NO, they have not arrived as of yet.

And, isn't it funny how the puppies get all excited watching the cats, and the cat loves to watch the Sand Hill Cranes from her perch on the back porch...

Look how tall Trumpet has gotten!!  He literally grows at least an inch every day! Or so it seems.

Blackie Sue loves to watch them, but she knows better than to get too close. That mother Crane would definitely let her know that she wasn't welcome, and it wouldn't be pleasant.

I expect Blackie Sue will feel the same way about her babies when they arrive.  That mother instinct is very strong in all of God's creatures...even we human mothers...right?

Oh, this Pileated Woodpecker couple flew back in the other day to peck away at that pine tree.  I wonder if they are nesting somewhere around here. We don't often get to see a pair of them together, so this is a real treat!

They certainly are interesting looking creatures, aren't they?

All of this nature around me makes me think of this old hymn:

1 This is my Father's world,

And to my listening ears

All nature sings, and round me rings

The music of the spheres.

This is my Father's world:

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas--

His hand the wonders wrought.

2 This is my Father's world:

The birds their carols raise,

The morning light, 

the lily white,

Declare their Maker's praise.

This is my Father's world:

He shines in all that's fair;

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,

He speaks to me everywhere.

3 This is my Father's world:

O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the Ruler yet.

This is my Father's world:

Why should my heart be sad?

The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!

God reigns; let earth be glad!

Amen.

Hope you are having a blessed and beautiful Holy/Easter Week.  

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

Here it is, Thursday evening already, October 3rd!  My, how this year has flown by! It is very hard for me to believe we are already into October, but I am glad of it. 

 

A few years ago I wrote a special post about Anne of Green Gables, as she paid a "visit" to "Pamela's Victorian Cottage".  I thought I would include this section of that post here, as "Anne" is exclaiming about the beauties of October, and finishes with one of her most well-remembered quotes about October... (Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery)

"October was a beautiful month at Green Gables, when the birches in the hollow turned as golden as sunshine and the maples behind the orchard were royal crimson and the wild cherry-trees along the lane put on the loveliest shades of dark red and bronzy green, while the fields sunned themselves in aftermaths.

Anne revelled in the world of colour about her.  "Oh, Marilla," she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, 

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.  It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn't it? " 

 

(Painting by John Sloane, from one of his previous Country Season's Calendars)

You can read the rest of that special post HERE.

I feel pretty much the same as Anne did about October, even though the colors here in Florida are not quite a vibrant and glorious as they were at her beloved Prince Edward Island, still, there's just something special about October everywhere I think!

Last night I was enjoying watching the sunset here on Still Waters Pond, and it wasn't the most colorful of sunsets, but it was still amazing in its own way. Have you ever noticed that it is actually the clouds that make each sunset so interesting?  If there were no clouds in the skies, there would be nothing all that spectacular for the sun to reflect on and around.  I find it interesting in that God often uses the "clouds" in our lives to make our lives more spectacular and unique.  It's the challenges and trials and cloudy, hazy days of having to lean more on God for direction in our lives that help to shape and mold us into the strong characters He intends us to be.  Just some food for thought as you think about sunsets in a new way.    

Here's the sunset from last night, along with the verses from the 64th Psalm that kind of struck me as I was looking back at these pictures of the clouds and designs in the skies.  I wonder if you will notice some of the things that I noticed:

Psalm 64 NKJV

Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

"1 Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation;

Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,

3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,

And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,

4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;

Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.

5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;

They talk of laying snares secretly;

They say, “Who will see them?”

6 They devise iniquities:

“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”

Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.

7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;'

Suddenly they shall be wounded.

8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;

All who see them shall flee away.

9 All men shall fear,

And shall declare the work of God;

For they shall wisely consider His doing."

10 The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.

And all the upright in heart shall glory."

Amen.

I hope you enjoyed those pictures along with that Psalm. Could you see the battle of the swords and arrows in the skies? Makes me think about the battles that are going on all around us in the spiritual realm, as well as the battles that are going on in real time around the world right now. It is so important that we keep our Spiritual Armor of God on at all times...(Ephesians 6:10-18)

I am thankful that we have had a relatively peaceful week here in our area. But of course we know there are still so many suffering without electricity, water, good shelter and even food. Last week's storm wreaked havoc on the lives of so many, and we need to continue to pray for them, and do whatever we can to help. If you aren't sure where to send donations, Samaritan's Purse is a strong and true organization directed by Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Also most church denominations have Disaster Relief programs that are hard at work in the hard hit areas. You can usually donate through your church to a disaster relief program.  

I am thankful also that my hubby had a successful medical procedure done yesterday. We made it there in plenty of time and all went well. He will get the results of the test in a couple of weeks, but it is basically a follow up to some work he had done a year ago, to make sure that everything is still "good".  We are trusting God that it is, however prayers are always welcome.  

I've been wanting to show you something very special for a few days now. Frankly, I was so overcome by this gift, that I had to give myself some time to process it.  Remember in my Monday Post that I showed you a picture of a dear friend (see her below), who has been battling Stage 4 cancer for the past year +, and she is now doing so much better?

Well, this dear lady mentioned to me on Sunday that she had a birthday gift for me, and that she wanted to drop it off at my house this week.  I never expected that, and was really surprised that she would want to give me a gift.  But indeed, it was not just any gift, it was something truly truly special, and I wish I had had my hubby take our picture together when she brought it over, but I was too overwhelmed by the magnitude of this gift that I never thought of it until she had already left.  So, I had hubby take some pictures of me with this gift this morning so you can see it, and you will understand why I was so totally humbled and flabbergasted by this very special gift:

This dear lady literally crocheted this beautiful shawl for me while she was having chemo treatments! How do I respond to that???? With tears, for one thing. And with much gratitude and humility. 

Isn't it beautiful? It is a Civil War Era pattern, and it is absolutely gorgeous. 

What I love is that it will go with so many colors...and hubby said this outfit needed a hat...LOL

I am just overwhelmed with this lovely gift, and am so amazed that this precious lady would create this especially for me...I am already thinking about all the ways I hope to be able to wear it in the near future. 

But most of all, I am thinking about how very dear and special this woman is.  She is such an example of God's strength under fire.  When she was given the diagnosis and prognosis of her disease, she was determined to fight back. She did not give in to fear or anxiety, although she did have some of that for certain...but she would not let it take over. She stayed busy, even when the side effects of the treatments threatened to overwhelm her...she would not give up. Yes, I know there were days that she could not do a thing, but as soon as she was able, she kept moving forward. The fact that she would take yarn and crochet needles with her to chemo treatments and work on this beautiful gift for me is just so amazing to me that I cannot even fathom it. I do not even understand why for me? But God knows, and He knew how much this gift would bless me, and also I believe it was a gift for her to be able to do something for others in the midst of her own struggles. God does work in mysterious ways, and He weaves into the tapestry of our lives lessons of love, grace, and comfort. And the end result is a picture that is so beautiful to behold that we cannot always fathom the depth of it at first glance. It may take days, or it may take a lifetime...but I know that I am very very thankful to God for taking the extra steps to show us these things...

And so, with these thoughts in mind, I will close for tonight.  Wondering if there was ever a time in your life that you were overwhelmed with a special gift that you felt unworthy of?  Perhaps that is a picture of God's grace again...He sent Jesus to die for our sins, not because we did anything to deserve that gift, but because He loves us...

Romans 5:8 NKJV

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Something to think about... 

Good Night dear friends.