Monday Monday...Excitement on Still Waters Pond!

Well, after two days of monsoonal type rains we were beginning to despair for Mr. and Mrs. Sand Hill Crane ever being able to get their nest high enough above the water to maintain a good nest for whatever eggs came along. Their little marsh island out there in the middle of the pond was almost completely under water again.  But Mr. and Mrs. Crane persevered and kept piling more and more lily pad stems and mud up on top of the nest...they worked tirelessly every waking hour. It looked like they were bailing water out of a sinking boat and building sand bags around their nest. It was too dark and dreary for me to get any good pictures of that activity, so you will just have to imagine it for yourself!

But can you imagine our surprise this morning when the rains had finally stopped and the sun came up...and this is what we saw?!  Mrs. Crane was sitting on her nest, with Mr. Crane standing guard nearby...

My first thought was, "She must've laid an egg, because she's sitting on the nest!"

And sure enough, in a little while she stood up and let me see that yes, indeed there is an egg!!

They continued their constant building up of the nest to keep it above water, as you can see in these pictures how close to the nest the waters have risen:

I kept trying to see if there was more than one egg, but so far I can only be sure of one. Sometimes they take a couple of days to lay their eggs, so we may get another surprise tomorrow...time will tell...

I've already decided that since this egg made its appearance on President's Day, it shall be named "Lincoln" .  If there is another egg, it will be "Washington".     Oh, btw, can you see the little black and white diving duck (Ring Necked Duck) in the background behind Mr. Crane? Yes, he is still swimming around the pond alone, and he seemed really pleased to be the first to find out about the egg's arrival!

However, it wasn't long before the word got out to the community, and soon the Canada Geese brigade showed up to pay their respects and toot their horns loudly...enough to wake up the baby in the egg! LOL.

This actually went on all day long. The geese swam round and round Mr. and Mrs. Crane and their nest, sometimes getting much too close for comfort and Mr. Crane had to flap his wings and shoo them away!

That didn't seem to deter them.  They are very curious about the Cranes and their nest.  Likewise, when the eggs hatch and the new little baby "Colts" make their appearance (in about a month), I am sure the geese will be back to check out the new baby.  It's quite an interesting kind of community these water fowl seem to have!

Anyway, Mrs. Crane has been mostly resting on the nest today while Mr. Crane has kept up his watch and also adding to the nest to keep it above water. As I write this now at 5:30 in the evening, they are still out there working away.  

The Canada Geese and The Ring Necked Duck were not the only visitors to the pond today to celebrate the delivery of the Sand Hill Crane egg!   The Wood Ducks made their appearance as well, and this time they actually swam close enough to our side of the pond for me to get a few decent pictures!

Isn't he beautiful?  There were two males out there swimming around.  Like I said the other day, I am not sure where their females are...maybe they have a nest somewhere on the other side of the pond that I don't know about. 

I was very excited to get to see these handsome fellas up a little bit closer!

Oh gee...Those geese are out there chasing each other around and making all kinds of noise...they can't let a lady in waiting get any peace and quiet...

Mr. Crane continued to make sure they didn't come any closer...

Yep, it's been an exciting day on Still Waters Pond!  The waters may be "still", but there's plenty of action on top of the water!

I have a feeling this next month is going to be very interesting!

In the meantime, what else is going on?  We had a busy weekend as I've already told you about in my last post, celebrating hubby's birthday, along with church on Sunday, and rain, rain, and more rain all day Saturday and Sunday.   Today we had our weekly Bible Studies, which is always a blessing.  The rest of this week will be pretty much normal, with the exception that we've been invited to go have dinner with some "old friends" back in our previous neighborhood on Thursday.  We are looking forward to that.  Other than that, I guess that's all folks!  I hope you are all doing well...I will try to get around and visit with you all as I am able.  Some of you are such prolific writers that I have a difficult time keeping up!  But it's wonderful to have such a great group of "friends" here in blogland...and beyond! 

Have a blessed and wonderful rest of your week!!  Here's a link to our Sunday sermon and song "Open My Eyes That May See"...You might enjoy this and the pastor's message from Psalm 51.  

1 Open my eyes that I may see

glimpses of truth thou hast for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key

that shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my eyes, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

2 Open my ears that I may hear

voices of truth thou sendest clear,

and while the wave notes fall on my ear,

ev’rything false will disappear.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my ears, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

3 Open my mouth and let me bear

gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.

Open my heart and let me prepare

love with thy children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my mouth, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

 

Sunday Joy!

 It's such glorious day today, a day to give praise to the Lord and be thankful for who He is and not just for what He's done, although His works are marvelous and beyond our greatest imaginations.  There's just so much to be thankful for today and every day...can a I get an "amen?"  Amen!  

I'll start with this morning and work backwards...

Here's the choir singing "Open My Eyes That I May See, Glimpses of Truth Thou Hast for Me"...

Here's the words to the hymn if you'd like to sing along:

"Open my eyes that I may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key that shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for Thee, ready, my God, Thy will to see.

Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine.

Open my ears that I may hear voices of truth Thou sendest clear.

And while the wavenotes fall on my ear, everything false will disappear.

Silently now I wait for Thee, ready, my God, Thy will to see.

Open my ears, illumine me, Spirit divine.

Open my mouth and let me bear, gladly the warm truth everywhere.

Open my heart, and let me prepare love with Thy children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for Thee, ready, my God, Thy will to see.

Open my heart, illumine me, Spirit divine."

Following the song the Pastor had a powerful message from Psalm 3.  If you wish to take the time to listen, I do believe you will be blessed by it.

What you can't see is our children's church kids sang a song for the congregation... This is only a part of the song because I knew if I tried to record the whole song it would be too long for this format, so this is just a "glimpse" of it, taken from behind them from where I was sitting in the choir loft:

They were so cute, as kids always are...and such a blessing to see them participating in church. We are very thankful for our children's workers as well.  They are a very dedicated group of people who are making a difference in these children's lives for eternity.

The next BIG joy of this morning, if you look on the right side about 1/2 way back you will see a tall person sitting in the pew with dark curly hair. That is our grandson, and his sweet fiancee' was right beside him.  

This was the first time they have visited our church, and I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful this was for us!   Not only that, but they seemed to enjoy being there and said they look forward to coming back next week as well!  AND, one of the ladies of the church approached Dawn about making some more of her "prayer pillows" (that's what she's calling them now) for her to give to people.  I had mentioned in Sunday School to our class about how God blessed the kids yesterday at the flea market by having several sales of these little pillows with Scripture verses on them...and so this lady said she wanted at least 15 of them...which means Dawn has her work cut out for her!

Here they are yesterday at the Deep Creek Market/Farm Swap.  This was a new venture for them, and they were blessed to find a nice shady spot to settle in for the very warm day:

They were parked right next to this wagon that had geese for sale...(Which they were moved from the cage to a more open pen)

And these young Emus!!

yes, those are baby Emus!

Apparently several were sold to brave farmers! LOL.  They said that the deal was the people who bought two of the younger emu chicks also had to take a young baby chicken chick along with it as a package deal (for free), because the emus and the chick were friends, and they didn't want to separate them.  Of course, eventually the emus will be much much larger than the chicken, but they say they will always be friends because they've been growing up together from the beginning! Interesting!

Here's another interesting article on raising Emus, in case you are interested.  I think I will stick with our Sand Hill Cranes, who take care of themselves and need no fences.  Besides, I much prefer just watching them and enjoying them as opposed to thinking of them as a farm animal or source of food.

I guess this is enough for one day. I hope your SONday has been filled with joy and peace and rest from your labors.  It has been a wonderful day here on Still Waters Pond, and we continue to rejoice in what God has done...

Here's a comforting way to close for the day:

The  23rd Psalm, KJV

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:

 thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Here's a few pictures of a Red Shouldered Hawk that was in our tree beside the Pond a couple of weeks ago. I see him flying about quite often, but rarely get a chance to take a picture of him. Actually there was another beside him, possibly his mate, just before  I took this picture, but it flew off into the trees.  Perhaps a hawk is not considered a peaceful bird to think about, but still it is one of God's amazing creatures, and so therefore I enjoy seeing it.

Good Night Friends!

Be Still and Know...

Yesterday afternoon was a gorgeous October afternoon here in Florida...low humidity, high in the very low 80's with a nice breeze...sunny skies...it just doesn't get much better than that, and so I spent some time sitting outside in the Secret Memorial Garden alongside Still Waters Pond...just being still and knowing that God was there with me...and that He was being exalted in the beauty of His creation all around...

No matter what the news may say or just how bad things are getting in the economy or in all of the horrific situations around the world...God's Word is still so true and appropriate:

"Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!"

Psalms 46:10

When I feel myself starting to panic over circumstances for which I have no control...it is important for me to find a place to just steal away and get recentered in my position in Christ...to know that He is God, and no matter what this world tries to do to steal my joy...I will put my faith in Him and keep my eyes focused on Christ, the "author and finisher of my faith"...

"looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:2

This morning we had an early ride into "town" for my husband to have some lab work done. Again, God's majesty and beauty was on display in the unfolding of the sunrise breaking through the clouds...

It was amazing all the way we traveled...

People who drive through life with blinders on miss so much of the glory of God's heavens on display for us every day.

Remember the hymn:

"Open my eyes that I may see

glimpses of truth thou hast for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key

that shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my eyes, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

2 Open my ears that I may hear

voices of truth thou sendest clear,

and while the wave notes fall on my ear,

ev’rything false will disappear.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my ears, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

3 Open my mouth and let me bear

gladly the warm truth ev’rywhere.

Open my heart and let me prepare

love with thy children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for thee,

ready, my God, thy will to see.

Open my mouth, illumine me,

Spirit divine!"

I hope you enjoyed this little meditation time away from the noise of the world for a while. Whenever you find yourself getting stressed by the things swirling around you in your life...look for the places where God is sending His peace and comfort to you.  They are out there...maybe closer than you think.  

I had other things in mind for writing about today, but this is what came out...so apparently that's what I was supposed to share with you.  Someone out there needed this...I know I did. I can hear the news on the TV in the background while I write, and if I listen too closely I could find myself running and screaming to please "stop the world, I want to get off!"  But when I turn my eyes to Jesus, peace reigns and rules in my heart and mind once again.  I can get up and move forward without fear.  God is being exalted in the nations...and He is exalted in all the earth.  I need not fear. Amen.

The Secret Garden Chronicles, Day 5: Rest = Silence=Worship Revisited

This was originally written a couple of years ago, when the Secret Garden was a new place for me to sit and "rest" and pray and worship the Lord. I am sorry to say that I have fallen away from that daily habit in the years since, although I do still go out there periodically when I really need to just be "silent" before the Lord. I think I am due for a visit, but not today. It's been raining non-stop all day and is about 48 degrees out there right now. However, since this is a Sunday afternoon, my thoughts have been on resting in the Lord. This past week was full of turmoil in the world, and my heart and soul need a rest from the news and sorrow of how dark our nation is becoming.  So come along with me as we enter the Secret Garden and sit silently and give our hearts and minds some "rest".

Original Post 1/28/17:

As we enter the Secret Garden today, this song comes back to me once again:

"The Lord is in His holy temple,

The Lord is in His holy temple;

Let all the earth keep silence,

Let all the earth keep silence before Him,

Keep silence, keep silence before Him."

Amen

In yesterday's post I wrote about Psalm 37, and in the process of reading that passage, verse 7 in particular...please note where it says "REST in the Lord...", there is a reference in my Bible that says the words "Rest in the Lord" literally means "Be silent to the Lord, and it gives a reference to Psalm 62:1, which says "Truly my soul silently waits for God..."

Well, since writing yesterday's post these words keep coming back to me, especially in the form of the call to worship chorus "The Lord Is In His Holy Temple", which is actually a quote from Habakkuk 2:20.  In trying to understand how the words "REST in the Lord" equates with the translation "Be SILENT to the Lord", the Lord drew my attention back to this song...and it's as if God is making a point here to me to notice something in this song that further explains what He means by REST=SILENCE.

Let us look at this music score together so we can further understand what God is telling me through this passage:

Do you see where it says, "Let all the earth keep silence" and then there is a little note or musical symbol after the word SILENCE...and that symbol is actually called a REST, which means that the singer and the instruments literally stop and REST, or be SILENT for just that moment before continuing on to the next phrase/note.  If you will further "note" (pun intended) the REST comes again after "Let all the earth keep silence before Him, and then every time  after the word "Silence", there is another REST!  Do you see what I see???

Lord, I love that YOU are making this point, especially in light of the fact that my "One Word" for 2017 is REST...and here I am, attempting to do just that as I come before Your presence here in this place that has been set apart particularly for worship, meditation, and REST in You.  I am in awe of what You are showing me as we come together each day.  Even though we are learning here that REST=SILENCE, I am seeing that in this time of RESTing in You, and being SILENT to You, I am learning more about what it means to  truly WORSHIP YOU.  The only thing is, it really is difficult for me to be SILENT when everything we do here leads me to give You praise!  However, I know there is something beautiful in silently coming before the Lord...and waiting on You to lead the way.

These songs come to my mind and voice as I think about this...

"Open my eyes that I may see

Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key

that shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready my God, Thy will to see,

Open my eyes, illumine me,

Spirit Divine."

("Open My Eyes That I May See" by Clara H. Scott)

and

"Spirit of the Living God,

Fall fresh on me,

Spirit of the Living God,

Fall fresh on me.

Melt me, Mold me, Fill me, Use me.

Spirit of the Living God, 

Fall fresh on me."

("Spirit of the Living God" by Daniel Iverson)

Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to come into Your Presence each day.  As I leave this place today, I am refreshed and rested. I am learning more about what it means to be silent before the Lord...and to allow His soothing Presence to calm my spirit and fill me with His Spirit...and then I am better equipped to tackle whatever comes along.  

Praise God!

Amen.

I Saw the Light!

I know some of you are probably wondering what this picture is all about.  It is rather unusual, isn't it?  Well, that is the new view from my front porch.  One evening as I was relaxing and rocking in my new rocking chair,

my eyes were suddenly blinded by this bright light shining through the trees.

 I thought to myself, "Hmmm, that's never happened before in this spot. Something is different!"  After a few minutes of exploration in the wooded area directly in front of the porch, I discovered that an old tree had blown down, which knocked over another smaller tree, causing its leafy abundance to be pinned to the ground and creating an empty spot in the foliage where it once stood. Even though we removed the dead tree from the top of the young tree, it was too late to save it.

Quite frankly, I am not too happy about this new vista from my porch, as it truly does leave an opening for the evening sun to shine rather too brightly and directly into my line of sight.  This is somewhat annoying to me...it has disturbed my peaceful, secluded and shady haven where I try to unwind and relax at the end of a stressful day.  I mean, I've worked so hard to create this space so I can sit here and watch the birds, listen to the sounds of nature surrounding me...and now this extremely bright shaft of evening sunlight is piercing through the cool shadows of dusk and infiltrating my serenity with an unsettling aura of blazing glaring light.  

What to do, what to do?  I cannot replace the tree that quickly....and I certainly don't want to hang some kind of shade to obscure the light, as that would block out other lovely trees as well, and I might miss a bird flitting to and fro as it gathers its last seeds of the evening before retiring for the night. 

I know some of you are probably saying, "She thinks she has problems? Hasn't she noticed that the world is in chaos and people are being flooded out of their homes and would love to see the light of day...others are dying, starving, hurting...and she's worried about the sunlight bothering her as she rocks on her porch?"  Yes, I have noticed...part of the reason I love to sit on the porch in the evening is to avoid watching the evening news. But that's another whole subject. (Added note: I not only NOTICE the news of the world and country, but I often use this time on the porch to pray for those affected. I am not ignoring their plight...but prayer is the only real weapon I have that can do anything about it right now.)

There must be some kind of lesson here for me...and as I've been writing this, I've been asking the Lord just what this is all about.  The message I'm hearing in my heart is this:

"I don't want you to get too comfortable or shut away from the rest of the world entirely.  I still have work for you to do.  There are people who need the light that you possess."

II Corinthians 4:6-7 says,

"For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."

See, I've been wanting more and more to get ready to "retire" and to sit back and enjoy life for awhile.  There is nothing wrong with that...I've certainly earned it.  (even if there is no money to back it up).  But I think what I am hearing is that my so-called retirement, when it ever comes, will not be one of just fun and games and doing what I want to do. I'm not supposed to get too comfortable in my rocking chair on the front porch and watch the world go by.  God has opened a new window of light to get my focused attention on Him and His plan.  I don't know exactly what that plan is today, but I have a feeling that it will be revealed in due time.  Meanwhile, I'll just get some sunglasses to wear while I rock on the porch and follow the rest of the "Porch Rules"...

Please pray or sing the words to this old familiar hymn with me:

"Open my eyes, that I may see

Glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;

Place in my hands the wonderful key

That shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready, my God, Thy will to see;

Open my eyes, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

Open my ears, that I may hear

Voices of truth Thou sendest clear;

And while the wave-notes fall on my ear,

Everything false will disappear.

Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready my God, Thy will to see;

Open my ears, illumine me,

Spirit divine!

Open my mouth, and let me bear

Gladly the warm truth everywhere;

Open my heart, and let me prepare

Love with Thy children thus to share.

Silently now I wait for Thee,

Ready my God, Thy will to see;

Open my heart, illumine me, 

Spirit divine!

Written by Charles H. Scott, 1923

Yes, Lord, "Silently now I wait for Thee...Ready my God, Thy will to see; Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit Divine!"  AMEN.