Wednesday Treasures for Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday

 Valentine's Day Love Is...building a new nest...

Yes, that is our same Mr. and Mrs. Sand Hill Crane building a new nest out on that little scrap of a marshy island early this morning...and they are working at it diligently morning and night...so it must be time for a new baby crane "colt" egg to make an appearance any time now.  Last year the first egg appeared on Valentine's Day, and another one right after that.  

These pictures are rather grainy due to it being right before sunset tonight, but they were both right back at it tonight, working away, pulling up lily pad stems from the pond and tossing them into a pile to create the nest.  They took the day off to go feed somewhere else, but came back this afternoon to get back to work. 

They were making quite a lot of noise for a while this evening, and I thought maybe she had already laid the egg...but it's too hard to tell from these pictures.  Hopefully I will be able to see them better in the morning.

Meanwhile, during the bright afternoon sun today, Mr. Turtle was enjoying sunning himself on top of their newly constructed nest.  I have a feeling Mr. and Mrs. Crane will be standing guard over their nest once the egg appears and Mr. Turtle will have to go sun himself elsewhere!

Today was a rather conflicting day...it was Valentine's Day, a day to celebrate the love of friends and loved ones, and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season, when we remember the great sacrifice that Jesus made for us and we realize just how unworthy of His great love we really are, and yet He chose to love us and die for us anyway.  So maybe it isn't such a conflicting day after all?  It really is all about LOVE.  I guess the conflict comes in wanting to celebrate at the same time as feeling a sense of needing to make some sacrifices in order to draw even closer to the One who loves us so much.  

John 15:13 NKJV 

"Greater love has no one than this, 

than to lay down one’s life for his friends."

1 John 4:10  King James Version

"10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, 

but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

Romans 5:8 NKJV

8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 

in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Rather than write a new post regarding the practice of Lent, HERE is a link to a previous post that I wrote originally a few years ago about what I believe about Lent.  You may find it interesting.

Meanwhile, since today was also Valentine's Day, there were other things happening as well.  Our Women in Faith group met for their monthly gathering.  I went with full intention of staying for the luncheon at the end, but I really wasn't feeling up to par and decided to head back home instead where I could have a bowl of soup and take a long nap. I was just very tired and my tummy wasn't feeling great, so that was the best option for me today.  But I was there long enough to get this fun little Valentine game that one of the ladies brought for each of us to enjoy.

It was one of those papers that you have to fold all different ways and make a little hand game. I never did get it right, so here is what it looked like originally:

I thought the questions were cute and fun, and maybe we should try to answer them as a Valentine's Day quiz.

1.  What food do you dislike most?   I like most foods, but probably nothing too overly spicy. I don't eat Sushi or stinky cheeses like Bleu Cheese or Limburger. (Does anyone really eat Limburger Cheese?)

2.  What's your hidden talent?   Not sure...it must still be hiding...I used to be quite artistic, but not so much anymore. Most of my talents aren't really hidden as I try to use them so I don't lose them...I love to sing, take pictures, and write this blog.

3.  Who do you like?  Gosh! Where do I begin? I like all of YOU!!

4.  What's your favorite candy?  Payday candy bar.  (the Original one...not the chocolate one).

5.  What's your biggest fear?  I really can't say that I have any big fears because I know God is in control and He is handling everything perfectly. However, I must say that I really would not want to live alone. I've never had to live alone in my whole life, and I have a hard time imagining that I would adapt to a solitary life very well.  I know God is always with me no matter what, but still, the thought of living without anyone around to talk to or just be close to is something that I hope I never have to do.

6.  What's your favorite animal? I am more of a dog person I think, but I love horses and little kitties are so sweet.

7.  Who's your favorite TV star? As a child I would have said Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy). Now, I really can't think of any one favorite TV star as I really don't watch much TV.  I like old movies, but those would be movie stars.

8.  What's your go-to dance move? I have no clue. Slow dancing with my hubby. What could be better than that?

Now it's YOUR turn! I would love to hear what you have to say about these little questions. Feel free to copy them and answer them on your blog if you wish.

It's getting late, and so I guess I will close this with a few pictures of tonight's sunset on Still Waters Pond. It really was magnificent...another of God's masterpieces...a Love gift for Valentine's Day from God!

Here's the beginning, just as the sun was dipping down below the trees...

The skies became all golden and glorious...

This reminds me of a hymn that I remember singing often growing up: "For the Beauty of the Earth". You can listen to it here and sing along with my pictures if you wish...

1 For the beauty of the earth,

for the glory of the skies,

for the love which from our birth

over and around us lies.

Refrain:

Lord of All to Thee we raise

this, our hymn of grateful praise.

2 For the wonder of each hour

of the day and of the night,

hill and vale and tree and flower,

sun and moon and stars of light, 

Refrain:

Lord of All to Thee we raise

this, our hymn of grateful praise.

And then the skies turned to this lovely shade of pinkish-orange-blueish.  Or "sky blue pink".

3 For the joy of human love,

brother, sister, parent, child,

friends on earth, and friends above,

for all gentle thoughts and mild, 

Refrain:

Lord of All to Thee we raise

this, our hymn of grateful praise.

It was about this time that Mr. and Mrs. Crane were making lots of noise out there on their little island while building their nest.  You can't see them, but they were singing praises to their Creator for the beauty of the skies around them while they work against time to get their little nest ready for their new eggs to be developed and lovingly cared for until the babies are born...and then they really get busy!

4 For Thyself, best gift divine,

to our race so freely given,

For that great great love of Thine,

peace on earth and joy in heaven. 

[Refrain]

Lord of All, to Thee we raise

this, our hymn of grateful praise.

Amen.

May you have a blessed season of Lent as we prepare our hearts for the remembrance of the Passion of our Savior Jesus Christ..."Lord of all, to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise!"

Some Thoughts About Lent and Current Events

 It seems like it was Wednesday just the other day...these weeks are flying by so rapidly. Today is actually Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. 

An interesting tree I found while walking this morning. Can anyone identify it?

 Lent is a good time for some introspection and spiritual cleansing and renewal.  A time to focus on our personal walk with the Lord and how we can draw closer to Him as we invite Him to purify our hearts and minds and restore unto us the "joy of Your salvation".  (Psalm 51:12)

 Hubby and I  took a walk this morning before the rains started...the skies were already looking quite promising of a good "cleansing rain".

And yes, the rains did come and stayed around all day. Actually, this picture below was taken yesterday when it was also raining...I wanted to sit out on our deck and watch the birds, and hubby took this picture of me sitting there...

Yes, I was sitting there in the rain, holding my umbrella and drinking tea and watching the rain and the birds... (I know, if you are on Facebook you have already seen these pictures)

This is what I was watching...this Little Blue Heron was tip toeing by in the rain...

 I love the patterns of the raindrops on Still Waters Pond...

 Hey, who are YOU looking at?

He moseyed on by and I soon had to to back inside as I was beginning to get a little damp

This morning, following our walk,  we stopped by our local Ace Hardware store. I realized that I needed to stock up on some bird seed before my surgery next week so that the bird feeders would stay well supplied for our birds so that I would have plenty of birds to watch while recuperating. (And they happened to have a good 2 bags for the price of one bag of bird seed sale going on.) 

As I was walking around the store I bumped into this cart and was surprised to discover this young chick looking out at me. What a sweet little face...

He/she wasn't alone, and they looked like they really wanted me to take them home with me...

I don't think they like being imprisoned in these cages...but I had to tell them I was sorry that I couldn't take them home with me. This one below looks like he is wearing an interesting hat, and his face just looks like he is really hoping someone will rescue him soon...I do hope they won't have to stay there much longer. They are getting too big for those cages...and they need to be free to roam a bit...

Bye bye little chicky. I do hope you will find a good home soon.

One other thing I was looking for was a bird house for the Bluebird that came by the other day. Thankfully they had one left, and I had a coupon to get 30% off, and so that was a great find!

So we came home and waited for a break in the rain that had already started to fall, and as soon as the sun came out we hurriedly attached the birdhouse to the tree where the Bluebird had been sitting the other day.  Now I just hope he will come back and bring the family!! That would make for some good entertainment while I am recuperating.

In our devotions this morning we read several scriptures that help us to understand the season of Lent. Here are the references for you to consider. I won't reprint all of the verses as they are lengthy, but when you have time you may want to read them for yourself:

Matthew 6:1-18; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2; Joel 2:12-18; and Psalm 51:1-19. 

I especially found the book of Joel chapter two to be very interesting. That is one book that we don't read very often and even though it was written for the people of Judah around the time of the "invasion" of a plague of locusts that destroyed everything in its path and impoverished the people, I found it rather prophetic and appropriate for our country today. 

With the concerns over the possible "invasion" of the  Coronavirus, this could well be applied to our nation today.    The subtitle over this section of verses reads: "Only Repentance Can Avert Invasion".    Interesting that our pastor also preached about repentance in his message on Sunday.  Repentance goes hand in hand with this season of Lent leading up to Easter.  Certainly something for each of us to consider personally and pray for our nation to consider as well...

12.  "Now, therefore", says the Lord, "Turn to Me  with all your heart, 

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning...".  

13.  "So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, 

For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; 

and He relents from doing harm...."

I hope that this Lent season will be a time of drawing closer to the Lord for you and for me as well. I am certainly trusting in Him to be with me during this time as I undergo surgery and then spend probably the whole season of Lent recuperating. I pray that I will be back up and around and ready for action by Easter.  But I hope to use this time to truly be restored both physically and spiritually as I rest "Beside the Still Waters"... Seems like God had this all planned, didn't He?  

Have a blessed rest of your week.