Friday Foto Friends ~ Humbled and Blessed

Happy Friday, Friends!  Time for some "fotos" from the week, and yes, I actually have a few this week!

Can you guess where we were yesterday?  Maybe these lovely ladies serenading us on the mandolin by the light of the moon with a basket of beautiful flowers (lilacs, maybe?) will give you a clue!

Or perhaps this cute Flapper Girl, enjoying a delicious Sundae with a cherry on top will help you to figure it out...

Perhaps this handsome fella sitting on the rocking chairs on the "front porch" will give you a better clue...

Give up? Well, maybe seeing these two smiling faces from their rocking chairs on the front porch will certainly give it away! Of course! We were at Cracker Barrel! Now if you live in an area of the country where they don't have a Cracker Barrel, I am truly sorry for you! 

Anyway, yes, we were enjoying a late breakfast yesterday morning at Cracker Barrel in between my appointments at the Univ. of Florida Neuromedicine Hospital in Gainesville, FL.  We had a lot of time to kill in between appointments.  My first appt. with the neurosurgeon was at 9:30 a.m., and then he sent me for more x-rays, and after that I was blessed to actually get an appointment at 2:30 p.m. for a Nerve Conduction Velocity test, followed by and Electromyography Test (EMG). I say "blessed" because this appointment only became available due to a cancellation that morning. Otherwise, the next available appointment would not be until December!  So, even though it meant a long wait, we knew we could not pass up on that opportunity.  

Therefore, hubby and I spent the intervening time enjoying a late breakfast because they did not serve lunch until 11:00 and we got there at 10:30. After that we shopped a little in the store of the Cracker Barrel, and then went on to do a little more shopping at a couple of other stores in a nearby shopping center.  After that we went back to the hospital to just wait it out...and it turned out my 2:30 appointment did not actually happen until about 3:30, so it really was a long wait.

While we waited for my appointment we had time to just sit and observe people around us. I can tell you it was a humbling experience. My problems seem so small when I see what others have to live  and deal with in their lives. One young woman in a wheelchair, totally incapacitated and who could only make low guttural sounds to make her needs known, was being lovingly cared for by, I assume her mother, who had to be at least my age.  After watching this dear soul for a while from a distance, we both concluded that she was actually an intelligent young woman, trapped in a physical body that she had no control over. It was very heart breaking, and as I said, humbling.  Her image has not left my mind even yet this morning, and so I lift up a prayer for her and her mother, that God would somehow brighten their day and give them a sense of His presence and peace in their lives.

Regarding my own situation, I will have to wait on the neurosurgeon to get back to me with the results of the tests to determine what is next. His first thought before seeing the test results was that he does NOT think I am a candidate for surgery yet.  However, from what I was able to ascertain from the neurologist conducting the nerve tests, there is nerve damage in my arm, and so something will have to be addressed. I will wait and see just what that "something" will be.  Meanwhile, I guess I keep going to physical therapy...

So now for some more happy photos from my back yard on Still Waters Pond:

The Sand Hill Crane Family flew in again for some dessert. It was fun to watch them poking around in the grass, digging up whatever it is they like so much.

There actually were three of them, the mother, father, and grown baby, but it was hard to get all three of them together in one photo.

I always feel honored when they come to visit.

We do enjoy what God provides to bring some beauty and joy to our days.

And that would include this Rose of Sharon, that continues to blossom in the "Secret Memorial Garden".

The leaves are starting to turn yellow from the heat and sun and also because it is "fall" approaching. But even that variegated color is lovely, don't you think?

And these little red maple leaves are growing up from the stump of the tree that was cut down recently when we had some tree work done. I was not thrilled that they cut down this tree, but they were trying to open up more light into that area so the trees in the "secret garden" could get more sunshine and actually be healthier.  However, I intend to let this maple tree just grow right back up if it so pleases.  It looks like it wants to, don't you agree???

Oh look! We have a new inhabitant in the birdhouse!!! Actually, there are two interesting creatures on this picture!! I wonder who would win that battle...the lizard or the wasp?

Yes, this lizard has taken up residence in the Bluebird house. He pokes his head out throughout the day to catch some bugs and say hello!

He has claimed it as his own, but when the bluebirds come back to roost in the spring I hope he knows he will have to move out!!! This is their house, and he is just a squatter who has no proper lease!

But I guess it's okay for him to stay and take care of the place until they return. 

Even little lizards need a warm, dry place to live.

Here's some thoughts for today:

Romans 12:9-16

9.  "Let love be without hypocrisy. 

Abhor what is evil, 

cling to what is good.

10.  Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love,

in honor giving preference to one another;

11.  not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;

12.  Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

13.  distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

14.  Bless those who persecute you;

bless and do not curse.

15.  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

16.  Be of the same mind toward one another.

Do not set your mind on high things, 

but associate with the humble. 

Do not be wise in your own opinion."

Thank You, Lord, for these thoughts and lessons today.

I am humbled and blessed.

 

Memorial Day Thoughts and Blessings

"Oh say, can you see

By the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed

At the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watched,

Were so gallantly, yeah, streaming?

And the rockets' red glare

The bombs bursting in air

Gave proof through the night

That our flag was still there

O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free 

and the home of the brave!"

Thank You, Lord, for so many who have gone before us, fighting valiantly for the safety and protection of our great nation, and the freedoms we hold so dearly.

Help us remember and honor them today in our hearts, 

and never forget what it cost those brave soldiers and pioneers so that we could have the blessings of 

living in still the greatest nation in the world.

May it ever be blessed by You, Lord, and let us not take these freedoms for granted.

Help us remember that freedom is not free. It was paid by the blood of those who loved this country so much that they were willing to fight and lay down their lives for our sake.

May we never forget their sacrifice.

Amen.

John 15:13 

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"

Have a blessed Memorial Day, dear friends,

and take a moment to honor the memory of those great men and women

who gave their lives for us.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share a few Bluebird pictures...Yes, father Bluebird is still busily feeding his young family. Mother Bluebird is as well.

These pictures were taken last evening, and the lighting was getting dim, so they are not as clear as I'd like, but they are great close ups of father bluebird with supper in his mouth...ready to feed his hungry brood.

However, I learned that as long as I was sitting there on the porch taking his picture, he would not go to the birdhouse and feed them.

He soon flew away because I had not left yet.

And because of this pitiful face looking out the window, hungrily awaiting his supper, I decided I'd best go inside and allow them to be fed.

Usually around Memorial day we try to plant something in our Memorial Garden in memory of our son Matthew. He passed away from his valiant battle with cancer on May 25, 2014, which was actually Memorial Day weekend that year. And so every Memorial Day brings back those memories to us.

Recently, my sister Doris had given me a lovely new azalea bush, which she intended for us to put in the Memorial Garden. I've had it for a little while, but we just hadn't gotten around to planting it.

So over the weekend our son Scott finally planted it for me. It was starting to get a bit stressed from the heat and needed to get planted.

It doesn't look like much right now, but it will soon perk up and begin growing, and by next spring we should have some lovely azalea blossoms on it. We planted alongside some other smaller azalea bushes that we had planted earlier this spring in the "Secret Memorial Garden".

(Secret Garden and Memorial Garden combined)

When we come and sit in this lovely cool spot beside Still Waters Pond, we know that Matthew would be very pleased to be remembered here of all places. If he were still with us, he'd be out there fishing in that pond every chance he could.

Okay, what are you doing today to commemorate this day of remembrance?

Our church family is going to have a picnic today at the church parsonage.  It is a kind of celebration of coming through the pandemic this past year without losing any member of our church due to Covid. We were extremely blessed and very thankful. Our congregation is made up of primarily senior citizens over 70 years of age. The only person we even know who was diagnosed with Covid was actually a younger person in his 30's, and he came through just fine.  We are counting our blessings for sure. God has been very gracious to us and we give Him much thanks.

Have a blessed and beautiful day today.

 

 

Blessings and Praises!

Mother's Day Lilies in the Secret Garden

I trust that you all had a blessed and beautiful Mother's Day yesterday!  I realize for some that Mother's Day can be a difficult day.  I totally understand that as I have had my own share of sorrows regarding motherhood, but without lingering there, I am thankful to have learned to enjoy the day because of what God has done for me...for the blessings I do have, and not dwell on the sorrows of that which I do not have. I am very thankful that He has helped me greatly in that regard.  And so now I would like to share with you some of the blessings and praises of the past 24 hours!

Our family had decided to have a cookout here at our house in the evening since our daughter in love had to work all day and by the time she got off we knew finding a decent restaurant would be difficult on Mother's Day.  So our son Scott grilled the chicken, and I kept it simple by boiling corn on the cob and making a salad and some red potatoes and deviled eggs.   Around 4:00 p.m. we noticed that the house was suddenly feeling very warm.  It was 90 degrees  and very humid outside and rising to 85 degrees inside very rapidly.  The central air unit was definitely malfunctioning. Of course, on a Sunday there is no one to call.  So we just had to turn off the AC and turn on every fan we could find.  Wouldn't help to open the windows, that's for sure!  But we didn't want to cancel our dinner, so we just all sweated together and kept the fans blowing!

First thing this morning we called AC repairman. He said he'd be over around 1:00 p.m., and to their credit, they were here right on time!  After checking things out, he determined it was NOT the AC unit itself, but the thermostat!  Praise God! A new AC unit would have cost $5,000.00!  The thermostat was only $225.00, labor included! So here is the new one...just installed, and the temperature is going down, down, down as we speak....81 is much better than 88, where it was earlier! What a blessing and answer to prayer!

You would have to live in Florida to fully appreciate what a miracle and blessing this is!!

So, let's see, what other good things happened?  Well, if you are a Facebook friend you've most likely already seen my pictures that I posted last night.  Some of them may need more clarification as to their significance.  Like this video:

And these pictures:

Here is a link to a previous post of when I first got these pillowcases from my mother-in-law's home.

I thought I had written about the fact that when we moved here in August of 2019, I could not find these pillowcases anywhere. But I can't find any post about that, so it must have been on Facebook that I talked about it.  I thought I had packed them with the other bed linens that I took off the bed in the guest room before we moved. I really thought I had taken the cases off of the pillows, and put them either in a dresser drawer, or in a bag with the other linens.  But after much careful (more like obsessive) searching and re-searching, taking out dresser drawers, emptying their contents, going through boxes and bags and anything remotely possible, they were nowhere to be found. My worst fear was that somehow they had gotten left in a bag that went out with the trash.

I had asked our son if they could've been mixed in with any of his things in his room or closet, but he hadn't seen them. I asked our other son and his wife if they were mixed in with some things I had given them for yard sales back when we were moving, but they had not seen them.  So after racking my brain over this issue for almost two years, I had finally given up hope of ever seeing these lovely vintage pillow cases ever again!  Until yesterday, when my son Scott presented me with a large TV box saying he got me a new TV. I knew that couldn't be true, but what on earth could be in that box?  So, if you watched the video and my reaction to finding these pillows and pillowcases in that box, which had been "buried" in his closet in a black trash bag that he thought had some old clothes or something else in it and had not looked inside all this time, you will maybe understand why I was so thrilled almost to tears to finally have this mystery solved!

And now they are back where they belong in the guest room:

(In case you missed it the other day, Lily Grace had a fun post from the guest room HERE.

Just wondering, does anyone else ever get obsessed over not being able to find something that was special?  These may not seem all that valuable to you, but to me they were a link to our family's past and they had brought a smile to our faces when we saw them...and that made them valuable.

Kind of reminds me of this story in the Bible:

Luke 15:8-10

The Parable of the Lost Coin

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

In addition to the hilarity of finding the lost pillowcases, I did get some other nice things from the rest of the family:

The best gift was just being together...

Benton and Rose gave me these sweet gifts...

This beautiful pitcher and bowl is something that came from their store, Dixie Cottage. (Sorry, one of a kind...there aren't any more of them!)

Now the guest room really is ready!  If the bathroom is in use, you can always "bathe" in your room!

And this wonderful framed plaque from my sweet daughter in love Rose really touched my heart:

Since Rose's own dear mother passed away not too long after Benton and Rose were married, I have felt quite honored and blessed to be her "other mother". 

After supper and before it got dark, Scott got up on the roof to clean out the gutters, as they were full of the oak leaves from the big live oaks in our front yard.   

He disrupted this poor frog from his sleeping quarters! I believe this is the same frog I accidentally grabbed onto when I was opening the porch umbrella one morning. I don't know who jumped higher or screamed louder...me or this frog!  I'm glad to see he is still jumping around! 

So all's well that ends well. We are finally cooled down to a lovely 76 degrees and we should be able to sleep cool and peacefully tonight!

I know that I am truly blessed, and I give thanks and praise to the Lord for all His blessings.

Oh, in case you missed a good Mother's Day message yesterday, here is our pastor's message on Proverbs 31...and a song by the choir entitled

"My Mother's Bible".

Have a wonderful week my friends!

Sermon Notes: "I Will Be Happy When..."

The title above was the question posed by our pastor in the beginning of his sermon today. The sermon was based on Matthew 5:1-12,  also known as "The Sermon on the Mount" and "The Beatitudes".  You probably remember them starting out as "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven..."  and so on and so forth...

How would you answer the question, "I will be happy when..."?  Some people might answer with things like, "when I can retire...", "When I can pay off these debts...", When I grow up and can do what I want...", "When I can get out on my own"... "When I can buy a new house, or car, or whatever we think we need..." 

The "Beatitudes" listed in verses 1-11 all start out with "Blessed are...".  Some versions say "Happy are" instead of "Blessed".   "Happy are the poor in spirit?"..."Happy are those that mourn?"....
"Happy are the meek?" "Happy are those that hunger and thirst?"  "Happy are the merciful?"   "Happy are the pure in heart?"   "Happy are the peacemakers?"  "Happy are the persecuted?"

I wonder how many of us would have filled in the blank on the original question,

• "I will be happy when..."  with, 
• "when I am poor in spirit, 
• or when I am mourning, 
• or when I am meek, 
• or when I am hungry and thirsty, 
• or merciful, 
• pure in heart, 
• a peacemaker, 
• or when I am persecuted???" 

It is kind of an upside down way of looking at our own "set of rules".  We think the blessed or happy are the rich, the strong, the winners, those who get their hunger and thirst fed at the best restaurants in town, etc.,  and not the other way around. 

But Jesus said that we are blessed when we are poor in spirit, because ours will be the kingdom of heaven...

The word "poor" in the Greek translates to "abject poverty".  True poverty is a cruel thing. Those who live in poverty long for a bit of kindness. They crave a bit of dignity. 

The poor in spirit bring nothing in their hands that God needs...

• they come in their brokenness hoping to be mended
• they come in their sin hoping to be forgiven
• they come in their grief hoping to be comforted
• they come in their illness hoping to be healed

We try hard not to be poor in spirit.  We try desperately to be in control all our lives.

Our best efforts, however, leave us exhausted.  We are so desperate to do it our way that we are exhausted.

We are used to demanding what we want and expecting to get it.

There was a wealthy man whose son lay dying in an emergency room of the hospital, badly injured. He pleaded with the doctor, saying, "I will pay for the very best doctors, hospitals, surgeons, specialists, whatever it takes, wherever we have to go to save my son."

The doctor sadly said to the distraught father, "Your money can't buy anything here. All you can do now is wait and pray."   Sometimes we are brought to that place of desperation before we realize that all we can do is wait on God and pray.  When we come to that place of being "poor in spirit", then we are blessed as we realize the true kingdom of God surrounding us and in us.

“Henri Nouwen once asked Mother Teresa for spiritual direction. 'Spend one hour each day in adoration of your Lord, she said, and never do anything you know is wrong. Follow this and you'll be fine.'”

"When our need is the greatest, there is where we'll find our blessing from God."

So now I ask myself and you to answer that question, "I will be happy when..."   And the answer is: When I realize that coming to that place of utter dependence upon God is where I will find true blessing and happiness and peace.  

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor John Bennett, 02/02/2020

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.