Wednesday Treasures...A little "Rest for your Souls"

Happy Wednesday Morning! Welcome to my "Wednesday Treasures" for this week! This is the day I like to share special treasures that I find, either inside or outside of my home. Today will be a mixture of both.

Let's start with a verse for the day, which I believe goes along well with the things I see, and also for where we may be in our Lenten Journey leading up to Easter.  

Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV

"28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

The rosebush that I recently planted is blooming again. I was afraid that some of the buds would be hurt by a late frost we had last week, and although some of the  edges of the petals are a little bit frost bit, that didn't stop the roses from blooming beautifully to give us such delight! This is how looks this morning

And this is how it looked yesterday morning...

Yes, there are two of them, and even though the frost did a little damage, they are blooming for the glory of God...and their fragrance is exquisite!

I thank the Lord for these little blessings...every blossom is a gift...

And here's another "gift", or "treasure"...Yes, that's Blackie, who came to visit me here in my little "Room With A View" while I was working h ere this morning...He just loves to be near us, wherever we are. Right now he's sleeping in Daddy's lap, but you've seen pictures of that before...

You may be getting tired of the pictures of the wisteria...but everytime I see them they are such a joy to me, I have to take their picture. We saw these in another location on our morning walk yesterday, growing there on an old homesite in our historic section of our little town, where they had to tear down or move the old houses to widen the highway you see there in the background...

I just love that these flowers continue to bloom every year in spite of the fact that the house where they were planted is long gone and the persons who tended  and cared for these plants are no longer there or even living to see the fruit of their labors from so many years ago. The flowers continue to grow and flourish and bless us today.  I wish those dear ones who planted these wisteria could see that what they did so long ago still matters and gives joy and delight today!  Oh! That my life could be that kind of treasure even long after I am gone...what we do here today does truly matter!!!

I wonder if all those trucks and people passing by on the highway even take notice of this beautiful treasure that is gracing the byway?  I did...I first saw it from the highway, and I knew I had to come see it up close and personal!  Yes, friends, the things we leave behind us do have a lasting impact on others who may pass by in the future!  Something to really think about, isn't it?

And speaking of our historical downtown, do you remember when I shared with you about this old building that used to be a general store for many many years, and was literally almost falling down in disrepair, and I kept hoping and praying that someone would come along and restore it???

Here's a link to a previous story about "The Brush General Store"

And here's another one! I've been obsessed with this store for a while! That link tells more of the history of the store, with some old pictures from way back in it's heyday!

Well, I was excited to see painters out working on it last week, and when I drove by last night on my way to choir practice, it appeared they were done painting, and look how lovely it is:

Now I am just waiting to see what the new owners are planning to do with it! I hope it will be something fun and exciting!

Back home to our house and the still very dry Still Waters Pond...some of you have asked about our Sand Hill Cranes. Normally this time of year they would have already been nesting and have had one or two baby "colts" by now.  However, this year, due to the very dry pond, they were unable to build their nest as usual. I think they may have tried to, but because there's no water surrounding their nesting area, they were accessible to predators who could literally walk across the pond to get to their nest, and I think that is exactly what happened, so our Sand Hill Crane couple is childless this spring. I don't know if they will try again if/when the pond ever gets any water...I assume they will just wait until next spring and try again then...hopefully! I miss watch the new baby "colts" growing up in our yard as they have for most every year we have lived here.

But anyway, here are some pictures of our couple standing out in the dry pond yesterday morning...

I hope they have another chance next year! Please pray for rain! We are supposed to get some later today, but it doesn't look like it will be much, if any.

This was the sunrise yesterday morning. Today it is too dark and cloudy, and I don't expect to see the sun all day...but there's still sunshine in my heart...

I hope you enjoyed these "treasures" today, and that this little time spent enjoying God's creation together was a time of "rest for your soul".

Have a blessed rest of your day and week.

 

Wednesday Treasures and a Story

 

I have a lot to share with you today, but not everything has a picture so I will have to write a word picture of the adventure I had yesterday afternoon.  But first let's have some pictures of some beauty I found yesterday morning while walking in "God's Garden".   I call it "God's Garden", because man did not plant or cultivate it or make it grow.  There may have been a time many years ago when some dear old fashioned lady or ladies from the houses that are now long gone possibly planted or at least appreciated these flowers, but for the most part, I believe these are all growing wild from God's old fashioned gardens that He planted on the earth.

This is just a common Spiderwort (wild) that is growing profusely all around the area where we love to walk on the walking trails through our old historic downtown area.  I've told you about this area many times, it is where the railroad tracks used to go through town, and there were many old homes along the way back in the day, but eventually the train ceased its travels through our town and the roadway nearby became a four lane highway and the old houses were in the way, so they had to go.  But there are remains of their lawns and these wildflowers are taking over. I love it. Everytime we walk there it seems something different is blooming.

There was so much of this Spiderwort growing that I had to pick some and bring it home.

With the flash on the camera it looks more pinkish lavender, but it really is more like what you see above, a bluish lavender, and they were so full and pretty, you'd think they were cultivated flowers.

I love to see how the light shines through the vase, don't you? I know our friend Sandra from MadSnapper does.

Anyway, I did not realize that the flowers would close up overnight, but they did, and now this morning I see that new buds are opening up!  You know, there is beauty even in closed buds opening, isn't there? New life beginning new every morning...

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

The same buds a few hours later:

Even the simple Lantana is putting on a beautiful spring bonnet already...

I didn't bring any of this home, because it has such a strong fragrance that I cannot stand to have in the house. So I left it there for others to enjoy...especially the butterflies and bees.

And the Coral Bean plant is really putting on its prettiest red dress for the party!

This beauty was a new one for me this spring! I'd never seen it before, and now I see it growing almost everywhere around the old downtown and also beside our church parking lot.  It is called Cat's Claw Vine!

Isn't it lovely??

Speaking of "Cat's Claw"...There are no updates on our kitty situation, at least none that I know of yet this morning. If anything new develops I will be sure to send out an announcement!  Just keep praying about this whole situation, because having kittens is not something I bargained for when I said I would feed these cats for my neighbor when she was no longer able to do so. For those of you who have always had cats and have been through this, you may not understand my angst over the whole scenario. But for me it is brand new territory and also something that I do not have full support from other members of my household to participate in, so it is causing a bit of stress here on the homefront.  So we are taking it one day at a time and waiting on things to develop, and praying it all goes well with no complications...or what's the name of that show, "Call the Midwife"?...I may need to do that...LOL.

Blackie Sue, just this morning...

Back to our walk downtown, I wanted to check on the progress of this old Brush General Store building that is being restored.  Progress is finally being made on the roof and the top gable! It's starting to look like there's real hope for this building afterall!!

Now,  for the story I promised...

Remember I told you the sad story about the Sand Hill Crane family having lost one of it's Colts HERE on Monday.  As we know, nature is often fraught with many dangers as it tries to dwell in our fast paced world.  We don't know what happened to that baby, but I'm sure the parents and remaining sibling have felt its loss.  How do I know that? Well, yesterday evening Mama and Daddy Crane very nearly lost the other colt, and their heart wrenching cries were so anxious and filled with urgency and pleading that I literally burst into tears in my own sorrow for their extreme panic as they searched frantically for their lost baby...they flew up into the air together and circled all around the area where they thought he should be...then they flew back to the pond and stood out in the middle of the pond on a little marshy bar and called and called for him.  After a few minutes of searching the surrounding waters and area of the pond, they flew up onto our yard along the shore and both parents called with their shrill, ear piercing call, desperately trying to communicate with their lost child to come home. They paced back and forth, never ceasing in their calls, and if birds could pray, I am sure they were praying for the return of their lost child.

Meanwhile, out in our front yard, there was another kind of commotion going on.  That is where the search for the colt had originated, across the street from our house where there is an empty lot. A man had been walking his German Shepherd dog, who was on a very strong harness/leash, and the dog had discovered the colt in the grass, lying down and curled up in a protective position.  My hubby was on the front porch, and the man told him the colt was over there, and he looked fine, just frightened.  So hubby came and found me on the back porch, pacing back and forth and crying for the heart broken parents and wishing I could do something to help them find their lost baby.  He said, come quick! The baby is across the street in the grass!  So I ran over there and went right up to him, and sure enough, there he was, crouched down in the grass, looking very frightened.  

By this time the parent cranes were walking around our house and crossing the street, but they were further down the street from where the baby was.  So I ran over closer to the parents and tried to get them to follow me to where their baby was, but they got frightened and started to go the opposite way.  So I told John to stay beside the baby so nothing would come near him, and I ran back in the house and got a cup full of bird seed (their favorite thing that we had quit giving to them in order to keep the ducks away from our house).  As I ran toward the parents I held out the cup and started scattering some bird seed toward them, and they immediately turned around and started to follow me! I kept leaving a trail of bird seed along the way as I led them back toward where the baby was.  I got ahead of them as they were still kind of not too sure about following me,  and so I went where the baby was and put some bird seed down on the ground in front of him, and he immediately stood up and looked at me and knew that bird seed was something he liked and wanted.  When he stood up, I called to the parents again, and now they finally saw the baby standing there and they came running toward him.  Hubby and I stepped back out of the way and watched as the family was happily reunited...and they immediately "told" the colt to follow them, and they headed off down the street in another direction together.  

As you can imagine, I was so emotionally spent by this experience, I was still crying, but now tears of great joy, for their lost child was found and thankfully this story had a happy ending.  And then I had to hurry up and leave for choir practice as I was almost late...but I was able to go with a happy song in my heart for God heard my prayers and the prayers of the Crane parents, and their only remaining child was restored to them.

In Luke chapter 15 Jesus tells several parables about things that were lost...The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Lost (Prodigal) Son.  They all tell about how precious those things were to the one who had lost them, and how much they rejoiced and celebrated when that which was lost was finally found.

This one about the lost sheep is the one that is sticking into my mind the most,  as I watched how those parent cranes searched so diligently and anxiously and cried loudly for their lost child...and then I know they were rejoicing in their own way when they found their baby...just as I was...

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

There is a song that I have always loved called "The Ninety and Nine".  Here it is for you to sing along with and enjoy with me.   As we approach Easter in the next couple of weeks, may we always remember that Jesus came here seeking for each one of us, and He was willing to go to the cross and die for us so that we would be rescued and saved.  And yes, there is was much rejoicing in heaven when we were finally rescued from our sins by the blood of  Jesus Christ.  

The Ninety And Nine

Song by Bill & Gloria Gaither and Guy Penrod ‧ 2011

Lyrics

There were ninety and nine that safely

lay

In the shelter of the fold;

But one was out on the hills away,

Far off from the gates of gold.

Away on the mountains wild and bare;

Away from the tender Shepherd's

care.

"Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and

nine;

Are they not enough for Thee?"

But the Shepherd made answer: "This

of Mine

Has wandered away from Me.

And although the road be rough and

steep,

I go to the desert to find My sheep."

But none of the ransomed ever knew

How deep were the waters crossed;

Nor how dark was the night the Lord

passed through

Ere He found His sheep that was lost.

Out in the desert He heard its cry;

'Twas sick and helpless and ready to

die.

"Lord, whence are those blood-drops

all the way,

That mark out the mountain's track?"

"They were shed for one who had

gone astray

Ere the Shepherd could bring him

back."

"Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent

and torn?"

"They're pierced tonight by many a

thorn."

And all through the mountains,

thunder-riv'n,

And up from the rocky steep,

There arose a glad cry to the gate of

heav'n,

"Rejoice! I have found My sheep!"

And the angels echoed around the

throne,

"Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His

own!"

And just as I was finishing up this post, the happy family came by to thank us for finding their lost "sheep".  

I love it when a story has a happy ending, don't you?

Praise God! 

"Rejoice! For the Lord brings back His own!"

Amen.