Sunday GRACE

 Good Sunday Morning! (It is actually after NOON now, but I started out trying to write this morning, but ran out of time!  That time change messes me up every time!  Hopefully everyone set their clocks ahead last night and you made it to church on time!  We did, but my body time clock is all messed up and it takes a while to adjust.  It's 12:09 DLS time, but my body tells me it is still 11:09 a.m.   (and after several interruptions, it is now 3:06 pm before this is published!)

Anywho...We had a good service at church today. Only one dear soul walked in at the closing, having forgotten to set her clocks...but she was heartily welcomed as soon as the pastor gave the benediction! She was laughing, and we were all just glad to see her, no matter what time she arrived!

Our choir sang a beautiful song this morning, entitled "Grace". I hope you will enjoy listening to it, and reading along with the words. They are so meaningful. I am giving you two options for listening...this first video is from the internet, and it is so beautifully done, with the lyrics on the screen as as it is being sung.

Grace, by Carolyn Hamlin

"Lord, as I seek your guidance for the day,

I find my thoughts unyielding; confusion crowds my way;

But then when I bow to you, the challenges you guide me through.

Your promises are ever new, I claim them for today.

 

Your will cannot lead me where your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me, I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there.

 

Each new day’s design is charted by your hand,

and graciously revealed as I seek your Master plan.

Keep my footsteps faithful when from you I go.

Return me to the joy that your blessings can bestow.

 

Your will cannot lead me where your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me, I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there.

 

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there."

This second video is from our church choir, followed by our Pastor's sermon from James 4:13-5:12, which was excellent.  I wanted to include both videos, because the first one has the lyrics so you can fully appreciate the song as you hear it. Also, our choir was missing several members when we practiced and recorded the song this past week,  including me. I was not feeling well that evening, so I missed choir rehearsal. But even without several members, our choir still did a lovely job of singing it. I hope you will enjoy the words as well as the melody.

I recently learned a wonderful acrostic from our Pastor for remembering the true meaning of the word GRACE:

God's

 Riches

 At

 Christ's

 Expense

Christ paid for our salvation with His own blood, and gave us eternal life as a free gift. That is GRACE. We cannot earn it nor did we deserve it. It is totally a gift from God. It is up to us to accept it, however. You know, no gift, no matter how wonderful, will do us any good if we don't accept it.  Something to think about!

Now, on another note, I think our Bluebird family has flown the coop, or birdhouse, that is.  This is what we discovered early this morning:

It looks like the nest is being pulled out of the hole, and there are no birds in sight.

I asked Mr. and Mrs. Canada Goose if they had seen or heard anything unusual,

but they just turned their heads and ignored me and kept eating their breakfast, acting as if nothing was different at all. 

Yesterday morning Mr. Bluebird sat in the tree nearby and let me take his picture:

Isn't he beautiful? 

 I am thinking he was sitting there to watch the nest, and didn't even seem to mind that I was right nearby. Maybe because he knew the babies were getting ready to come out and he couldn't take his eyes off the nest.

But I must admit to being a bit disappointed. I had hoped to get to see the babies before they left.

But when I got home from church today, this is how the nest looked...

No sign of any activity around it. Could the babies have flown that soon? Or do the parents move them to somewhere else to teach them to fly? I need to do some reading about the activities of Bluebirds, I guess.  I hope a predator didn't invade the nest and make them move away prematurely.  I have a lot to learn, I guess. I'm kind of thinking something happened, because it seems like we should have seen the babies before they left. Hmmm...

Some thoughts come to mind from the book of

  I Peter 5:5-9

"5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.”

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."

Perhaps Mr. Bluebird was watching for any predators that might be lurking about...I know he chased off some Blue Jays several times. I don't know, but I hope Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird are safe somewhere and that they will be steadfast in their "faith" and keep persevering.    

I believe we should take heart...God notices and takes care of the "sparrows" (and bluebirds) of life, and if so, He will also take care of us.   

Luke 12:6-7

6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 

7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Back to refrain in the song, "Grace":

"Your will cannot lead me where your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me, I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there."

That is a beautiful thought to close this post. Let's leave it right there.

Amen.

Friday Foto Friends: What Do You See?

Hello Friday Foto Friends! Another week has come and gone! Wow! Can you believe this is the last weekend in October? Halloween, End of Daylight Savings time! (Fall back), the last weekend before the election? (Don't worry, not going to talk about that) and a Full Moon!

Right now as I write (Thursday night)

So as I started to put this post together, sorting through the pictures I've taken this past week, I kind of discovered a recurring theme...each picture is kind of like a mystery photo...different shapes, items, shadows, things...so I thought instead of me telling you what the pictures are, I'd let you see whatever you see in the pictures and you can tell me in your comments. I may have some connecting thoughts throughout the page, but I really hope that you will use your imagination and tell me what you see or don't see or think you see. There is no exact answer...I just want us to use our imaginations and tell us what you see.

This first one is pretty obvious...it's kind of a selfie, but actually it was totally by accident. I was trying to take a picture of that old mirror hanging on the wall in the church Thrift store garage when I went to visit again the other day. I never even realized I was taking a picture of myself when I snapped this photo, so this was a surprise to me.  Might have been a surprise to someone else too...I wasn't the only one in the picture. LOL.

This is a picture of a picture in the thrift store. Do you see what I see?

Can you guess why I wanted to take a picture of this picture?

Now, I wonder how many of you will see what I saw in this cloud:

I must tell you the story about it.  My hubby and I went for our usual evening walk. No sooner had we stepped out of our car to begin walking when we started hearing what sounded like gunshots on the other side of the woods. We debated whether or not to keep walking or just get back in the car and leave, but we decided to keep walking. However, the gunshots kept happening, and we walked a little faster and actually held each other's hands as we walked.  Hubby moved to my right, which was between me and the direction from where we could hear the gunshots. My hero!  Now, please understand, this is a wooded area, but not wooded enough for hunters. There are homes not far away, and the shots were actually coming from the direction of where the houses were on the other side of those trees. But it was a pretty good distance away from us, and we decided someone must be doing some target practice and they weren't aiming at us. So we kept walking. But to be honest, I was nervous. Maybe even a little bit scared. By the time we got down to the other end of the road we were discussing what to do if the shots kept firing. I was praying as we walked. And I looked up in the sky and I saw this cloud above . And immediately I felt totally at peace. I knew that God had sent this angel to pray for us and that we needed not fear.

For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.

Psalm 91:11

And we walked all the way back to our car and never heard another shot.

Thank You, Jesus!

Now this cloud below wasn't so "angelic" as the other one. This was taken on another evening, through the window as we drove along the road again to go for our walk.

What do YOU see in these clouds? (Pardon the spots on the window...not sure if they were raindrops or just dirt...I didn't notice it at the time)

Now, I wonder if you can see what I see in this photo below?

You have a good eye if you can spot the spider web!

Thankfully, my "hero" spotted it before we walked right into it!

He is pointing to where it was stretched across the road,  coming down from a tree limb above us and attached to some weeds on the edge of the road.

This is what we would have walked into had he not been very observant:

Coming toward it from the other direction, which was actually the direction we were walking originally,  can you see it?  Aren't you glad my hero saw it first?

This was the morning sunshine on one of those morning walks:

I guess the pink spots were spots on my camera lens as the very bright sun shone through. Either that, or there were pink balloons being sent up into the sky...what do YOU see?

Now this is one of my favorite pictures of the week: 

Sunrise from my front porch!  Here is what I wrote on my Facebook page that morning:

"Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, 

By His name YAH, and rejoice before Him." 

Psalm 68:4

The interesting thing is, I did not see those figures "riding on the clouds" until after I posted the picture online and also not until after I selected that particular verse to go with it. Now, do you see what I see?

Revelation 3:8 NKJV

 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;

 for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. 

My collection of antique doorknobs.

But what do YOU see? 

There may be a clue here for a previous post for those of you who are still trying to figure out the answer to my scavenger hunt.

But you will have to wait until Halloween for the answer.

And speaking of Halloween, which is tomorrow, by the way, 

what do YOU see in this picture below?

All in good fun, of course...

I'll be interested to hear your replies to this and all of the other questions above.

Regardless of what you see or don't see, or whether or not we all agree on things or agree to disagree, here is a passage that is on my mind going into next week:

"I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;

so shall I be saved from my enemies."

Psalm 18:1-3

Amen

Have a wonderful weekend!

Don't forget to turn your clocks back!

Daylight Savings Time and Super Worm Moon, Oh My!

 Who knew that we would have Daylight Savings Time and a "Super Worm Moon" all in the same week? Well, probably the people who keep up with such things knew it, but I have been a little out of the loop on all things happening in the world lately, so this beautiful full moon really caught my attention this morning:

 Click HERE for the Almanac information on the Super Worm Moon!

 According to the article, the earthworms start coming out of the ground during this moon, so I wonder how many earthworms are out there? I need to go check in the morning. I know you are anxious to see them, right???

 I wish my camera could get better moon shots, because this definitely does NOT do it justice! It was gorgeous, and this was around 7 a.m. today!

 I guess one benefit of being on Daylight Savings Time is we can wake up with the moon still shining...

And practically go to bed not long after sunset...which was at 7:20 pm last night:

It was a little cloudy, but still beautiful, and a lovely ending to a long day....

Who likes daylight savings time?  I know I generally do NOT like it the first week while still adjusting my body clock to the new hours...

Thankfully I now have this sweet little bedfellow "Bear Bear" to keep me company in bed...and help me snuggle down and go to sleep even when the moon is shining brightly through the window and yet it was just barely dark a few minutes before...

"Bear Bear" was a gift from my hubby while I was in the hospital last week. Hubby knew I would need something soft and cuddly to snuggle while recovering from surgery...and "Bear Bear" has been just perfect.

(If you've already seen some of these pictures on Facebook, sorry...just "bear" with me! LOL There are some new pictures toward the end of this post)

Speaking of recuperation, I am doing quite well, all things considered, and am very thankful to be able to be up and around and having less and less pain every day.  Yesterday afternoon I followed the Doctor's orders to try and take several walks every day. I took one walk about the yard, and enjoyed seeing what all was growing in my absence.

 This beautiful tiny little wildflower is growing all around the banks of the pond. It is a Tenangle Pipewort.  In spite of its strange name, isn't it lovely? Look at all the details! Only our Creator God could imagine such a beautifully detailed flower that is hardly as large as a nickel!

 This is another example of the beautiful flowers blooming around the pond. "Narrowleaf Sunflower"


Now, this below is my "Rose of Sharon" bush that I brought here from the Memorial Garden at our old house when we moved. I know I need to get it planted, but I am just so happy to see that it is sending out new leaves.  Mr. "Froggy_Splatt" is taking good care of it.  (The red flowers in the background are poinsettias left over from Christmas and still blooming!)

 I was also happy to see the new "Knockout Rose" bushes that we planted a few weeks ago are blooming again in front of the house.

That is a welcoming sight! Especially since we haven't had much rain, and I wasn't here to water them.  My son did water them for me last night when I asked him if he would.

 There has been a lot of bird and other activity around our yard and on Still Waters Pond:

 Mrs. Cardinal having her afternoon snack.

 This tiny little Yellow Rumped Warbler stood still long enough for me to capture a couple of photos.

And today I saw our first Goldfinch on the finch feeder!

 I do hope he will bring the rest of the family to enjoy the feast...

Mr. Cardinal decided that today was a good day for a bath, even if it isn't Saturday!

 He looks refreshed and ready to enjoy the extra hours of daylight...(although I don't think it matters to him...it's all the same)

 These Suwannee River Sliders (Cooters) are enjoying an afternoon in the sunshine!

 My hubby just called my attention to a Bluebird sitting on the front fence. Unfortunately, because I am still moving rather slowly, he flew away just as I was getting ready to take a picture...but at least I know they are still around. He said there were two of them. Maybe they will come and check out our birdhouse yet!! I've been watching and waiting.

I know everyone is getting quite concerned about this Corona Virus "epidemic"...and certainly we need to be aware and take necessary precautions, but not give in to panic and despair. 
I know I have quoted Psalm 91 before, but it is the Psalm that comes back to me again and again when I think about this virus that is stalking about.  It gives me peace and comfort, and I hope it will you as well.

Psalm 91  (NKJV)

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

Amen.

I trust that you are putting your trust in the Lord to watch over you and your loved ones during these difficult days.  And yes, wash your hands...be sensible about where you go and what you do, but don't panic. God is with you. He has promised to take care of His children. And He will not leave us nor forsake us.

Most of all, May God bless you with peace.

Friday Foto Friends is Back!

I am so happy that our friend Debbie over at Breathing in Grace has opened the link back up for our Friday Foto Friends to gather!    I hope all our friends got the message and are working on something special to link up today!  I knew about it, but was so busy yesterday that I forgot to work on my post last night, so now I have to hurry up and come up with something this morning...and I think I've already used most of my best pictures from this week in other posts. So bear with me while I go search for some good pictures to share with you.  Meanwhile...you can go over to the link for Friday Foto Friends  and see what everyone else has been doing.  But be sure to come back here and check on whatever I come up with, okay? Okay.

Now that that is settled, let me see what I can share with you today:

In our morning walk yesterday I saw this bird up in a tree, and at first I wondered if it was an eagle because of the white head, but upon closer inspection I realized it was one of the Swallow Tailed Kites that we've seen flying around overhead this past week.  (You can click on that link for more information on this interesting bird and his habits...it helped explain what we have been witnessing the past few days)

 Isn't he pretty?

 A little later I noticed that the birds kept flying around and over this tree that I could see from our kitchen window...and there is one of the birds sitting in the tree...presumably this is where they are building a nest...

I hope so, because I can watch them from the kitchen while washing dishes and cooking.  However, I need to look through binoculars or the zoom lens of my camera to see them this close...

I could hear them calling to each other when I stepped outside and looked up at the sky...At first I could only see three of them, but after watching for awhile I realized there were actually four chasing each other around and around...

 It was fun to watch. They are so graceful as they glide up and around, swooping low and back up again like a beautiful dance. 

It's still a little too early this morning for me to go check and see if they are still out there...but maybe later when we take our walk we will see them again.  I'll be sure to give you updates!

Now for something else:

 We also walked to the neighborhood "pond" during our morning walk, and this White Egret was looking for his breakfast...I'm sure he's sitting at a bountiful breakfast buffet right there in the middle of that marshy area of the pond.

Back to our house...I am just marveling at the beauty of our wisteria blossoms this year!  They have been so lush and beautiful!

So I will leave it at that.  I thought perhaps I could run around outside this morning and capture some new pictures, but it is a little cooler out than I realized, about 43 this morning, which is cool for this time of year...and I'm just waking up and don't need to get myself quite that awake just yet!! LOL.

Speaking of being awake...as anyone else had a difficult time adjusting to the time change this past week?  I know I have, and every morning I find that I just want to stay in bed a little bit longer because it is still dark outside and my body clock refuses to adapt!!!  I do wish they'd leave the time alone and let us old folks enjoy our beauty sleep! LOL.

Here's some thoughts from God's Word to think about this morning as we wake up:

Romans 13:10-12

10.  "Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

11.  And do this, knowing the time,

that now it is high time to awake out of sleep;

for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

12.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand.

Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness,

and let us put on the armor of light."

In thinking about our neighbors, last week I asked you to pray for one of our neighbors.  Thank you for praying.  Our dear neighbor, April, peacefully passed on to be with the Lord not long after we prayed for her.  Thankfully her loved ones were able to be with her as she passed.  So, thank you for praying. It was her time to go meet the Lord, and I believe our prayers helped her to go in peace. Now may the Lord give comfort to her loved ones and dear friends.


Okay, with those thoughts in mind, let us go on over and visit with our friends at Breathing in Grace for our Friday Foto Friends re-gathering! Thank you so much, Debbie, for bringing us back together again. We've missed you!!!