Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

 Good Evening Everyone! I hope this finds you doing well and enjoying special blessings of the week. We've been enjoying this week's cool morning temperatures in the mid 50's, and gorgeous sunny and cooler days.  It has actually felt like fall here in north central Florida! Hooray!!

The cup of tea says it well, "Thankful and Blessed".

I am combining two days because I am late on Thursday, and I don't know what tomorrow may bring...so I might as well "kill two birds with one stone".  Oh, maybe not a good way to start this post...but then look...there was this "murder of crows" out on Still Waters Pond this afternoon, and I guess that got me off to a more "sinister" beginning.  LOL.  Sorry about that.

Per Google: A "murder of crows" is the traditional collective noun for a flock of crows, rooted in old folklore and superstitions that associated the scavenging birds with death and battlefields."  It looks like these crows are definitely scavenging for something to eat on top of the dried up muck along the shore of Still Waters Pond.  The water in the background is still quite covered with algae, and I can only pray that we get some rain this weekend to help dissipate the algae and help the pond get back to being a "fresh water pond" again.  

The crows weren't the only ones out there foraging for food along the shore of the "pea soup pond".  Here's our resident Red Shouldered Hawk looking for something to eat...

Isn't that goldenrod plant lovely? Standing there all by itself, looking so proud and golden!

And here's that very handsome Hawk up in the tree! Isn't he gorgeous?

Some of you who are Facebook friends may have already seen some of these pictures the other day, but don't go away. I do have some new ones to show you as well.  I just didn't want the non-Facebook friends to miss out on anything important! 

Yes, sadly, everywhere there is water on the pond, it has been covered in an algae bloom. I looked it up to see if it is toxic, and I don't think this particular algae is toxic. It's just an ordinary algae.  Hopefully it will go away when the rains come.

The Muscovy Ducks don't seem to mind swimming and fishing in it...

My little buddy Blackie and I have been enjoying these beautiful cooler days by spending some time walking around the pond and yard, and sitting in the Secret Memorial Garden watching the birds.

This is my little "Open Window" in the garden...

Actually, this is what that is...and my zinnias are enjoying it so much.

The swing needs some work and I'm afraid to sit on it until it is fixed:

But Blackie and I enjoy sitting on the garden bench together.

This is our shady little sanctuary where we can watch the birds and feel the breeze and just pray and give thanks to the Lord for another day of life and love...

I am thrilled that the holly tree is loaded with holly berries. They are ripening up and getting ready for the migration of the birds heading further south for the winter...usually the Robins and Cedar Waxwings come flying through here in November.

Blackie likes to sharpen his claws and claim this planter box as HIS territory!

Then he lays down in the grass and gives me "the look". LOL.

And then when I am heading back inside the house he loves to run and roll in the white sand in our driveway, hoping I will come tickle his tummy...(which I do with my shoe/foot)

And then he tries to run into the house with me, covered in all that white sand...and well...nope! Not this time, buddy! Go roll in the grass and knock off that sand first! LOL.  He is still such a scamp!

And we love him. He's been one of God's special little blessings to us.

Another blessing this week...we were able to go and cast our ballots for the mid term elections...

We are very thankful to have the freedom and right to vote, and I pray that we never lose that privilege. I'm only sorry I wasn't wearing a RED sweater instead of a blue one. Only because I don't have a red sweater...

Please pray for our country...and please go vote to keep our freedoms intact.

After voting we stopped by our local grocery store, and they had some nice fresh apples on sale. (Fresh from somewhere up north, Michigan, I think, since we don't grow apples here in Florida, boo hoo).

Hubby said he would LOVE an apple pie! 

And it sounded good to me as well...so here you go:

And yes! It was as good as it looked, maybe even better!

Now here's a fall dinner...actually, our son Benton has been eating a lot of meals with us this week because his sweet wifey Rose is in Minnesota visiting her father and family up there, and so he's been over here for supper most evenings.   On this particular night we had Kielbasa and Cabbage and Mashed Potatoes and corn. Now if that isn't a fall dinner, I don't know what is! The only bad part was after that Benton and I had to go to choir practice with a full tummy of some very gassy cabbage! LOL.  

Then last night we had meatloaf, scalloped potatoes and zucchini and onions. This plate was actually tonight's leftovers, so it doesn't look as pretty as it did last night. But it was still really good! 

Well, folks, I just went out and took this picture of the sunset before it totally slipped down behind the trees.  I can see a tiny bit of clear water there on the pond, giving a little bit of a reflection!! Oh, that makes me smile so big!!

Ephesians 1:3

3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."

Amen.

One more thing to be thankful for...last year's mums continue to bloom! It's the little things that make me smile and say, Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on me! Amen.

Good Night and Sweet Dreams.

Sermon Notes: Stuck In Between

In case you didn't know it, this week is Thanksgiving!

(Sermon Notes 11/18/18)

It seems as though Thanksgiving is being forgotten, stuck in the middle between Halloween and Christmas. If you went to the stores in August and September and October, you saw lots and lots of Halloween decorations and costumes.  And then about mid-way through October (or maybe even sooner) they started putting out Christmas decorations.  If you looked hard enough, you might find a few things that had to do with Thanksgiving, but not really very much. It was either Fall or Christmas, but not much emphasis on Giving Thanks.

Perhaps we don't think we have much to thank God for...perhaps the material world has gotten to us, and we don't stop and think about where everything came from...or to Whom we should give thanks.

Our scripture for today is:

Psalm 100 (NKJV)

1.  "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!

2.  Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

3.  Know that the Lord, He is God;

It is He who has made us,

and not we ourselves;

We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4.  Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

5.  For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

and His truth endures to all generations."

God warned the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 8:10-11 not to forget Him when they entered into the land which He had given them:

10.  "When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

11.  Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today..."

(you can read the rest of that chapter for the full story)

God is not just talking to the Israelites in the 100th Psalm...see verse 1:

"Make a joyful shout to the Lord, ALL YOU LANDS!"

And He is not just speaking to the people in Bible times...see verse 5:

"For the Lord is good;

His mercy is everlasting,

and His truth endures to ALL GENERATIONS."

The Meriam Webster definition of Thanksgiving is:

1. a: capitalized : THANKSGIVING DAY
b: a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness
2: the act of giving thanks
3: a prayer expressing gratitude

• When we live with an "attitude of gratitude" it has been said that those who frequently feel grateful have more energy
• Are less likely to become depressed

Don't leave your "attitude of gratitude" at the Thanksgiving table.

Acknowledge and remember that God has blessed us in mighty, mighty ways

Sometimes we get in the habit of complaining instead of expressing our thankfulness.

We have become so spoiled.  When we have to take an airplane flight somewhere instead of exclaiming about the miracle of "Wow! We're Flying!", we instead complain about how cramped the seats are, or the long lines we had to wait in at the airport, or that the WiFi didn't work on the plane...Things that we never even heard of not too many years ago, and now we are so spoiled we complain and gripe when we are delayed or uncomfortable for an hour or so.

People in Jesus' time were no different...In the book of John chapter six, just after Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two small fish,  the next day Jesus said to the multitude who chased after Him to the other side of the sea, 

in John 6:26-27

"Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

27.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life,

which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

The people came with an attitude of entitlement, expecting Jesus to keep feeding them, rather than acknowledging and giving thanks for the miracle of the blessing of the bread from heaven, which does not perish, but gives everlasting life.

The Biblical antidote to a complaining, demanding spirit is 

• to give thanks...express thanksgiving to God
• Read God's Word daily
• come together as a community of faith to encourage one another
• Draw closer to God

Recognize that we are all flawed, but when we do these things we will see that this will become the basis for our Thanksgiving.  When we begin to praise God and give Him thanks for all He has done we will find that our "attitude of gratitude" will become the norm rather than the exception.

Here are some words to reflect on as we enter this week of "Thanksgiving":

"Holy God, we thank You for the promise of Your Presence.

You call us to be part of Your new creation.

Loving Christ, we celebrate Your call to join You in God's new creation.

We come to join the harvest,

to help carry Your news out into the world.

Empowering Holy Spirit, we give thanks that You encourage us to respond with joy.

Come fill us now, as we gather to share Your Presence in the bread and cup."

Ephesians 1:3

"God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

Amen! And Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

Sermon Notes: FUMC Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 11/18/2018