Happy New Year! And the New One Word for 2023

Some good thoughts to ponder as we begin another New Year:

Photos taken from one of my new 2023 calendars, this one by Thomas Kincade is always a favorite.

Here it is! The first day of the New Year of 2023! So hard to believe we have come this far!!  To a young person it may not seem like any big deal...but to those of us who are "Baby Boomers", born in the middle of the last century, it may seem surreal that we are living in years that we only dreamed about way back then...and wondered just how different life would be by now.  There certainly has been a LOT of progress over the past 3/4 of a century, and yet in some ways there has been a lot of going backwards.  We may be very modern in our technological advances, but our world is becoming more and more backwards in the things that really matter, like faith, morality, and devotion to God our Creator and Jesus our Savior. It seems as though we are on a slippery slope leading to destruction, and it truly grieves my heart to see it...but I can only imagine how much more it must grieve God. 

I did not intend to start this post out on a negative note, but as my heart is attuned to God's Word and His message for us today, I am afraid that what I am seeing around us is not all butterflies and bliss.  Perhaps God is trying to get my attention...this is for me as much as it is for the rest of us...and that leads me to what I believe I am "hearing" is going to be my "One Word" for 2023...Listen.  I had said recently that I didn't want to select that word because I saw that one of my other blogging friends had already chosen it and I didn't want to be a copycat...but when I read it on her Facebook post, it jumped out at me and got my attention...was that God? Perhaps, because it keeps coming back to me every day since, and as no other word has gotten my attention as much as that one, I think I have gotten the message. And here is a verse that has also gotten my attention:

Isaiah 55:2

"Why do you spend money for what is not bread,

And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,

And let your soul delight itself in abundance."

What really got my attention in that verse is that it also includes two of my other "One Word" choices for previous years.  "Delight" was the word for 2022, and Abundance was in 2019.  Here is a link to a post that covers all of my previous years of One Word choices: Link to last year's One Word and more 

And so, yes, Lord, I am listening carefully for Your voice, telling me which way to go...

"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,

“This is the way, walk in it,”

Whenever you turn to the right hand

Or whenever you turn to the left."

Isaiah 30:21

Listening for God's voice in a lovely morning walk...painting by John Sloane from his Country Seasons 2023 calendar.

May I be attentive to God's Word and leading in my life in this new year and beyond. Amen.

So now, moving right along, it has been a very busy last weekend of 2022.  But it's all good!  Let me share the highlights of the past couple of days with you.  If you are a Facebook friend you may have already seen most of these pictures, but please just bear with me if you can.  Beware, there will be a LOT of pictures...so hold on tight for a long ride...

Friday was our sweet "daughter in love" Rose's birthday! So, at her request, we had lasagna for dinner.

We changed out the Christmas decor on the table for birthday party decor.

Here's hubby enjoying his plate of lasagna. It was a little "soupy" because I think I had too much sauce, but it sure tasted mighty good, along with a nice tossed salad and garlic bread...yummy!

There's my partially eaten dinner. Sorry if it looks messy...but it tasted much better than it looked.

See? You can see I'm happy...

And then we had birthday cake! This was a vanilla/white cake, with butter cream cheese frosting. Rose taught me how to make the frosting, and it is SO good.  This is her favorite cake:

And here comes the big blow!

She blew it all out in one big blow!

Great Job!

Her sweet hubby said she deserved a big kiss for being so sweet.

Their sweet pups, our grandpups, got some new "shoe toys" to chew on, a gift sent from Uncle Billy and Aunt Peggy.  Here' Spice enjoying her new shoe...

And here's Sugar daring anyone else to come try to take her shoe toy away! LOL.

They chewed and played with those shoes until they were all tuckered out.

So that was Friday night.

And then on Saturday my sweet sister Doris and her hubby drove two hours to come spend the day with us and celebrate a belated Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Here's Doris and I, having some fun sister time in my little play room.

Doris is the "Auntie from the city" who keeps adding more members to the little family at Pamela' Victorian Cottage!

This new little girl is timidly coming up to the front door to see if she will be welcomed by the rest of the family...

Her name is "Christmas Cheer Wendy", and she certainly is dressed cheerily in a lovely green gown with big red poinsettias decorating the front...and oh! She is a little Redhead! I believe she must be related to me!

The little mother at Pamela's Victorian Cottage is perplexed again at yet another mouth to feed and more dresses to make...but the rest of the children are quite happy to have another new playmate...

Some of the children are dressed up for Christmas and are in the kitchen, helping prepare some goodies for their guests...

Everyone in the house is scurrying about to make Wendy and their Auntie from the city feel welcome...

Yes, I think Christmas Cheer Wendy will help to make every Christmas even more cheery! There is plenty of love to go around for everyone!

Meanwhile, while we were playing with Pamela's Victorian Cottage, the guys said it was time for dessert...so here's my hubby and my brother in law Art enjoying some pie and cake and whatever else there was to eat...

And our son Benton was there to enjoy some too...btw, this was after we had a very sumptuous dinner of black eyed peas & rice, a.k.a. "Hoppin' John", Ham, Collard greens, cornbread, salad, leftover lasagna.  Oh, and son Scott was also here, but he left before I remembered to take his picture...

And sweet Rose and Doris and I sat down to have a tea party with our dessert...

We each had a "cup of Christmas Tea"...

And just enjoyed visiting and relaxing after a busy time of playing...

Oh, and my sister also gave me the other traditional gift of the "Teapot Calendar"...

(I told you this was the year for calendars! And I love them all!  Now, what day is it? LOL)

This calendar shares pictures of beautiful teapots from all around the world, with stories about them and sometimes some special recipes for teatime.

I like what that says..."Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands."  What a beautiful word picture that gives us.

Well friends, it is time to wrap this up.  While I was sitting here writing I noticed there was a beautiful sunset in the skies over Still Waters Pond, so I had to run outside and capture some pictures before it totally disappeared!

This is the first sunset of 2023:

 I thought I'd missed the best part of it so went back inside to keep writing...

And then it changed again...

And it seemed to just get more beautiful every minute...

So I'm glad I didn't quit watching and waiting...

because much like our lives, if we just "stop, look, and listen" (there's that word!)

We may discover that "the best is yet to come!"

So let us look eagerly into the New Year with joyful anticipation of what God may have in store for us. Isaiah seems to be the book with the words for us tonight...

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 "Do not remember the former things,

Nor consider the things of old.

19 Behold, I will do a new thing,

Now it shall spring forth;

Shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness

And rivers in the desert."

Happy New Year dear friends!!

Just a Quick Monday Morning Update

 Good Monday Morning friends!! I hope this Monday morning finds you up bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready for a new week!

In case you missed it yesterday, here is our song and message for Sunday.  I hope you'll enjoy our group singing "Old Time Religion".  We could all use a dose of "Old Time Religion" these days! 

I have some wonderful news regarding our friend Jimmy Hunter, the 16 year old boy who has been in ICU in a coma following a skate board accident: Per his grandmother Rhonda this morning: "Jimmy has been moved out of ICU. This is great news! He has begun to make sounds when he yawns. His fever is gone and they have removed the port in his head. He is also off the ventilator. It is progress but he is still in a coma. As always, prayers are appreciated and felt. Thanks to all of you for your support." So thank you all for your prayers on behalf of this young man. Please continue praying! They definitely seem to be helping!

The holly berries are ripening quickly now on the Holly Trees by Still Waters Pond:

Today I will be attending our ladies' Bible Study at our church for the first time. I had to miss last week because I wasn't feeling well. I am really looking forward to some fellowship with our ladies. Yes, we will wear our masks and be socially distanced, but we will be together and that is a blessing!

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of my fall flowers that are blooming so nicely these days.

This one is actually a summer flower that I planted this summer, "Blue My Mind", a miniature type of Morning Glory. I have been enjoying their bright blue flowers every morning!

I walked around to an area along the shore of Still Waters Pond, and because of all the rain we've been getting, I can't get down close to the edge without getting my feet wet. But that's okay. Once fall gets here in earnest we will enter our dry season so it is good the pond is getting full now.

I love all these pink marsh flowers growing along the edge of the pond.

Yes, the water is high. I'm hoping to take a kayak ride again soon now that it is cooling down some. Just waiting for the wind to die down too before I attempt it again. We are getting a lot of tail winds from that storm in the gulf today.

These pretty little pink zinnias have been blooming in a pot on the front porch lately. They make me smile!

This is going to be a great week...my birthday is Friday, and we don't have any particular plans for that day, (that is still up in the air and we may go out to eat with our kids Friday evening) but on Saturday my sister and her hubby and my niece will be coming, and then some other good friends from our former home are also coming to help us celebrate. They will each bring some kind of delicious food to share and we will provide the meat and basics. Yes, we will be careful, but again, we will be together and I pray that God will keep us safe and that it will be a wonderfully blessed time. It will be the first time together with these friends in a long time, and we have all missed having good fellowship with one another. 

 This double blessing appeared in the Memorial Garden yesterday...a double blossom on the Rose of Sharon bush! Another special "birthday present" from heaven!

I think I will leave it there for today.

This is a great way to start out a wonderful week!

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

even as God in Christ forgave you."

Ephesians 4:32

Friday Foto Friends -Miscellaneous Stuff from my week

Do you see anything unusual in this picture?

How about this one?

Do you know what this is?  It is an "inch worm" that was attached to the elastic strap that holds my wildlife camera to the tree trunk outside!  I did not notice it until I was taking the camera back outside after bringing it inside to check for pictures.  There weren't any pictures INSIDE the camera half as interesting as this little fella who hitchhiked on the strap inside the house and back out to the tree again!!! He sure blends in with the bark on the tree!

 Now this is what I call beautiful: This huge swallowtail butterfly just fluttered right past me and landed on this bush and sat and waited for me to take its picture!  I said, Thank you!!

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have already seen this beautiful green bug on the wild daisy one morning this past week...

Actually, I saw him two mornings in a row, on two different flowers. (that's assuming it's the same bug...might be a different one, but it was in the same location...) Isn't he magnificent? I mean, for a bug, that is...

And then this rosebud warranted two pictures and scripture verses because it was so gorgeous... (see the other at the end of this post)

Okay, all you Sand Hill Crane family fans...one evening on my usual walk to the neighborhood pond I stood on the little dock and searched all around for the crane family. Suddenly, from across the pond I saw these two cranes flying up and over the pond to the other side....So I just started snapping the pictures, not sure if it was going to capture them or not... can you see them? There's two flying together:

And then immediately following the first two came these other two...not sure which ones are the parents and which are the babies anymore as they are all pretty much the same size! Anyway, they all landed safely on the other side and started pecking away for their supper on the neighbor's lawn...(they eat grubs, frogs, bugs, anything they can poke around for and come up with that is tasty)...

Then I looked back over to the other side of the pond and noticed this lone deer standing there watching...

We don't usually see them alone, so it was a surprise to see her there by herself. I watched to see if others would join her, but none appeared, so I headed back home.

Now, shifting gears a bit, (ahem...) we went to "Ollie's" the other day...do you have "Ollie's" stores near you? It is kind of new to our area...one of those "bargain outlet" stores where they have "Good Stuff Cheap"...but I kind of doubt this antique Thunderbird qualifies for "good stuff cheap"...

 If it did, I'd be wanting one too! LOL

Next door to Ollie's is a new "Roses" store, another bargain department store that just opened up in the former JC Penney's store of the old mall that is practically empty except for these new stores... and somehow, this skirt just called out to me from across a crowded store... must be the "gypsy" or preferably the "shabby chic" in me...what do you think?  My hubby actually talked me into buying it. (It was under $10.00) I decided that if I don't feel comfortable wearing it in public I could always use it for a tablecloth!  LOL.  (I still wish the JC Penney's store was there...that made me sad when it closed).

Okay, that's all for this week (unless some other photo "develops" in the next few hours before this blog is actually posted for Friday morning)

I hope you will traipse on over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what the other Friday Foto Friends have discovered this week...

Until next time, have a blessed and beautiful week....

(same rose, next day)