Life On Still Waters Pond

Psalm 24:1-2

1.  "The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness,

The world and those who dwell therein.

2.  For He has founded it upon the seas,

 and established it upon the waters."

Psalm 23

1.  "The Lord is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

2.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures

 He leads me beside the still waters.

3.  He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness 
For His name's sake.

4.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever!"

Amen.

Good Tuesday morning, friends!  I hope you enjoyed this little tour around "Still Waters Pond" with the thoughts from Psalms 23 and Psalm 24 to accompany us.  I did a little walkabout the pond the other morning, hoping again to find a spot dry enough to cross over to the little island. If you were with me HERE, when I tried this once before, you will know that this has been a desire that I've had ever since we moved here.  But alas! Even though the pond is getting drier and drier due to lack of any consistent good rain, it is still too mucky for me to attempt that trek again.   I guess I'll just have to wait until either it gets drier (but I hope it doesn't!!), or it gets full enough of water to float a little kayak or canoe over. (Now that will be a video worth watching IF it ever happens! LOL).  

Because the pond is getting so dry, we are discovering some things that have been "left behind" or disposed of in the pond during its wetter days.  Here's a few of the pictures that I didn't include in the above montage since they just wouldn't have quite fit the narration:

I know some people do like to use old tires as a planter for flowers...well, "Mother Nature" created her own display in this "lovely" flower pot...

The bottom of the pond is getting so dry in some places that there are little tiny yellow flowers popping up all over in the midst of the mud.  They are actually kind of pretty, but it's interesting they they are blooming in the mucky "desert"....

This (below) is a picture from the past, of the interior of our house before we moved in and before we painted the walls.  If you will note that hole on the far wall over there to the right, it has some wires sticking out of it.  We figured out that it was where the security system used to be, but it had been removed. We have since patched up that hole and painted over it.  Didn't think anything more about it,

Until I discovered this stuck in the mud of the drying pond... Yep, that's it...the security system from inside our house.  Not sure if it was ripped out by an angry would be robber, or by the former owner who was not happy that his house was going back to the bank and probably couldn't pay for the security system anymore...either way...needless to say it was no longer providing security for this house...

 But I am not afraid:

Psalm 27

1.  "The Lord is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear"

The Lord is the strength of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?"

Whether it be disease, pestilence, drought, or famine, or enemies of our freedom, we do not need to fear when we have The Lord as "the strength of (our) life".   

2.  When the wicked came against me  

to eat up my flesh,

my enemies and foes,

they stumbled and fell.

3.  Though an army may encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war may rise against me,

In this I will be confident...

4.  One thing I have desired of the Lord,

That will I seek;

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the Lord,

and to inquire in His temple.

5.  For in the time of trouble 

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

in the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

6. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me..."

So whether or not you have a working "security system", when you belong to Christ Jesus, you are secure enough from the enemies of this life.  So have no fear, and let the Lord fight these battles for us.

Have a blessed and beautiful day my friends.

Monday Morning Thoughts

It is Monday morning, and for those of us in the midst of this "social isolation" of the COVID 19 Pandemic, it seems a lot like "Groundhog Day", (the movie), if you remember that story. We wake up and every day seems the same...many of us have mentioned that we are having difficulty keeping track of the days. They all seem the same.  Although I must admit, since retirement that has been a fairly typical feeling...the only day that seemed different and special was Sunday, because we could go to church. And now we can't even do that, but thankfully we are able to still worship and praise God from our living rooms thanks to modern technology. Not quite the same thing as being there in person, enjoying the presence of other fellow believers and singing songs together, worshiping and praising and lifting our hearts in unison to sing the Doxology as we "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow...", and even though we know we can worship God anywhere at any time...it still isn't the same, and we miss it. 

However the enforced isolation continues, and probably will for a little while longer. I realize the importance of "social distancing", but I also realize the importance of getting to a place of realizing that in this life there are always going to be dangers and illnesses lurking in the shadows.  We are people of faith...and there comes a point in time when we need to allow our faith to conquer our fears and get back to living. Otherwise, our fears will overcome us and we will never be able to walk out of our homes without wondering what germ is going to get us this time.

Sorry, I can't live like that. I don't believe that people of faith were meant to live like that.

Yes, we are sensible, thoughtful, and caring about others even more than ourselves. 

However:

2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)

7.  "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, 

but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

I think the longer we continue in this enforced isolation and not allowing people to get back to work and resume their normal lives we will find that more and more people will not be able to sustain a "sound mind".  Fear is taking over rational thought, and some are becoming handicapped by it so that they may never be able to hug another person, shake a hand, or stand closer than six feet to a person ever again. 

I believe in being reasonably cautious about spreading germs, especially where those with underlying medical conditions and the very elderly are concerned,  but we also need to be cautious about becoming so overly conscious of germs that we can't function in a normal way.

This is my opinion, and I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I may even lose a few "followers".

I certainly do understand that this is a serious disease and many have suffered and even died from it, even people that I know have lost loved ones or have suffered from this illness, and my heart goes out to them and my prayers are with them for healing and comfort and strength to keep going.  

However, I also understand that there are many serious diseases and germs out there, and they have been out there since time began, and after this particular pandemic is over, there will be others to follow in the days, months and years to come.

We can't stop living because we are afraid to die.

That's it in a nutshell.

We are already dying every day...and have been since the moment we were born.

Many of us have seen loved ones die way too soon from diseases that we wish the medical world would spend as much time and energy and money on trying to find a cure as they have this virus, because cancer and other major diseases have been killing our loved ones for centuries and they can't find a cure. There is no vaccine to prevent it, and no real treatment that completely cures it.

Oh well, I didn't wake up intending to write all of this, but apparently it is on my mind and it needs to be said. 

So there it is.

Something to think about and pray about and seek God's face about. 

I have a copy of this list of verses about fear and anxiety that I keep in my Bible.

It is there as a ready index to help me find words from God's Word to help me when I am feeling fearful or am anxious about life. It has been said that there are actually 365 verses or admonitions to "Fear Not" in the Bible, one for every day of the year....I don't know that for certain, but I do know that God does not want us to live in fear,  but to live in faith and to trust Him with every detail of our lives. And that is how I want to live my life. How about you?

Meanwhile, here's a few "this and that" things that have caught my attention while walking here and there and trying to stay alert and healthy:

This lovely golden dragonfly came to visit us yesterday, and stayed attached to our front window screen for a very long time.

 Here is a link to something I wrote about the dragonfly last year.  They are certainly fascinating creatures. Yesterday was the 9th anniversary of when my father passed away.  Not saying that I think anything about this is related to that, but it is an interesting connection none the less.

This is a picture of my daddy, just after winning a game of horseshoes with my brothers and hubby. This is the way I love to remember my dad, always full of fun and energy and joy at being with the family.  I miss him every day.

 Now this is certainly shifting gears a bit...The place where we like to take our walks is very secluded and woodsy.  This old dead tree has been "speaking to me" every time I pass by it. So I decided yesterday was a good time to take its picture.  Do you see the face? Not very pretty, but interesting none the less.  Hello tree creature!   People are saying since we can't hug each other we should hug a tree. Not sure I want to hug this one...

 I did, however, hug this huge pine tree one day, because it is enormous!

It's branches reach out in every direction much farther than our normal pine trees here in Florida:

 And I just thought it deserved a hug...it must be very old and wise to be still standing after so many storms of life...I'll bet if trees could talk, it could tell us many interesting stories.

Now back to Still Waters Pond in our own back yard...I know this isn't the best picture of the Great Blue Heron. It was taken at noon, and the sun was too bright for good lighting, but I wanted to include this picture so that you would understand the next picture after that better.

Here is that same bird taking off in flight. I wish it were more clear, but it is so rare that I get to actually capture a picture of one of them in flight, I had to include it for you:

Last but not least, this past week we heard some sad news.

The lovely Indian Maiden "Mia" who has graced the packaging of Land O' Lakes butter since 1928 has been removed from their packaging.  See the quoted information from Wikipedia below.

Wikipedia says: "Butter packaging[edit]

The recursive image long shown on the Land O'Lakes butter packaging is an example of the Droste effect.

The Land O'Lakes indigenous woman, named Mia, holding the butter box was painted in 1928 by Brown & Bigelow illustrator Arthur C. Hanson.^[23] According to Land O'Lakes, the original image of Mia was "simplified and modernized" in 1939 by Jess Betlach and has undergone many minor modifications since as the enduring logo of the co-op. Red Lake Ojibwe artist Patrick DesJarlait updated Mia's image in the 1950s.^[23][24] The original image is an example of the infinite-loop motif or Droste effect, in which the image is repeated, in theory infinitely, within itself.

In 2018, the image was changed to depict only the head of the Indian woman (doing away with the Droste effect).^[25] In April 2020, the company announced it was removing the image of the Indian woman altogether.^[26] The use of an indigenous woman as a mascot had been criticized as a racist stereotype,^[27] and the decision to change the label was praised by Native advocates such as Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota and a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe." ^[28]"

When I heard this news I was sad because I think "Mia" is lovely, and she certainly represents the beauty of Native American women since time began. I am sorry if people now think she is a "racist stereotype".  However, I am sure people will disagree with me there as well. However, I am happy that I have this wonderful mug with Mia's picture on it. I have had this for a long time, not even sure where or how I got it, but I love it.

It contains my little corn on the cob holders so that when we have corn on the cob you don't burn your fingers or get buttery hands while trying to eat the corn off the cob. 

They go along nicely with these corn on the cob dishes, that hold the butter so you can turn your corn cob around in it and get it nicely buttered:

Now I want some fresh corn on the cob, but it probably isn't really good for my dietary condition...LOL.  Anyway, my little Land O' Lakes Indian Maiden mug probably just went up in value so I will be taking very good care of it. Besides, I love it, and I will enjoy looking at Mia's pretty face and traditional Indian dress no matter what other people may think. There is a legend that my mother's mother's family descended from a lovely Native American woman many moons ago. It has never been fully authenticated, but it was a wonderful story. I will have to share it sometime. One of my uncles wrote it beautifully for us to preserve for future generations. Yes, I think I need to share it...perhaps in another post very soon.

For now, I hope that I have not stepped on too many toes or caused people to think less of me. I think most of us are quite anxious to have this social isolation over and done with. I also know that we have to do it carefully, gradually, and sensibly.  I am not advocating rushing back into life as we knew it before...but  I do hope that we will not allow fear to keep us from living our lives and showing our love for our families and friends.  I believe that a hug is a way to pass the love of Christ along to our fellow man. Many people need to feel the warmth of that embrace and know that God loves them.

I pray that we will soon be able to share that warmth and love once again.

It's Good Friday-But Sunday is Coming!

It's Good Friday, the day our Lord was crucified on the cross for our sins.

Perhaps one of the most revealing prophetic descriptions of  Christ's death is found in Isaiah 53, which was written some 800 years prior to Christ's life and death here on earth. I won't quote the whole chapter here, but commend it to your reading.  Just these particular verses stand out to me this morning:

Isaiah 53:4-6

4.  "Surely He has borne our griefs

and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

smitten by God, and afflicted.

5.  But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

6.  All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, 

to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

It was for my sins that Christ suffered and died on that cross. 

Have you ever asked yourself why? Here's the best answer I can find:

"For God so loved the world

that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish 

but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

That's the answer in a nutshell. Because God loves us that much. He desires for us to be with Him forever in heaven...and because we were filled with sin and without hope in our own merits,  there was only one way to get us there...through the death of His perfect, spotless Lamb of God, Who took away the sins of the world...

"Behold! The Lamb of God 

who takes away the sin of the world!" 

John 1:29

Praise God for this spotless Lamb of God, Who has taken away my sin!

This past week there have been a couple of special things going on on Facebook that have meant something to me.  One is the "Faith over Fear" movement in our area, which is spreading to other parts of the country as well. People are displaying crosses in their yards or in their homes, to show that they are choosing to have "Faith Over Fear" in light of this current pandemic we are enduring.
Our sweet son, the carpenter, built this beautiful cross for me this week at my request.

There are many verses regarding having faith over fear in the Bible. The one I have chosen is

Joshua 1:9

"Have I not commanded you? 

Be strong and of good courage;

Do not be afraid nor be dismayed, 

for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

It is good for us to remember that our God is with us during this battle against this invisible foe, the Covid 19 virus.  He will fight for us and He will see us through.

Another movement has been the "Red Door  Ribbon (corrected) Movement", based on God's message to the children of Israel in Exodus 12 to take the blood of an unblemished lamb (see verses 1-13), and to

7.  "Take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it."

And then read on in verses 12-13:

12.  "For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: 

I Am the Lord.

13.  Now the blood shall be a sign 

for you on the houses where you are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you;

and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt."

Yes, this is the Passover story. And this week is not only the Christian Holy Week, but also the time of Passover.  Our land is currently enduring a type of plague. Many people are praying for God to spare us from this disease and death. The Red Ribbon movement is a way of expressing that we are praying for our families and loved ones, and claiming the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ the spotless Lamb of God, to cover our homes and protect our families. As a believer in Christ, we are already covered by His Blood, but this is a way again, like the crosses in our yards, to be a witness of our faith in Christ over fear.   I know I don't have to do these things to be covered by God, but this was something I felt led to do to share our faith with our neighborhood as well as a kind of offering up to the Lord.  The Lord knows each of our hearts, and that is the most important thing.

The best part is...Sunday is coming! We know the beautiful end of this story!  But more about that later...

On to a couple other things from this week's photos:

The lovely Great Blue Heron showed up again. He hasn't been to Still Waters Pond in a while, maybe because of all the goose activity, but he came a few times this week and I was happy to get a good picture of him before he flew over to the other side of the pond:

I sat outside and ate my lunch one day, and these two Cardinals flew in to join me so that I wouldn't be alone:

And this squirrel hopped in for a drink as well...

Our son blessed us by weed whacking the growth of weeds along the shore of the pond this week. They were starting to get way overgrown and we were concerned about snakes, so he took care of it for us. He works for a Golf Course doing lawn maintenance/landscaping, which is considered "essential" during this time, so we are thankful he is still employed, and he also can use his skills to help us!

I hope and pray that you are safe and having a blessed Holy Week, even with all of the restrictions. Let us rejoice in that Easter is coming! And with that new hope we also look forward to the continued waning of this current plague...praying that soon the virus will be on its way out and we will be able to resume our lives...hopefully with a new peace in our hearts and an assurance that God is working in the midst of all of this. Praying for those who are still suffering, whether it be physically or financially or otherwise. May God be with you...and may our faith rise over our fears and give us peace.

Click HERE for a link to my 2019 Good Friday message.

2017: Reflections At the Cross