Friday Foto Friends - Signs of Seasons

Friday Foto Friends Signs of Seasons

Spotted Horsemint, also known as Bee-Balm

 Hello to all my Friday Foto Friends!  I look forward to this time each week...an opportunity to share some photos from whatever has been going on in our lives.  These are some of the pictures I captured on our walks each day...subtle signs of the changing of the seasons.  The summer flowers are fading and now the late summer/early fall flowers and berries are appearing...preparing for the "cooler days"  of fall ahead. Where I live, in Florida, a cooler day might be when the temperature stays in the low 80's instead of the 90's...but we will be happy to have it.  We get especially happy when the temps drop down in the 70's in the daytime and the humidity drops as well.

God's Bouquet:  Beautyberry  and Spotted Horsemint with a trail of wild grapevine surrounding it.

Ever hear about "paw-paws"?  These are wild paw-paw fruits...almost ripe and ready for the wild animals to enjoy. They are edible for humans too, but these aren't really big enough to get much out of.  They have large seeds.

Close up of the Beauty Berries.  The birds, deer, and bears will enjoy these soon. It is also an edible weed, but very tart, and not recommended.  It can be made into a natural insect repellent!

Not a weed!  This is one of my beautiful Don Juan Roses blooming in our Memorial Garden. It smells divine.Click HERE for more about the significance of the Memorial Garden

Goldenrod is starting to bloom everywhere I look...

This is wild sumac...the blossom will turn into red berries that the birds love.  We have a lot of this growing around us here in the forest. I consider it to be a natural bird feeder! The Cardinals and Catbirds seems to love the berries.

Here is a red-bellied woodpecker pecking away at this old dead tree. Last year the woodpeckers had built quite a nice nest in this tree and then a storm came along and blew the top off, leaving them exposed to the elements! So they just moved to another tree the same day!For more about THAT story, click HERE

This is one of our beautiful mama deer in our neighborhood. She was looking at her fawn, to make sure she was safe since I was hanging around.   For more about THIS story, click HERE

She was just fine...

Listen to the words of King Solomon, written in the 10th century, B.C.

"To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

and a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Yes, the seasons are preparing for change...all of nature testifies to this.  We ourselves are changing day by day.  We grow, we mature, we get older...and hopefully wiser.  If we look around in our world, we see many other signs of change...change in our culture, our environment, and in our society. Many changes we wish we could stop...some changes are not good...and we oftentimes become anxious about our future.  

But there is one thing we can be sure of:

  

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." 

 (Hebrews 13:8)

So, 

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.  For He Himself (God) has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you"

So we may boldly say:

"The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

Hebrews 13:5-6

 As we approach this season of change, whether it be seasonal, personal, or things of the world,  let us put our trust in the Lord and not fear.  He has promised to be there for us, no matter WHAT the changes of life.

Now, jump on over to see what others are sharing on Friday Foto Friends (Click HERE)!

Fix Your Eyes...

My new "One Word" for 2015 is "Focus"...as you probably already know if you've read anything I've written in the past couple of weeks.  And so the theme continues...as God seems to be focusing His attention on me to get my attention, I seem to find evidence of this every day.  Today was no exception.

As I was reading my devotions this morning, I turned to the now somewhat familiar "Jesus Calling" book by Sarah Young.  I won't quote the whole devotional for today, January 15th, but if you have the book, you may want to refer to it.  The portion that got my attention was in the 2nd paragraph...

"The closer you live to Me, the safer you are.

Circumstances around you are undulating, 

and there are treacherous-looking waves in the distance.

Fix your eyes on Me,

the One who never changes.

By the time those waves reach you,

they will have shrunk to proportions of My design."

I like the part that says "Fix your eyes on Me (Jesus), the ONE who NEVER changes"...The same Jesus..."Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever..." (Hebrews 13:8)  is the One Who stilled the storm when the waves were so rough and so high that they were filling the boat with water...and all He had to do was rebuke the wind, and speak to the sea, and say, 

"PEACE, BE STILL!"

and the wind ceased and there was a great calm..."  (see Mark 4:35-41)

That is just one small example of all the magnificent miracles that Jesus performed during the three years of His active ministry before His crucifixion and resurrection from the dead.  That same Jesus is still alive and active today...still calming the waves and causing the storm to subside in our own lives.  That same Jesus is still working magnificent miracles in and around us in ways that we may not even be aware of.  We are often too busy being like the disciples in the boat, panicking because of the size of the waves and wondering where is God when we need Him?  And Jesus steps into the stern of our boat and says, "Peace, Be Still!"...and then He turns to us and asks,

"Why are you so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)

I need to remember to "fix" my eyes on Him...focus my attention on the One Who has His eyes fixed on me every moment of my life...and that will never change!

What are the storms that need calming in YOUR life today?  Have you asked the Lord to calm your troubled seas? Just ask...He's got His eyes fixed on you...and He's waiting for you to call.

"I Will NEVER Leave You Nor Forsake You!" Recycled

I just re-read this and felt like it needed to be said again...someone out there needs to hear this. I needed to hear it too.  Maybe this is for you today.

(Originally posted on 4/7/10 - when we had just learned that our son Matthew was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive cancer.  Thankfully, 3 1/2 yrs. later he is still hanging in there, fighting this battle valiantly...but still in need of our prayers. Thank you to many of you who have been those prayer warriors, standing in the gap for us over these years. We thank God for you.)

Hebrews 13:5 says, "I will NEVER leave you nor forsake you."  Verse 6 says, "So we may boldly say: 'The LORD is my helper; I will NOT FEAR; What can man do to me?'" 

Then skip down to verse 8:

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."

I could probably just stop right there and not write another word.  There really isn't anything better that I can add to that.  Jesus Christ is the same as He was 2000 years ago, when He walked upon the earth and went about doing good, giving sight to the blind, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear. (See Matthew 11:5 and Isaiah 35:5-6) 

We may not be able to see Him physically, but we sure know He's here working...We see Him in the faces of many friends and even strangers, doctors and nurses, pastors and teachers, neighbors and co-workers, faces on facebook, and messengers on email...bringing comfort and hope and words of encouragement and answers to questions; bringing a cup of cold water to a dry and thirsty soul, sending hugs and kisses and saying prayers, and even having "little chats" with Jesus...these are the ways that God is blessing us through YOU!  That's how Jesus works today...through the people He has encouraged and motivated to be His ambassadors of hope and love...some may even be unwilling vessels, at least in their own minds, and yet God has chosen them to be a vessel of His love and grace and mercy to those of us who are hurting and uncertain of what lies ahead.

Jesus said He would never leave us or forsake us...He sent His comforter, The Holy Spirit, to indwell us and teach us and carry us when we can't keep going in our own strength. And He sent YOU. 

Thank you, dear friends, for your love. It means the world to us.

"We give thanks to God always for you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father."  Amen.

(I Thessalonians 1:2-3)

Matt and his sweet family