Thursday Thankfulness: Fall is Here!

Is it really Thursday already?  Wow! Where did this week go already?  And now here it is a beautiful fall morning in our neck of the woods! It's 49 degrees this morning, with a high expected of only 70 degrees! And sunny all day, but a tad windy.  That's okay, I'll take it! This is the weather we've been waiting for!

Apparently this is the weather the Sand Hill Cranes have been waiting for as well! This was them here at Still Waters Pond yesterday...the first we've seen of them since the last hurricane.  

They were showing off and flapping their wings and feeling rather frisky!

And then they sedately walked up onto the yard and found some bird seed to eat...

We were happy to see them back safe and sound.  I don't know where they went during the hurricane, but they must have a "safe" hiding place where they hang out until the storms are over. So thankful to know they are still here with us, safe and sound!

Did you see the moon last night?  This was just as it was rising above the trees in the east...it was still a bit light out...

And over on the west side, on Still Waters Pond, we were having a glorious sunset at the same time!

I kept running back and forth to watch both amazing events in the skies:

"All creatures of our God and King,

lift up your voice and with us sing,

"Alleluia! Alleluia!"

Thou burning sun with golden beam,

thou silver moon with softer gleam,

O praise Him, O praise Him!

alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!"

And finally the sky was dark enough to see the full magnitude of the moon:

And the sun was setting down behind the trees on the west side

And all was at peace...time to get back inside and enjoy a beautiful evening...

So we "lit a fire" in the "fireplace", and rejoiced to finally feel like this was a real fall day...

This morning we had another fall surprise! The Canada Geese finally flew in and landed on the pond!

Good Morning!  "Honk! Honk!"

They were actually feeling rather frisky this morning too...

I wish these pictures were a little better, but it was still early and low light, so this is the best I can do...

Here they are again a little later in the morning...they were swimming around "Goose Island" and in the little cove that surrounds the island...

I love to watch them peacefully gliding about, enjoying the quietness of this little hidden cove...

I have to say, this is really my favorite time of the year...bright, cool, sunny days, with little to no humidity, and we can enjoy being outside without zillions of mosquitoes and other insects attacking us.  We were actually outside for a while this morning, as we went over to our church to help rake up all the fallen branches and Spanish moss and other debris left over from Hurricane Milton. I had planned to take a picture of it all, but was too busy handling the rake to get any pictures. There were  a LOT of branches to rake, but quite a few folks from the church showed up to help, and you know the old saying, "Many hands make light work."  It's great when people can come together to get these jobs done!

Anyway, I was happy to see that the geese were still here when we got back home so I could take a few pictures of them and watch them for a little while before time to fix lunch.

There are just four geese right now, but I have a feeling there will be more.  They tend to come in groups, and then the fun begins with rival males charging back and forth at each other.  It's quite entertaining!  So stay tuned for further adventures with the geese!

It's so nice and cool that we may soon be able to enjoy an evening around our kids' firepit, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores...well, actually very soon we will be doing that, however, not at their house, but up in the north Georgia mountains, where we are going to spend a few days together with our kids and also my hubby's brother and wife...hopefully seeing some beautiful autumn leaves and finding some fresh apples at the local orchards...and perhaps sipping some hot spiced apple cider and eating a few apple cider donuts...that's what's on my bucket list, anyway...and just enjoying some fun family times together.  Then we will end up the week going over to North Carolina, where we will attend the wedding of my great nephew...and get to see my brother Clifford and his family, as well as my sister and her family will be there, and some of the rest of our extended family.  So it will be a busy week, filled with happy times with family and the celebration of a new beginning for our great-nephew and his beloved.

I am very thankful to God for seeing us through these past few weeks with their storms and all that went along with that.  I am also thankful for my hubby's excellent report at the doctor this week, and thankful we were both physically able to help out this morning at our church with the raking. We look forward to a wonderful adventure next week with our family, and pray for safe travels to and from. I will most likely be writing again before we leave, but then once we are on the road I probably won't be able to do any blogging until we get home. It's better that way anyway, so I can focus on why we are there...to be with family and to relax and enjoy a little vacation.  

This was the verse that popped up in our devotions today:

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 NKJV

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

And here is another verse that I read today:

Psalm 103:17-18 The Living Bible

17-18 But the loving-kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who reverence him; his salvation is to children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant and remember to obey him!

Both are excellent thoughts for us to consider today.  I pray that you and yours are having a good week, and that you are also experiencing the "loving-kindness of the Lord".  Amen.

We Are Overcomers!

Today we were blessed to attend church with our son and his bride at the wonderful little church where they were married.

We have been visiting there frequently over the past few months. It's too bad that we live thirty miles away, or we would be there more often.  After years of serving in the ministry, it is wonderful to be at a place where we feel the presence of the Lord, ministering to us..as well as to everyone around us.  "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place". 

And what is interesting to us is that this is just a little country church, hardly big enough to hold more than 80 people maximum, with none of the popular attractions that seem to be considered so essential in the church world today...and yet today they had so many children stand up and go to "children's church" the congregation broke out into applause as we sang "Jesus Loves Me"... and when we had communion at the close of the service they ran out of "wine" (grape juice), and someone had to run out to the kitchen to get some more...or perhaps they turned some water into wine...but again...what a blessing! So many there to partake of communion they had to go get some more to serve them all...

It just goes to show that you can't always judge a book by its cover, or a church by its name.
You have to go inside, meet the people, the pastor, and partake of communion together to know whether or not the Spirit of the Lord is truly in a place...

The last couple of Sundays the pastor has been preaching about not giving up on our dreams, our hopes, our calling.  Today's scriptures were from Hebrews 12:1-2, I Corinthians 15:57-58, and I John 5:4-5.  I will quote them here for you, and then perhaps you can write your own sermon to yourself based on these verses...

Hebrews 12:1-2

1.  "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by 
so great a cloud of witnesses, 

let us lay aside every weight, 
and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

2.  Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, 

Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,

despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

I Corinthians 15:57-58

57.  "But thanks be to God;

who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58.  Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

I John 5:4-5
4.  "For whatever is born of God
overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world...
our faith!"
5.  Who is he who overcomes the world, 
but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Perhaps you are feeling defeated, beaten down by the world, frustrated with what seems to be dead ends and no hope in sight...but those thoughts aren't coming from God, my friend.
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you are an overcomer through Christ!  Christ has already given us the victory that overcomes the world...Our faith!! If we believe in Jesus Christ, we will overcome this world and all the sorrows of it.
No, that doesn't mean we will never experience disappointments or grief, but it does mean that we don't have to stay locked in with our sorrows. 
"Thanks be to God...Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"
So,
"Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, immovable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord,
knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

So now...
what are you going to do?