Friday Foto Friends - Birds of a Feather and other Wild-life...and Sermon Notes!

Hello Friday Foto Friends! I hope you have had a good week, and that God has blessed you with beauty surrounding you everywhere you look.  Perhaps even some surprises and fun to top it off.

That is what it's been like here...

Let's start out with these "Birds of a feather who flock together"

The Sand Hill Crane Family

Yes this is our same family that we have been watching all year long since mother crane was sitting on the eggs in the nest...and now here they are in my back yard. Not sure who's who, but the "babies"  (colts) are still maybe just a little smaller and don't have as red of a head yet...

 They were all pecking away at the dirt, looking for grubs, worms, bugs...not sure exactly what as that is a rather dry and desolate piece of sandlot...but they seemed to enjoy themselves pecking away at something.

Then I moved over to our neighborhood pond, and saw this beautiful white egret enjoying some morning sunshine...

 Perhaps she was also checking out her reflection in the "mirror" on the water...

The sun was shining very brightly on the water, and this lone water lily was literally glowing in the sunshine. I love how its petals are reflected in the water...

Yes, that is its reflection underneath...pretty awesome, huh?

Now, this is an interesting story.  During the week we paid a visit to my mother-in-law's house, (who passed away in August), which is in the process of being renovated and prepared to be sold eventually.  Everything that belonged to my mother in law personally has been removed from the house, and it is getting a complete makeover. When it is finished I will take pictures and perhaps show some before and after photos.

Anyway, as I walked around her yard I discovered this little cement squirrel tossed over in the bushes. I recognized him at once as the little "squirrel" that "Nanny" had always kept in the center of her birdbath in the back yard, and I believe I recall her calling him "Bobby the Squirrel".  So I picked him up and told my brother in law (who is in charge of this renovation project) that "Bobby the Squirrel" was going home with me.

 He agreed, and so I brought "Bobby the Squirrel" home and placed him in the center of my birdbath, right where I can see him from my bedroom window. which is also a part of The Secret Garden. It is rather comforting to see something that reminds me of "Nanny" when I wake up and open up the curtains and welcome in the morning sun. I know she would be pleased to know that "Bobby the Squirrel" has a new home.

 And yes, in case you are wondering, whenever we do finally sell our house and move, "Bobby the Squirrel" will be going with us, and will find a special place in our new yard, wherever that may be...

Now, switching gears a bit...Hubby and I took a walk this morning, and we saw the funniest sight I think we've ever seen.  For those of you who do not live in the south, you may not know what these critters are, but much to our amazement these two armadillos came hurtling down the road, chasing each other, and literally rolling over and on top of each other...not sure if they were mating or fighting or exactly what was going on. Armadillos are nocturnal creatures, so to see one, and especially two running down the road in the daylight was quite a surprise.  The funny thing was, they seemed totally oblivious to us, and just ran right past us, chasing each other. Can you see the tail of the other going into the bushes in this first picture? Well, then they turned around and headed the other way. The one kind of disappeared into the woods, but the other kept running and almost rolling head over heels to keep up...

 Notice below, his hind legs are up in the air...he almost flipped over completely as he was trying to run so fast...

 This is the best close up I could get. As you can see, the armadillo does not win any beauty contests, but it is certainly a fascinating creature.  And these two sure gave us a good laugh this morning. We literally had to jump out of their way!

And Last but not least, we paid a short visit to our Pastor at the church earlier in the week, and noticed this interesting vehicle in the parking lot.

Turns out that it belongs to the Pastor...a specially built vehicle that he enjoys driving around...

I think I could enjoy riding around in this cool car from the past too...

Pretty neat, huh? I think it is a 1947 Chevrolet (customized a bit).  So this is just a tad bit older than me.

And speaking of the Pastor, I know I didn't get the Sermon Notes written this week. Let me give you a brief synopsis. Our lesson was based on Matthew 10:24-31...and the main thrust of the message was from verses 29-31 

29.  "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?

And not one of them falls to the ground 

apart from your Father's will.

30.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31.  Do not fear therefore; 

You are of more value than many sparrows."

Notes:

• Most frequent command in the Bible is "Don't be afraid!"  It can be found over 300 times in the Bible.
• This command can be found more frequently than "Be holy, Do good, Love your neighbor, Don't sin, Don't do evil..."
• The "dark enemy" tries to stir things up so we will become discouraged.  But God is with us...God is in control.
• God takes care of the sparrows and knows every hair on our heads, every cell in our bodies.
• God is intimately involved in our lives.
• I John 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."
• I John 4:19 "We love Him because He first loved us."
• I have not yet been made "perfect in love" BUT I am further than I was...God drives out fear.
• Don't let fear control our lives.
• We are afraid of being "unmasked"..."if people really knew us, no one in their right mind would like us"
• We think that making the right impression is so important...insecurity and fear cause us to give into fear and peer pressure
• Have faith in God who raised Jesus from the dead!
• Perfect love drives out fear.  We need to remind ourselves about the Good News of the Resurrection!
• God is the One Who truly knows us better than we know ourselves.
• Jesus says, "don't be afraid. "  The Father is pleased to give you the kingdom...Why am I so afraid to follow Him?
• God gives us grace rather than waiting for us to get our lives together...
• "Do not be afraid...You are worth more than many sparrows!"
• Step out and trust the love of God...
• And Don't be afraid!!

Okay, that pretty well sums it up, I'd say. I hope your week is filled with good surprises, and that you will think about this message when you are tempted to be afraid...or to think that God couldn't possibly love you...Oh yes! He Does!!! You are worth more than many sparrows, my friend! Or Sand Hill Cranes, or White Herons, or even Armadillos! Maybe even more than "Bobby the Squirrel" and 1947 Chevrolet cars...yep! Much much more.

Let's roll on over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to...

Sermon Notes from FUMC, Interlachen, FL., Pastor A.C. Myers, October 14, 2018.