Thursday Thankfulness

Hello Friends! It's Thursday afternoon, and a good time to express some thankfulness to God for the good things He has been doing...Of course, He's always doing good things, but this is for current things...like these rain clouds in the sky!  We just had a very brief passing shower, but there is much more rain in the forecast for the next three days, so we are very hopeful that the rains will finally put out the fires that continue to burn in the region once and for all! 

And of course, we hope it will begin to refill our still very dry Still Waters Pond as well...but that may take quite a bit more rain than just one weekend. Still, we are thankful for whatever rain we get...every drop is precious to us.

Thankfully, the lack of rain has not kept the magnolias from blooming in the area...we saw this tree on our walking path this morning, and although this blossom was a bit too high for me to reach with my camera, you get the idea...it's still beautiful!

There are still many buds waiting to open, so to me that is all a part of God's amazing provision for His creation, even when the rains don't fall...the trees still blossom!

Isaiah 35:1-2

1The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them,

And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose;

(This rosebush has been blooming profusely, but I have to cut and bring the flowers inside because they die pretty quickly in the bright sunshine. So we enjoy them inside where they will live longer and their fragrance is so delightful).

2 It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice,

Even with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

The excellence of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

The excellency of our God.

Even the wild "Spiderwort" is blooming

And I rejoice every time I go out to our little garden patches and see things actually developing...like these tomatoes!

They keep surprising me because they like to hide under the leaves and I don't even see them until all of a sudden, there they are!! 

And this patch of wildflower seeds that I planted a week ago are sprouting up more and more every day. Now I see that I really should have spread them out more, as they are all jumbled up together in places. I do hope they will still develop and bloom in spite of my ineptitude in gardening prowess! Time will tell.

I wanted to share with you some things that brought tears of joy to my eyes this past Sunday at church. I don't have any pictures to show you, so you'll have to read the word pictures.  There were several things that just blessed me so much I really had a difficult time to keep from either crying or shouting Hallelujah! Actually, either would've been fine, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself and spoil the moments...

1. In the beginning of the service, while announcements were being made, etc., it was noted by our worship leader that we had three babies in our service!  And there was literally a cheer and applause for such a joyous occasion! All three babies are under a year old, and are special blessings...One sweet baby has been coming practically since the day she came home from the hospital. Her story is uniquely special because not long after she was born, her father decided that he really didn't want to be married (they were practically newlyweds still) or take care of a child, and so he left his wife and baby before the darling little girl was even two months old. Thankfully the mother had strong family support and also our church family rallied around them both and that sweet little girl has been such a delight in the church services...often being passed around from Mom to Grandma to friends who just want to hold her. This past Sunday however was really special, in that the baby's Great-Grandfather was there, and he is battling stage 4 cancer and is on oxygen, but he wants to come to church as much as he can. I looked out (from the choir loft where I can see everything going on!) and saw him holding that precious little girl, (who is quite an active little 7 month old nowadays), and she was looking up at him with such adoring eyes, but then she pulled on  his beard and oxygen tube, and so he had to pass her back to her mother...but for just a few moments it was such a precious sight, so you know why I was in tears. 

2.  The second baby is very young, maybe just a couple of months old, and she was there with her grandmother. I really don't know much about this child or its family, but I know we've been praying for her mother as she is a friend of one of our church members.  So, even though I don't know anything about her, just the fact that the grandmother came and brought her to church...and she was a perfect little angel the whole way through the service, was another amazing blessing. 

3. The third baby is a very BIG 7 month old baby boy, and this was his 2nd time to come to church.  (oh, BTW, we don't have a formal nursery for babies, but we do have a special room where Moms or Dads can take the baby to change them or feed them as needed, but until now, we've never needed a real nursery in our mostly retired congregation!)   Now, this one really got to me.  First of all, I know the mother had a really rough time with his delivery (because he was SO big and they should've done a C-section, but waited too long, so you know how hard that was for her), but anyway, she had a long recuperation. But here's the rest of the story...when it came time for Communion (our church serves Communion every Sunday at the close of the service), the Mother and Dad and Grandpa (actually he's the great- grandpa) all came forward, with the Grandpa carrying the baby. As I watched this dear man holding that very big child, I almost lost it. First of all, the Grandpa has Parkinson's Disease, and I couldn't believe that he could even carry that child and stand there with him that long, but he did, and that sweet little boy kept watching his Grandpa as he received Communion and he didn't miss a thing, nor did he fuss or squirm. It was a beautiful sight.  But second of all is the real part of the story I don't want you to miss.  This family has suffered some real sorrow over the past couple of years...first, the girl's mother (and the daughter of this man) passed away rather suddenly a couple years ago.  Then the man's father in law, who was also a beloved member of our church, died from liver cancer after a short battle.  Not very long after that, this man's wife, who was working as an active nurse, died from a stroke very suddenly.  So within a couple of years this family lost three family members, and they were still grieving those losses when this precious baby boy came along...and it was obvious to me that God brought this sweet baby into their lives:

 "To give them beauty for ashes,The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;"

Isaiah 61:3

and...

"Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning."

Psalm 30:5b

I will finish this story up with this verse:

Matthew 19:14  NIV

14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Do you understand why I wanted to shout hallelujah and cry tears of joy???

Okay, I have to wrap this up. I hope you appreciated and understood that rather long story. My heart was overwhelmed with the enormity of all that was happening in those lives and in the lives of those precious children.

So here's my current baby in my old rocking chair that I literally used to rock my babies in...

He has tried every chair in the house literally. I never know where I'll find him next.

And here was Blackie waiting for us to come home with the groceries the other day...

I think he's saying it's about time we got home, or maybe he's wondering if we brought him anything?

Either way, he was soon in the house helping us put the groceries away...LOL.

Okay, friends, that's all. I have to go fix supper. I am thankful for YOU, and for your friendship and patience as I share these long stories! I hope they blessed you too.

 

Monday Monday and the Tuesday 4~Let's Blog!

Psalm 113:4-8

The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory above the heavens.

5 Who is like the Lord our God,

Who dwells on high,

6 Who humbles Himself to behold

The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?

7 He raises the poor out of the dust,

And lifts the needy out of the ash heap,

8 That He may seat him with princes—

With the princes of His people.

Gulf Fritillary Butterfly 

I know, it's Monday. I haven't written much since last week..just haven't had the heart or desire.  But I decided it's time to get back with the program. Even when difficult things happen to zap our energy,  life goes on, and we need to seek God's strength to persevere and keep moving forward.  

The weather has been glorious and so we've taken a few little walks.  It's so good to get outside in the fresh air (and away from the TV and Internet) and just breathe in God's beauty around us.  I've seen a few things that have caught my attention and made me smile, like that butterfly above.

And then look at this Beauty Berry bush...some bug must've eaten all those holes in the leaves, making them look so delicate and lacy! 

I think they look really pretty, even if it is a kind of destruction...sometimes beauty comes out of things that were not intended for good.  

It reminds me of this story in Genesis chapter 50, after Joseph had been sold into slavery by his own brothers, and then many years later he is in a position to provide food for them while they have been suffering through a famine in their land.  They were afraid that Joseph would not treat them well after what they'd done to him, but look at what happened instead: 

 

"19 Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? 

20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, 

in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."

Morning Glory growing wild in the weeds

Isaiah 61:3 

"...To console those who mourn in Zion,

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

I love it when God gives us pictures of His love and grace and comfort even in nature. After all, He created it, and it's here for our benefit...to behold His beauty in creation, and to be reminded that He is close to the broken hearted and those who mourn.  Not only that, but what man intended for evil, God turns into good.  As the result of the very sad death of one of His servants last week, Charlie Kirk, who was a strong believer and witness for Christ, there has been a revival going across the world of people who are now more and more committed to continuing that work throughout the world and becoming the hands and feet of Christ on earth. May they stay true to that purpose and not lose sight of WHO it is for, Jesus Christ... and not just a movement in memory of or allegiance to a man that they admired and loved, but for the actual furtherance of The Kingdom of God.  That's my prayer...that God will use this moment in time to draw many to Christ for salvation before His return.   

So now that brings us to the Tuesday 4.  I hope you don't mind that I am combining these two today.  The questions have made me think about the real reason that I enjoy blogging...so let's proceed...

Let's Blog!

Welcome once again friends to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 and how about talking about blogging this week since it's something we all do anyway.
Get yourself a cuppa, come sit down at your computer and let's think about blogging for a bit....

Blog is short for Weblog, a log or diary on the World Wide Web or internet. Your journal or diary can hold personal stories, ideas, opinions of all kinds and can be private or public as you wish. It is an excellant way to document your life or interests.


1. Why did you begin blogging?

Click Here for a link to a post I wrote a few years ago about why I love to blog

To sum it up, I blog to because I love having a place to share my heart with others...and to share the beauty that I see around me here in God's beautiful creation.   My initial beginning was because I was discouraged from writing a book due to many reasons...the cost, the lack of "audience",  and all the other little details that go into publishing a book that maybe only a few people will read.  I went to a Christian Writers Conference, and the only thing I learned there that was helpful to me at that time was someone was giving a class about blogging. I had NO idea what a blog was, or how to do it, or what impact it could have...but I came home and looked it up on my computer and found this blogging program, and well, the rest is history. In my mind, this has become my "book", and it is free to publish, and free to you, my readers!  And every "chapter" is something fresh and new, whatever God leads me to for that day. It has opened a whole new world to me, and I am very thankful that God led me to it!


2. What benefits does blogging offer you?

Well, see question #3 below...yes, I have made some very good friends, both in person and through cyberspace. I consider that a great benefit!  Blogging also gives me a way to communicate with people all over the world, people I would never have had any opportunity to know in any other way, and you have all enriched my life with your stories and encouragement.  I also believe that blogging is a great way to stimulate mental acuity. As we age, finding words becomes more and more difficult, and blogging has helped me to keep thinking and striving to improve in my writing skills while I still have my mental faculties!   I hope I can keep it up for a long time!

3. Have you made friends from blogging?

See question #2 above. Yes, I have met in person several wonderful people, and I think that has been the best surprise of blogging of all!  But even for those I have not met in person, I still think of you all as friends...we share so many personal stories and look into the hearts of one another through good times and bad, in sickness and sorrows...and we lift each other up and encourage each other with words of hope and wisdom and joy.  I seriously wish we could all meet in person someday. I would just love to hug every single one!!  Maybe in heaven there will be a special place just for bloggers! LOL.


4. Where do you get ideas for things you blog about? Do other bloggers influence you?

Well, this weekly Tuesday 4, thanks to Toni Taddeo's influence and our current hostess Annie, have been great about giving us ideas to write about each week. This is really the only weekly meme that I participate in, but I enjoy reading what everyone writes in whatever format you choose.  And yes, your thoughts and questions and ideas do influence me in a very positive way. I've learned so much since becoming a blogger. You've opened up a whole new world for me, and I love it.  

Now, for a great big thank you...for quite some time most of you know that I've been praying for some good new neighbors to move into the house next door to us.  As I mentioned a week or so ago, the new neighbors did finally move in and I met them in passing on the road. Well, today the man and his father actually came over to our door and introduced themselves to us! The daughter is working as a caregiver for an elderly woman, so she stays there during the week.  But here's the good news!  They are a fine Christian family, and I do believe that God has answered our prayers by bringing us some really good neighbors!  Praise God for this answer to prayer!  Now I pray that we will be good neighbors to them as well!  Thank you all for your words of encouragement and prayers for this situation over the past few months!  I knew you'd want to know how it all turned out!! God is so good!!!

In closing, I will share this little quote from a devotional calendar that I have. I thought it was some good food for thought today in particular:

Wherever we are, God has placed us there for a purpose.  We are to use these gifts, whether it be our home, our blog, or whatever talents we may have, for God's glory and honor and to be His ambassador of hope to others along life's way.  And that is why I love to blog in a nutshell.

Now let's go see what others are writing about this week here at https://tuesdaysplace.blogspot.com/

Thursday Thankfulness! Praise God!

I woke this morning with this song on my mind:

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise His holy Name

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to praise His lovely Name

I just came to praise the Lord

He came into my life

One very special day

He came into my heart

To show me a better way

He said He'd never depart

This is why I say

I just came to praise the Lord

I just came to thank the Lord

I just came to thank the Lord

I just came to praise His holy Name

I just came to thank the Lord

I just came to praise the Lord

(I just came, just came to praise the Lord)

I just came to praise the Lord

(Praise His name)

I just came to praise His Name

(Lovely name)

I just came to praise the Lord

We woke up around 4 a.m. to the sounds of "silence", for which we were very thankful indeed.  The winds had died down and the rain had virtually stopped. The "eye" of the storm had already passed over with all of its fury, and things were calming down in our neck of the woods.

When we first went to bed last night around 10:00, the power flickered on and off a few times, but then thankfully stayed ON!  We kept hearing things beating against the side of our house on our bedroom wall (below), and in the dark we couldn't tell if this oak tree was bent over that far and hitting the house or what was going on.

We just prayed that God would control the winds and the tree and keep it from doing us any harm, and praise God! When we woke up this morning the tree was still intact, and there was no sign of any damage on our house at all.  But it is amazing how far a tree can bend in the wind to reach our house!

So, at first light we looked out and saw this pine tree leaning against the other two down by the pond:

But here's what really happened:

Obviously it was already damaged and dying, so it was no surprise that it broke off at that spot.  I see little faces in there, don't you?

LOL.  They are happy to be set free from the tree! LOL.

We will have to cut this up and remove it, but not today. It can wait a day or two until we have some helpers with a chain saw.

As I looked around the yard further, I found these little "knock out rose-rosebuds".  

And the bottlebrush bush is blooming! That's unusual for October!

And look at those holly berries!

Still Waters Pond didn't really come up that much, considering we had 4.5" of rain in 24 hours!

This was our "celebratory breakfast" this morning... praising God we had power, and we didn't have much of any kind of damage, and we are alive and well!  So far I've heard from most of our family members and friends and they are all doing fine as well, and we are all VERY THANKFUL!

Oh, and our big old oak trees in front of the house are still standing big and tall, and only lost a few little tiny branches like last time.   Another big answer to prayer!

So, "I just came to praise the Lord..."

Isaiah 61:3  King James Version

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

 Praying still for our friend Sandra, "Mad Snapper" down in Bradenton, who said she is okay, but without power, and another friend who comments from that area, Brenda, who is also okay, but not sure yet what damage may be where she lives as she had evacuated with her son.  So keep them in your prayers please.   

Thank you again for your prayers for us.  We are SO thankful for you and for God's answers to prayer.