God's Purpose and Appointing

Good Sunday Morning! I trust this day finds you singing and rejoicing in praise to our Heavenly Father, Who has brought us safely through another week.

I saw this quote on Facebook and it really spoke to me about my purpose and calling in life...and how important it is that we understand that wherever we are, God has placed us there for His purpose to serve Him to the very best of our ability. Of course, this doesn't mean that we aren't to strive to do better in our lives when it is within the realm of possibility or necessity to do so, but whatever we do, wherever we are, to live our lives for the glory of God. 

The following pictures are from our visit to the Kenwood Recreation Area on Saturday. The water from the Reservoir is still on the drawdown, so that is why the water is so low.  It still makes a b eautiful place to walk and enjoy God's amazing creation.  I hope you will enjoy the pictures and also the verses that speak to us about our purpose and calling in life.  Have a blessed SONday!!

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalm 57:2 ESV

2 I cry out to God Most High,

to God who fulfills his purpose for me.

Ephesians 2:10 NIV

10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Romans 8:28  NIV

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, 

who have been called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 19:21 NIV 

21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.

Psalm 1:1-3

1 Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,

Nor stands in the path of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And in His law he meditates day and night.

3 He shall be like a tree

Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

Amen.

Have a blesssed day!!

Thursday Thankfulness

 It's so hot I had to open up my own ice-cream shoppe and make myself a chocolate ice cream soda today to cool off! LOL.

It was fun sitting there on the stools at the counter, slurping away at my old fashioned chocolate soda, just like the good old days!

Yep! Ahhh!  It was good to the last slurp! 

I am very thankful for our cool house and the ability to do special things to enjoy a hot summer day without having to be outside in the heat!

I am also thankful that earlier this week our son came over and installed grab bars for us in our bathrooms!  Here's hubby's bathroom: (and yes, I know that's busy wallpaper, but remember,this is a manufactured home, and that's how they come. I keep saying that someday I will paint over it, but that day hasn't come yet...)

This one is in my bathroom, right above the cute toilet paper holder that he made for me last year, and where his sweet wife painted the cute little chickadees on it.   (And yes, both bathrooms have the same wallpaper, and actually, we have a third bathroom, and it has the same stuff too!)

So thankful for smart kids!!

I'm thankful for these little tiny cherry tomatoes growing in this pot! I stuck a small pot with a tomato plant in this larger pot of geraniums and another flower, and I had intended to repot it in the dirt instead of leaving it in the little tiny pot, but it still took root in this pot and started growing and producing tomatoes even without me doing that! I can't take any credit except for keeping it watered. God did all the rest!

Sometimes even the most unlikely combinations surprise us with something good!!  

And here's a couple of zinnia blossoms, still growing strong even in this drought!

Yes, I do water them almost every day, but I am thankful that they just keep on smiling up at us regardless of the weather!

I mentioned that the new house next door has sold, and there has been a lot of activity over there this week, but still no one has actually moved in.  They did, however, install a fence in the back yard, and brought in a new little shed/garage, to store their lawn mower and tools!  So that's progress!  I am thankful that they are doing things to take care of their property.  We still haven't met the new owners, but hopefully once they are moved in there will time for that!

I am also thankful that hubby's appointment with our doctor today went really well, and he really listened and took care of making sure the referral to the neurologist went through. Apparently someone in the office dropped the ball on that and it was supposed to have been done already, so he personally made sure it was done today, and we got a call from their office this afternoon, making an appointment for next week. So that was good news!

And here's some interesting, not really so funny to me stories from my childhood. (But I can laugh about them now).

These photos below are from the internet because I don't have any of the real deal to share, but I saw these first two on Facebook this week and it took me back down memory lane.

The Hay Wagon story, as I remember it, I was about 4 years old, and we kids were riding on top of the loaded hay wagon like this,  with our Dad driving the tractor pulling the wagon back to the barn from the field. Our tractor was a much older Farmall Tractor...not a fancy rig like this.  Anyway, when he turned the corner in the road to head for the barn, apparently he drove under a tree and a tree limb came out across the top of the hay and knocked me off of the top and onto the ground!  Thankfully I only had the wind knocked out of me and apparently there were no injuries, but to this day I can still feel what that thud and wind being knocked out me felt like!  

Next, I saw this picture and oh boy, did it ever bring back THAT memory!  Yes, that could well be me! Again, I was about 4, and somehow I managed to go down to the corn crib by myself to feed the cows, or so I thought. But Mr. Rooster came charging out of the barnyard with his spurs on his feet flying at me, and I let out a scream and my mother came running with a broom and chased him off of me.  I understand that we had rooster stew for supper that night!

Now, for the last story...again when I was about the same age...our farm had a 2-seater outhouse. It was not as fancy as this one...

I remember it looking more like this: (maybe not that bad, but you get the idea)

And I'm not sure if there were actual seats like these, or if there were just holes, but anyway, trust me, it was a stinky old outhouse!  LOL.  However, our outhouse had a little gas heater in it near the door, because our farm had natural gas wells on the property (in Pennyslvania), and so I guess we had free gas and could afford to have a heater in our outhouse...and it was cold there as you can well imagine.

Anyway, on this particular day my older sister Doris and I went to the outhouse together. The door on the outhouse had a hook and eye latch inside to keep the door closed,  but when you went outside there was a wooden block on the door that you would turn and it would hold the door closed.  My sister said that if I ever was in there alone and someone forgot and turned the block on the door on the outside, that all I would have to do is push really hard against the door and it would open from the inside. Then she went out and left me in there and latched the door from the outside. She said she forgot and didn't mean to do it, but I've never been too sure about that. LOL.  Anyway, me being only 4, I wasn't really that strong, and when I tried to push the door open, it wouldn't budge.  So I started pounding on the door and screaming, and while in the process of pushing on the door somehow I got my hair caught in the little heater and it singed my hair, and then I really started screaming, and my mother heard me and came and let me out of the outhouse. Of course my sister said she was sorry, and of course I forgive her, but I've sure never forgotten it (and I've never let her forget it either! LOL.)

I share those little stories from my childhood to pause and remember that even then, God was watching over me. In each situation I could have been seriously hurt, but thankfully I mostly was just scared and perhaps my little child pride was wounded a bit. If I've never done it before, I want to thank the Lord now for His watchcare over me way back then.  He knew me, He loved me, and He had a plan for my life that a fall from a haywagon, an attack by a mean old rooster, and a hair-singed locked up in an outhouse experience couldn't keep from happening.  I am extremely grateful to God, and I want Him to know it.

This was true then, and it's still true today...

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And this passage from Psalm 139:

Psalm 139: 13-18

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

I am so very thankful for this knowledge...and for the fact that even now, in my 75th year of life, God is still with me, and He continues to take care of me...and He still has plans for my life...plans to prosper me and not harm me, to give me a hope and a future...     Thank You, Lord!!

I hope you didn't mind this little trip down memory lane with me. I wonder how many of you could look back at your life and see the many times God protected you and kept you from being hurt in serious ways that may have totally changed your life.  Or, even if serious things did happen in your life, (and yes, I've experienced those too),  perhaps you can see the ways He used those things for your good even still.  

Romans 8:28 NKJV

"28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, 

to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Thank you for spending this time with me.  I hope you have a lovely rest of your week. And no matter what we may be going through, there is always something to be thankful for.

Amen.

Something New for My Friday Foto Friends

 

This morning I was reading one of my blogging friend's posts, Tales of the TCKK Family, HERE, and she (Cathy) was doing a  new photo challenge that I thought was interesting.  She links up with Kym over at A Fresh Cup of Coffee~ Everyday Images #53 to do this "personal photo challenge".  I guess there is one every two weeks, with several prompts for things to look for and take photos of and share.  So since I didn't have anything new to share today, I thought I would try to do this and link up with Kym and Cathy and others who are doing the personal photo challenge.  The prompts for this week are: 

calendar

doorway (quarterly)

letters

chill

hidden

plans

So let's see what I can come up with!  Of course, you know the calendar photo for me is already a regular event each month. Maybe I can find something new to share in the way of a calendar that you haven't already seen:

Not too fancy. That's our church calendar, one with the birthdays and anniversaries for the month,  and the other with the activities for the month.

Below is the box of cards that I use to send out birthday and anniversary and get well cards to members of the church each month.  That is a little ministry that I do for the church that keeps me on my toes, especially lately with the number of people needing get well cards! 

Doorway

I just switched our door wreath from Christmas to a Valentine decoration, which will probably stay up through February.

And when we think about doorways, of course the title of my blog is "Closed Doors, Open Windows", so things having to do with doors are things that I tend to gravitate towards...like this collection of doorknobs:

Letters

I am assuming you mean letters, as in "letters of the alphabet" ?  This made me think of a little bag full of blocks that I've had for years and had stashed them away in a cabinet. So this was a good opportunity to bring them out:

Each side of the block has a different letter on it, and if you arrange them correctly, you will find four different messages!

Sometimes it's challenging to rearrange them and get them in the right order.  Finally I got smart and penciled in a very small number in the corner of each block so that if you put them in that order, all of the messages will be in the correct order for each side.

Chill

Still Waters Pond early in the morning, when it was 39 degrees outside.  That's a way to get "chilled" if you step outside to take a picture!

Hidden

There's something hiding behind that photograph of my great-nephew's graduation picture on the bookshelf in our living room:

Oh, it's this beautiful handmade music box, created with love by my father many years ago:

And hiding on the back is his little note: "Handmade by Bill Mursch,12/90"

It was a Christmas gift to me that year. I think he made one for each of his children.  The little upside down sticker says "These Foolish Things", which is the song that it plays when you wind it up. 

Plans

When I started to write this post this morning I had no special plans for the day. Just figuring out what pictures to take and share was my only plan...and hubby had another plan...He wanted pancakes for breakfast...so here you go:

This used up the last of the frozen blueberries that we got from the Blueberry Farm here in town last summer. So I guess my next plan will be to buy some at the grocery store until we can get the good fresh ones again from the farm when they are ripe!

Regarding "Plans", here's some words of Wisdom from God's Word:

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Proverbs 19:21 NIV

21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart,

but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 16:9 NKJV

9 A man’s heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps.

Just as I was about to close this post, I got a call from my niece, telling me that her father, my sister's hubby, was out running errands, and was stepping out of a store and someone on a bike or e-bike or something ran into him and knocked him down and he hit his head.  Thankfully he didn't lose consciousness, but he's at the hospital getting checked out to make sure there are no internal injuries, especially in his head since hit it so hard.  Apparently whoever knocked him down did not stop.  And my sister now has pneumonia and can't go to the hospital to get him, so thankfully his son is available to go get him.  So please say a little prayer for my brother in law Art and my sister Doris. Thank you so much.  Sometimes the "plans" we have for the day just don't work the way we planned. Praying that God will speed healing to them both.  Amen.

Thank you, Kym, from "A Fresh Cup of Coffee", for these photo prompts for today. I enjoyed finding the pictures and I hope you will all enjoy them too.

Happy Blogging Sisters Day!

 If you read my last post HERE, you will know that today was a special day in "blogland" for some of us very blessed bloggers!  Today I went to meet up with three other dear blogging friends for lunch, and discovered that we had a bonus blessing of one more precious blogger added to our group!  Many of you may not know Cheryl, from Sunlit Pathway, because she hasn't been doing quite as much blogging lately due to having had some major health concerns in the past year or so, but what a surprise to find her there at Bob Evans with Terri and the rest of the ladies when I arrived!  Cheryl had just recently arrived in Florida to visit family, who just happen to live not too far from Terri, and so Terri made arrangements for Cheryl to join us today! What a blessing indeed!  And so here we are:

Our waitress was very kind to take our picture!  We are l to r front row: Cheryl, Terri, (Your Friend From Florida), back row: Yours truly, Linda, (Just Simply Linda), and Barbara, (My Journal Memories).  While we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Bob Evans, we shared with each other why we ever decided to write a blog anyway.  We each had different reasons and beginnings. Some have been  blogging for over 20 years! I think I had the most recent beginning, in 2010!  I'd never even heard of a blog before then! 

I don't think any of us had any clue how far reaching our blogs would ever be, but God knew, and He had a plan for each of us in doing this...maybe not the same plan for each of us, but a plan that would bless us and teach us and make us a blessing to others in the process. I believe He has accomplished that for each one of us...

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV tells us:

11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

HERE is a link to my very first blog post, written in February of 2010.  My blog has gone through a lot of metamorphosis over these past 15 years...moving with the ebb and flow of my life experiences...the joys and sorrows, highs and lows, and even through three different home locations! Thankfully the blog is portable and goes with you wherever you go, as long as you have access to the internet and don't make any false moves that accidentally delete the blog. I know some have done that, and had to start all over. I pray that never happens to me...there are too many precious memories tucked inside these pages. I've tried to save them over the years, but that has become too cumbersome for me to keep up with, so I just pray nothing happens. Maybe someday I will get busy and try to back up more of them and print them off, but it takes a lot of work to do it. 

The best part about blogging to me is all the wonderful friends I've made along the way, like these lovely ladies. I wish I could meet each and everyone of my blogging friends in person. There are so many that we have shared so much of our lives with each other...and some I would just love to give a big hug to in person someday.  If you are ever passing through Florida please let me know and if there is any way possible to arrange it, it would be so wonderful to meet you. Not too many people pass through the little town where I live...we are kind of off the beaten path of where most people like to go in Florida...and I am limited in how far I can travel away from home, but if there's a way, we will try to make it happen.  Anyway, meeting up with these wonderful women today was truly a blessing for each of us! I thank each one for going the "extra mile" to be there! It was a lot of fun and good fellowship too!

When I got back home I noticed that the bird feeder favored by most of our birds was empty, so I refilled it, and soon the Cardinals and Titmice and Chickadees were having a feast and waving their wings to say thank you. I only managed to get pictures of the Cardinals, but here's what I saw:

Mrs. Cardinal was waiting her turn in the Holly Tree:

They are storing up food for another night with a freeze warning!

And thankfully, I also noticed when I got home that all of the Christmas boxes were finally put away, and the house is back to its normal self...

(hmmm, I should probably turn that blanket around so the bear and moose and elk aren't standing upside down! LOL. It is correct on the other side that we look at on the front of the couch, but not on the back where you walk in the door and see it! Oh well...this isn't a magazine photo shoot! Just my blog, tellin' it like it is! We aren't striving for perfection here...just comfy and cozy!

And the Christmas totes are all safely stacked away in the shed until next year! Yay! Thank you to our son Benton and Hubby for taking care of this today before they went out to lunch and had a good hamburger at our local "True Grits" restaurant.

And so I close this today with a thankful heart, full of joy and blessing...letting the memories of the day and the smiles on the faces flood my heart. It was a wonderful time, and I am so thankful that God made it possible for me to participate.

Time to close for today friends. 

Some words of wisdom from God's Word...

2 Samuel 22:29-31

“29 For You are my lamp, O Lord;

The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.

30 For by You I can run against a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

31 As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him."

Amen.

Monday Monday...All kinds of stuff

Yes, It's Monday...and if I wait much longer to post this, it will be Tuesday!  But it's been a busy day and a busy weekend, so I am just now sitting down to play catch up in blogworld.  

This was the view a couple of nights ago on Still Waters Pond...sunset with some stormy clouds in the background.  We've had some late thunderstorms...and last night we actually just had the thunder and lightning all around giving us quite a light show, but no real rain to speak of.

But more than that, yesterday evening we had the Saharan Dust roll in and turn the sky to gold...

This was the view last evening around 8:00 p.m. out over Still Waters Pond

And this is how it looked out in front of our house...the sky gave everything a golden glow, mixed with those storm clouds that later produced a lot of lightning in the distance.

This is what brought that golden glow to our atmosphere:

Before all that golden "glow" moved in, the Sand Hill Crane family was here in the yard looking for some bird seeds and other treats in the grass.  However, it was quite windy and they seemed to be easily spooked.  

They kind of wandered back and forth rather nervously, like something was "in the air" that they weren't familiar with.

That's the young colt "Abe Lincoln", flapping his wings and jumping around.  I think the wind spinner was spinning quite rapidly and it makes a noise when it does, which seemed to make them all a bit jumpy.

After walking around basically in circles for a while they finally decided to head back out into Still Waters Pond for the evening.

In my last post HERE, I had shown you pictures of the Purslane plant that was growing wild along the road where we walk.  I had debated upon going back and digging it up and bringing it home with me, and so I did.  I put it in a pot of dirt and watered it really good and watched it for a couple of days before taking any pictures, to give it a chance to "catch its breath" and revive after being moved.  And so this morning I took a look at it, and as the sun was coming around that way it started to open up its flowers and it looked so healthy and happy!  I thought, well, I guess I did okay in transplanting it here after all, and had good thoughts about digging up some other wild Purslane plants around the yard and moving them to this location and making a little special garden just for them. My! I must be feeling better to have such crazy ideas again!!   Yes, Praise God, I am feeling better, and as a matter of fact, we did go to both Sunday School and Church yesterday and made it all the way through...(and then came home and took a nice long nap).  

Anyway, such was my thinking this morning about this plant, and I even went to the Dollar General this afternoon and picked up a bag of some potting soil to help create this little garden.

Well, my great plans came to a screeching halt when we returned home from the store and discovered this:

While we were gone the Sand Hill Cranes had come along and decided that digging in this pot would make a good supper for them! They literally pulled out every piece of this plant and broke it off and laid them on the ground beside the pot just like this above, leaving the pot totally empty except for the dirt, and you could see they had dug around in there looking for grubs or something!!!  I know it was the cranes because I saw them walking around to our back yard just as we were leaving to go to the store.  And now they are innocently out on the pond settling in for the night like nothing had happened!  Huh! After I've been so nice to them! One of the hazards of living so close to nature!

Well, I gathered up all the pieces and stuck them back in the pot and added some of the new potting soil and put the pot up on the porch and out of their reach! I don't know if the plant will revive and survive or not. Time will tell. I guess this is going to be a new saga to report back to you as time goes by. LOL.

That's not all of the activity on the back porch...earlier today this young juvenile male Cardinal stopped by to have a snack. He is chewing on a seed taken from the bird feeder nearby.  He seemed to enjoy just standing there chomping on his seed for a good long while.  Unfortunately, my good camera batteries were being recharged, so I had to take these photos with the cell phone through the glass doors, and so the quality isn't that good, but you get the idea.

Isn't he sweet?  

Thankfully "Blackie" the kitty was sound asleep and never saw this bird so nearby.

Me thinks the bird is tempting fate a bit by staying there so long.

Just now as I was writing this, Blackie went diving off the edge of the porch down onto the ground in hopes of catching a bird at the birdfeeder!  Thankfully he was too slow and the bird escaped!  Yes, Blackie is still hanging around and living the good life on our comfy porch chairs.  He's got it made. The neighbor lady feeds him twice a day (if he's not still sleeping from being up all night prowling around), and she even put a flea collar on him. Then he lazes around here all day without a care in the world.  Some cats just don't know how good they've got it! LOL.😻

Well, speaking of a cool cat...I just received this picture via text from our grandson Noah tonight!  Many of you know that sadly we don't hear from our only grandson very often. He lives way up in Maine, so we can't see him very often either. It's a long story, but anyway, anytime we hear from him is a cause to celebrate.  I did send him a text about a week ago, with pictures of our 4th of July fireworks and family photos from Father's Day, etc.  I've just been biding my time and praying that he would soon respond, and today this came. In his message he said he's been very busy, but lots of good things have been happening, and he will call us tomorrow and tell us all about it! I have a feeling that pretty new red car is one of the "good things" that has happened.  He looks great, might have put on a little weight since he was here a year ago, and maybe even might have cut his hair?  Not sure, but either way, who cares about that? I am SO happy to hear from him and can't wait to hear what he's got to tell us tomorrow.  We pray for him every single day, that God will lead him and protect him and help him to find the path that is right for him.  That's what is most important. 

Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” 

declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you hope and a future.

Well, with that I will close for tonight. I hope you are having a good Monday and start to your week. We give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever! (Psalm 107:1)