Friday Foto Friends...Making a Mountain out of a Molehill!

Happy Friday everyone!  I have a different kind of story to share in pictures today...if you are extremely squeamish about nature, then you may want to skip over this...but I promise you it has a happy ending.

Yesterday afternoon I noticed Blackie down near the shoreline of Still Waters Pond, looking intently at something on the ground.  So focused was he on his prey that he never even noticed me quietly sneaking up for a closer look, and this is what I saw:

Yes, that is a mole!  Click HERE for a good description from the National Wildlife Federation.

 I guess I just discovered that Blackie is a fierce warrior and a good hunter! At least, that's how it appears right now...but keep reading...

Blackie had a pretty good grip on this wiggly furry creature in his jaws, but I could see that it was a challenge to hold on to the mole who was not giving up without a good fight...

Blackie kept moving to higher ground and looking for a good place to sit down and hopefully enjoy what he had captured...

Sunshine came over to see what all the commotion was about...

But apparently he wasn't interested enough to try and make Blackie share his bounty...so he just walked away...

Blackie continued his trek across the lawn, looking for a good spot to sit...

But alas! Somehow he lost his grip on the mole and the mole escaped and moved away so rapidly that Blackie hardly knew what had happened...

He tried to stalk him again, but, where did he go???

Amazingly, Mr. Mole managed not only to escape the jaws of certain death, but he managed to dig his way back down in the ground so rapidly that there was nothing Blackie could do but sit and watch the earth moving and his treasure disappearing farther and farther down into the ground!!

So Blackie decided to just lay down and watch and wait and guard the gate to the tunnel in case the little mole tried to come back up for "air".  I don't think Mr. Mole was that dumb, and his tunneling probably already had him quite far away and in a place where Blackie could not reach him again...

Sunshine was laying nearby and looked up as if to say, "I could've told him so! I've been there and done that, and already knew who would win that fight."

Click HERE for more information about moles.

In thinking about the term, "making a mountain out of a molehill"... I couldn't help but think about all the times that we humans tend to get all worked up over things that probably really aren't all that important in the grand scheme of life.  We think that "our way is the only way, or the best way"...and we just can't let go of our own self importance in order to allow others who may disagree with us any grace. We try to build up our "mountain" from a little molehill by enlisting the opinions of others who agree with us and making our case bigger and bigger so that anyone who dares to contend with us will be put to shame by our greatness.  

Proverbs 10:12 NKJV

12 Hatred stirs up strife,

But love covers all sins.

Sadly, all too often in creating this big mountain we only stir up strife and people begin to take sides and in defending their own point, people who once may have valued and cared for one another deteriorate into people who barely tolerate each other, if at all.  Families and friendships are hurt and destroyed, and nothing of any great value can ever come out of such disagreement.  

Yes, I do understand that there some points in life that we should never waver upon, but I like the old saying, "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater".    In other words, don't get so caught up in your personal stance that you neglect to preserve and protect relationships that are much more valuable and vulnerable.  Is being "right" really more important than family and dear friends?  

I do know that there are some relationships that are toxic and probably need to be severed, but that's not really what I'm talking about here.  And I don't want to "make a mountain out of a molehill" by trying to explore this subject too much here...but seeing that mole and his determination to survive got me thinking about these things today. 

Here's what Isaiah the Prophet had to say about mountains...

3 

Isaiah 40:3-5 NKJV

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

“Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make straight in the desert

A highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

On that day, all of our grandiose ideas and thoughts and self-importance will be 'brought low"...and "the Glory of the LORD  will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."... On that day, there's only one thing that really matters...where do I stand with God?  Have I repented of my own self-righteousness and accepted God's free offer of salvation found only in His Son, Jesus Christ?

John 14:6  NKJV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Ephesians 2:8-9  NKJV

8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; 

it is the gift of God, 

9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."

This is the only mountain I will stand on and not waver...my salvation comes only through my faith in Jesus Christ...and it is His free gift to me and anyone who will believe...and none of my self-important ideas or works have anything to do with it.  Without Christ, I am nothing...I am lower than a mole in the dirt.  My big mountains and grand ideas will NOT get me into heaven...Only Jesus...and that is the only truth that will set us all free from our bondage to grand ideas and big mountains and worthless schemes.  

I hope you are all standing with me on this mountain!  

Thursday Thankfulness and More

 Happy first day of Summer!  Not sure how I really feel about that...summer is not one of my favorite seasons since we live here in the "Sunshine State", and summer is HOT, HOT, and MORE HOT! And HUMID too!  But if I can list at least one thing I am very thankful for, it would be our central air conditioning...and also the fact that since we replaced our old AC unit last June, we have noticed that our electricity consumption so far in these past few warmer months has been considerably less, and our electric bill has literally been cut in half from what it was during the same period of time last year!! Now that is a blessing I can really be thankful for! It also goes to show you how much electricity the older less efficient appliances really use, and when at all possible, it is worth the expense of replacing them with newer models.  

It sure beats having to fan ourselves with hand fans and other kinds of fans...Like I wrote about HERE a few years ago when our AC broke down.  However, we were thankful then and would be thankful now to have those fans if we needed them again.  

That hand made fan above belonged to my husband's grandmother, and I expect it is quite old, but it still works!  And those coasters that say "Life is BETTER on the porch!" would be true, if it wasn't 90 degrees outside! LOL. Our porch sitting season is actually in the fall, some of winter, and spring. But definitely not summer!

Because it has been so hot, we haven't been outside much. We did take an early walk this morning before it got too hot, and yesterday we went to Walmart and walked around the store doing our shopping for a while, so that was our exercise for that day! 

This week has been rather quiet compared to most weeks lately. Tomorrow we do have to travel all the way to St. Augustine for hubby's eye appointment with the Ophthalmologist. They are still trying to determine if he needs to have his cataracts removed yet, or if they need to treat another eye condition first that could be more serious than the cataracts. Hopefully we will get some answers tomorrow. Praying for clarity. (Hey! That's a good word to use in this situation! LOL).

Speaking of hubby, this past Sunday was Father's Day.  I've already posted these photos on Facebook, but not here.  

Here he is with his gifts from the kids...new lights for the yard. He LOVES these lights.  He has them all around the yard, and he loves to go outside at night and look at them. So they couldn't have given him a better gift!

2 Corinthians 4:6 NKJV

6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Our family gathered for lunch after church...Scott, Benton, Rose, John and yours truly. We had a Chinese Stir Fry dinner...partly cooked by me, and partly picked up at the local Chinese take out place. They provided the egg rolls, rice, and crab rangoons and fortune cookies. I cooked a chicken and vegetable stir fry, which was very good. We had that peach cobbler that I baked the night before for dessert.

Here's "Daddy" and his boys...well two of them. We always miss our dear son Matthew on these special days (and every day).

Here is a favorite very old picture of Daddy and his three sons, taken during the Bible Story reading time at bedtime each night.  This is a priceless and precious picture  to me. As you can see, Scotty was just a baby, and Benton and Matthew were in Kindergarten and Pre-school. Those were such sweet times. 

(Sorry for the reflections on the glass...I didn't want to take it out of the frame)

Proverbs 22:6 KJV

 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, 

he will not depart from it."

I am very thankful that our sons have a Daddy who loves them and who took the time to teach them about Jesus from a very young age. They were given a strong foundation on which to grow and develop and build their lives. Were they always perfect? No, they were normal little boys and teens and young men who tested the waters and sometimes made wrong choices in life, but when all is said and done, they have a faith that still sustains them in their adult years, and also that carried our son Matthew into heaven when he was 41 years old.  I am so thankful that he knew and believed what Jesus said:

"6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."  John 14:6 KJV

I have no doubt that we will see Matthew again one day in heaven.

I guess I will sign off for tonight with those thoughts.  I don't have any new photos yet for "Friday Foto Friends", so we shall see what develops tomorrow. We have to take that ride over to St. Augustine for the eye appointment, but there won't be any time for doing anything extra as hubby will probably have his eyes dilated and we will want to come straight home after the appointment. The sun will be too bright for him to do any sightseeing! (And I will probably be driving home, so no chance for me to take pictures along the way!)

So, good night for now! I'll catch up with you later!

Happy First Day of Summer!

This was the end of the school year class picnic in 6th grade. I'm the crazy one on the left with the bubblegum cigar in my mouth and the feather in my hat. The other sweet girl is one of my best school buddies, Mary. We were both redheads, and when we got together, anything could happen.  "Those were the days, my friend. We thought they'd never end..."   Mary and I do still stay in touch via Facebook, but she lives in another state and it's been way too many years since we actually got to be together. Maybe one of these days we can make it happen. I hope so. We aren't getting any younger.

2022 The 4th Sunday of Advent

Today was the 4th Sunday of Advent.  

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me." 

John 14:6

We lit the 4th candle on the Advent wreath in church. I've been wanting to get a picture of this unique advent wreath, and finally did today. I love that it is set in a beautiful crown, symbolizing the royalty of Christ, the Son of God, Prince of Peace, and Lord of lords!

I snapped this picture at the close of our service today, which was a full house, praise the Lord!  We had just had the benediction and were singing "Go Tell it on the mountain...that Jesus Christ is born!" I love that we sing that at the close of the service as a fitting reminder to go out and tell everyone about Jesus!

Today was our choir's presentation of "Light of the World".  This recording was done during our dress rehearsal this past week. If you want to sit back and enjoy some happy music, please click on this and enjoy. Please excuse my coughing toward the end (and possibly somewhere in the middle). Other than that, I made it through!  This morning for the real performance I don't think I coughed until the very end, so that was an improvement. LOL. The words and music were a beautiful way to tell the Christmas story, so I hope you will enjoy it. As I've said before, we are a small country church, and our choir is very down to earth with no professional singers or musicians. We just sing for the glory of the Lord, and that is what I hope shines through.

After church we went out to eat at one of our local eateries, (Hog Wild Country Cafe'), and Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were there! What a surprise! He was listening to children's requests, and I told him I'd been a good girl and I hoped he'd bring everything on my list.  He said he'd try really hard. LOL. As it turns out this couple used to attend our church but they have moved to another church in the past year or so, so it was a surprise to see them.  And yes, it was cold enough for that fire in the fireplace today! And I understand by next Sunday it will be in the low 20's here, so who knows what might happen? Santa just might get to ride in his sleigh after all! He may have to revive that reindeer on the wall first. LOL.

I was looking back in my blogpost history and found these posts from previous years' 4th Sunday of Advent, so if you have some extra time and want to go back and re-read these old posts, you are very welcome to.  I mainly have them here for my own reference so that I can keep track of the different things that were written for this Sunday in Advent.  It seems like we do something a little different each year, which is good. There is no absolute format for each Sunday in Advent. You can do it any way you want. The important thing is to think about the wonderful story of the Birth of Christ, and His purpose for coming here to earth in the first place. Each Sunday in Advent we share a little more of the story that helps put the whole big picture into focus.  Christmas is all about Jesus...not just as that baby in the manger, but looking ahead into God's plan for our redemption through His Son. He came to redeem us from our sins and give us hope for eternity. And that's what Christmas is all about.  

With that I will say good night for today.  

 2016 4th Sunday of Advent

2018 4th Sunday of Advent

2019 4th Sunday of Advent

2020 4th Sunday of Advent

2021 4th Sunday of Advent

Kind of a "Whimsical Wednesday" Post

Good Morning from Sunny and Beautiful Florida!  I must apologize for those who are not enjoying a "sunny and beautiful" morning.   And to be perfectly honest, right now while I am writing this it is still dark outside, so I don't know if it is going to be sunny or not, and I just looked at the thermometer and it says it is 38 degrees!!!! I am totally in shock! I guess I wasn't paying attention to the weather reports as I had no idea it was going to be this cold this morning. And I just looked at my I-Phone weather report, and we are going to get rain later today! So no sunshine either! So now I must really apologize for my opening words. They were totally wrong!!    It is 6:40 am here...so what is the weather where you are?

My friend Terri over at "Your Friend From Florida" is doing a post called "Whimsical Wednesday". It's a lot of fun. Every week she posts pictures of some kind of interesting attire for women, and then we have to select the shoes we would wear with that particular outfit. You may want to scoot over there for a minute to see what the outfit is for today and make your selection between the three choices of very "lovely" boots to go along with the lovely black velvet jacket.

I am not going to share those particular pictures here, but thought I would do my own whimsical kind of post about my choice of attire on a day like today. Some of you may have already seen this on my Facebook page yesterday, but I thought I would write about it here today just because I wanted to.


This picture popped up in my "See Your Memories from four years ago" on Facebook,
Yes, that's me, sitting at my desk in my "office" at our previous home in 2016...

And I literally almost spit my tea out when I saw it, because of what I was wearing, because this is how I was dressed as I was reading my morning messages yesterday morning:

 Yes, you are correct, I am wearing that very same flannel shirt, sitting at my computer in my "new home office" in our new house, doing the very same thing as I was doing four years ago on this very same day!

I mean, I must love this shirt a lot, because one morning I noticed it on the chair in our bedroom, and I liked the way the colors matched our bedspread, so I took a picture of it:

 And not too long ago hubby took this picture of me on our deck, wearing this favorite flannel shirt:

This is the very same flannel shirt that I devoted a post to a few years ago, when I first received it as a "post-Christmas" gift.  You may want to revisit this as it probably has more less whimsical things to say...

https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2016/01/strength-and-honor-are-her-clothing.html

Yes, that's me, in my favorite shirt, sitting on our porch in our previous home...

I don't know what I will do when this shirt finally wears out. Someone suggested yesterday that it would make wonderful dust rags.  Yikes, I can't imagine using this favorite shirt for dust rags someday...because dusting is something that I really don't like to do, and it would be such a waste of a beautiful shirt to tear it up into dust rags.  I may have to make it into a pillow or something. Or a teddy bear. Before I die. I know many people make pillows or teddy bears out of a loved one's favorite shirts after they die. But I think I'd like to make mine before I die so I can enjoy it too. Crazy huh? Yeah, maybe, but this is "Whimsical Wednesday" and I am feeling quite "whimsical" as you can see.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about the shoes!! We must select which shoes we will wear with our outfit:

Not these shoes, because I finally threw them away not long ago. They were my favorite pair of Skecher's shoes that I wore around the house until they finally just couldn't be worn anymore:

Maybe you'd like these better, another pair of Skechers that I am now using for my "house shoes", which means I don't wear them outside so they will stay clean...

Or maybe you'd like this pair of Skechers, my favorite pair for walking, as you can see it helps me to identify the size of pine cones that we find...which this pine cone would be a size 9 women's shoe size. LOL.

Okay, there you have my "whimsical Wednesday" offering. My apologies to Terri for doing something totally different than what I was supposed to do. But this is what I love to wear on these chilly winter mornings here in Florida.

I am my father's daughter. Daddy always had a favorite shirt, pants and shoes that he wore all the time and when we were his "caregivers" we could hardly get him to take them off to wash them.  You may not totally appreciate or understand this, but when my daddy died, the undertaker wanted to know what we would like for him to be dressed in.  We knew that Daddy was going to be cremated, so it really didn't matter what outfit he was wearing since we would not be having any kind of "viewing" before his burial.  So, my sister and I were together at that moment, and we looked at each other and we both knew that Daddy would want to be "buried" in his favorite shirt, pants and shoes, so that is what we did.  Sometimes I wish we'd saved the shirt to have as a keepsake, but then again, we both knew that Daddy would be most comfortable traveling into heaven in his favorite clothes, so that always makes me smile when I think about Daddy's heaven-bound outfit.

However, truly, what "outfit" are you wearing on your way to heaven?  There is really only one outfit that will do, and that is to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Isaiah 61:10 (NKJV)

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

My soul shall be joyful in my God; 

For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, 

He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, 

As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, 

And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Philippians 3:9 (NKJV)

9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

So whatever outfit you are wearing today, be sure to "dress" your heart and soul for the most important event of all...life in eternity...in heaven, with Christ. There is only one way to get ready for that:

John 14:6 (NKJV)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Not so "whimsical" after all.... have a blessed day my friends!

Messages In Nature

Messages In Nature

If you look closely, you will see a big heart in this old oak tree. 

I didn't notice it until I looked at the picture, 

yet it was there all the time. 

Isn't that the way it is with love? 

Sometimes we can't see it because of all the clutter and stuff surrounding us...

kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees. 

But God's Love is right there...in places we don't expect to find it. We just have to step back and take a breath and look again. 

When we look at the "bigger picture", 

we begin to understand the message 

God is trying to get through to us. 

Perhaps you can help me find some other hidden messages in these pictures from more of God's creation all around us...

"He will not be afraid of evil tidings;

His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.  

His heart is established;

He will not be afraid."

Psalm 112:7-8a

 "The Lord is my strength and song,

and He has become my salvation."

Psalm 118:14

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him."

Psalm 37:7

"Blessed are the meek,

for they shall inherit the earth."

Matthew 5:5

"But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid!"

Matthew 14:27

"Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 

And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."

Ephesians 5:1-2

I thought perhaps these positive words from scripture might be a blessing and a breath of fresh air in the midst of a week full of turmoil and negativity. Perhaps this will inspire you to be on the look out for more "messages in nature", sent with love from God to you!  Be sure to either capture them in pictures, or write them down...and share them with us so that we can be encouraged as well!  

May God be with you always!

O Holy Night...

"He is despised and rejected by men

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely He has borne our griefs

And carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten by God, and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment,

And who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living;

For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

And they made His grave with the wicked..

But with the rich at His death,

Because He had done no violence,

Nor was any deceit in His Mouth."

Isaiah 53:3-9

I have written tonight from the prophet Isaiah, which was written in the 8th century B.C....over 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.  There is no clearer picture in the Old Testament of the Messiah than what has been written in the prophecies of Isaiah.  I am not a theologian or a great Bible scholar, but it doesn't take much education to see the clear picture of Christ's death foretold in this passage.  There are so many other pictures of Christ in the Old Testament, that it would take 39 books to find them all. 

Another portrait of Christ foretold in the Old Testament is in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 12...the story of the Passover.  The spotless lamb that was slain, and the shed blood that was placed on the doorposts of every Hebrew family as a covering, so that when the Angel of the Lord passed through the land of Egypt on that night, killing all the firstborn in the land of Egypt because of their refusal to free the people of God; when the Lord saw the blood on their houses, He passed over those homes, and the plague did not touch the inhabitants.  When Christ, who was the spotless lamb of God, was slain on the cross...the blood that He shed was a covering for our sins, so that we would not be condemned to die in our sinful condition.

Tonight is a holy night...Christ knew that He would have to die the next day...He knew that He would have to suffer many tortures for the sins of the world.  But He did it willingly...for you and for me...because He knew there was no other way to cover our sins.  There was no other way to bridge the gap between earth and heaven...His cross became that bridge, enabling us to cross over into heaven when that day comes. There is no other way.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

"Surely He bore our sorrows, and by His stripes we are healed."

So be it, Lord.

Amen.