Friday Fotos After All from Lake Swan Camp

 After last night's post, I wasn't sure if I'd have anything new to share with you today...but it was such a beautiful day we decided to take a little ride this morning and get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

We rode up to one of our favorite places to visit, Lake Swan Camp.  I've shared stories from there before, as we have a history with this place that goes way back to our children's first summer camp experience, and you can read about that and other visits again if you wish at the links down below the pictures at the end of this post.

As you can see, it was a glorious day...look at that lake...and that sky! Wow! Absolutely stunning and perfect! The temperature was about 65 degrees, with the sun shining and low humidity...the days we wish would last all spring and summer long!

And then I noticed this...the Cross...oh yes! The Cross...this is what makes Lake Swan Camp such a special place...so many lives changed here at this camp...children,  youth, and adults too...even our own kids when they were there so many years ago...

Oh look at this Cormorant sitting on the raft...

He was enjoying this perfect morning also!

He decided to jump in the lake for a swim...

These birds will dive down under the water and come up some where else. They also love to sit in the sun and spread out their wings to dry in the sunshine. 

But today he just wanted to swim!

It was a perfect day for it! Glad we got to see him!

It was just beautiful all the way around!

Oh, lookie what I found!

Who remembers this poem? 

The Swing

By Robert Louis Stevenson

How do you like to go up in a swing,

Up in the air so blue?

Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing

Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,

Till I can see so wide,

Rivers and trees and cattle and all

Over the countryside—

Till I look down on the garden green,

Down on the roof so brown—

Up in the air I go flying again,

Up in the air and down!

Source: A Child's Garden of Verses 

It was a little low to the ground and tended to go cockeyed, but other than that, it was perfect!

Doesn't  take much to make me happy! LOL.

This also makes me happy:

Now that's what I call a beautiful sight!

Next we walked over to the fire pit/devotional area...a place where I'm sure testimonies are shared around the campfire...Oh, how I'd love to be there when that's happening...I can just sense the Presence of the Lord in this place...

Such a beautiful, prayerful setting...

I kind of wandered off into the woods by myself while hubby went to check out the "facilities"...

Found this lovely clearing with some more benches...and I can just imagine sitting there to pray and meditate on God's Word...just me and God in His woods...I really could have stayed here all day and have been perfectly happy...

Oh, look at those beautiful azaleas blooming off in the distance,  so of course I had to go check them out:

Oh my, aren't they gorgeous? Right out here blooming in the woods for the glory of God!

Really perfect!

Then I made my way back to the cross...really, life begins at the cross...and it ends at the cross...in a sense.  While I was writing this post I was listening to our Easter Cantata so I can get more familiar with it. And one of the songs in the cantata is "It Is Finished"...an arrangement of the original song by Bill and Gloria Gaither.  (Actually, that's the title of the whole cantata, come to think of it!)  When I came back to this picture at the end of the post, that song was playing..."It is Finished..."   and even though that may seem "coincidental", it really isn't.  

As I said in the beginning, the cross is the place where lives have been changed, people have been saved...where God tells His children, "It is finished! The Battle is over! It is finished! There'll be no more war...It is finished, the end of the conflict;

It is finished and Jesus is Lord"

It Is Finished

The Gaither Vocal Band

"There's a line that is drawn through the ages

On that line stands an old rugged cross

On that cross, a battle is raging

Or the gain a man's soul or it's loss

On one side, march the forces of evil

All the demons, and all the devils of hell

On the other, the angels of glory

And they meet on Golgotha's hill

The earth shakes with the force of the conflict

And the sun refuses to shine

There hangs God's son, in the balance

And then through the darkness he cries:

"It is finished, the battle is over

It is finished, there'll be no more war

It is finished, the end of the conflict

It is finished and Jesus is Lord"

Yet in my heart, the battle was raging

Not all prisoners of war had come home

These were battlefields of my own making

I didn't know that the war had been won.

Then I heard the king of the ages

Had fought all the battles for me

And that victory was mine for the claiming

And now praise his name, I am free!

It is finished, the battle is over

It is finished, there'll be no more war

It is finished, the end of the conflict

It is finished and, Jesus is Lord"

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Gloria Gaither / William J. Gaither

It Is Finished lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing

Link to previous visit to Lake Swan Camp

Another Link telling more of our history at this camp

Final thought...Is it finished for you?  Is the battle really over?  Is Jesus your Lord?   There's no time like the present to accept the free gift that Jesus is offering you...let Him fight your battles for you, and let Him be Lord, both now and forever. Amen.

Matthew 11:28-30

"28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: 

and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

 Oh my dear friends! Where shall I begin?  There's been a lot going on the past few days, and I have been keeping quite busy with some different kinds of things than the usual watching the wildlife on Still Waters Pond, although I have been doing some of that as well.  Maybe I will start with that and then move on to the more involved "stuff" that may take some 'splaining', as Ricky Ricardo would say to Lucy.  So let's start with the pretty stuff first and then talk about the deeper stuff.

I can't remember if I showed you these pictures already that definitely show the two Sand Hill Crane eggs on the nest...if you've already seen these, then just move on to the next batch of pictures...but this will prove that there are definitely two baby Crane Colts on their way! Mama and Daddy are keeping close watch over the nest, taking turns doing the nesting duty. They are very responsible parents and "parents to be".

Mr. Great Blue Heron still comes to fish here on Still Waters Pond, but he keeps his distance from the Crane nest. I think he knows better than to tangle with those critters!

The Goldfinches continue to come and feed at the finch feeder. Their colors are starting to get brighter every day.

And speaking of bright colors, Mr. Bluebird is sitting on his perch here above the birdhouse, while Mrs. Bluebird is tending to her nest duties inside.

He keeps a close watch out for pesky birds who happen to get too close to their territory, and he chases them away just as quickly as they arrive...

I'm not sure just how far along the nest sitting is going for now...I've been too busy with other stuff to keep track of the days that they have actually been staying inside the nest.  I'll just be surprised someday when the babies arrive.

One morning this week we took a ride up to one of our favorite places to visit, Lake Swan Camp,  about 20 miles north of us.  We like to go and just look at the lake and take a walk around during the week when we assume there won't be much activity going on.  However, we were sure surprised to see THIS:

From a distance we couldn't tell what was going on, some kind of headless lake creatures gathering for a rather weird and creepy looking meeting?  Are they aliens getting ready to attack? LOL.  Of course, on closer inspection we realized that these were wetsuits, hanging up to dry.  We soon discovered that there was a group of people staying at the camp who were doing some scuba diving training as well as other projects, like helping to build a new porch on one of the buildings, etc.   We looked up the name of the group that we saw written on a large bus parked on the campgrounds: International ALERT Academy from Big Sandy, TX.  It is a Christian academy where they "forge extraordinary men who influence their world for Christ."  Scuba Diving and rescue, fire fighting, aviation, missions, discipleship,  construction, EMT,  and much more are all a part of this nine month course of study and training.    We had never heard of this school or program before, and it was quite interesting to learn about this.  We just stayed out of their way and didn't hang around because we didn't want to interfere with their program.  But it was fascinating!

I did manage to take one picture of the lake without involving any of their group.

So now back home and back to what else has been going on the past few days.  As many of you know, our son and daughter in law have been involved with a furniture business in one way or the other over the past several years. They owned and operated a furniture and gift store here in our town called "Dixie Cottage" for a while, but sold it last year. However, they continued to put refurbished or custom made furniture in the store for sale as vendors.  Recently they have decided to get out of that business altogether, except for their own other business ventures online on Etsy and through their own "Ben & Rose's Country Woodshop".  However, they still had some furniture in the store waiting to be sold, and they needed to get it out by the end of this month (today).  Since this particular bedroom dresser and nightstand still had not sold, I kept thinking about it and felt an urge to replace our very old dresser with one that is newer and much easier to "operate".  So let me go back in time and share more of what all of this entailed for me to consider such a proposition.

This is the "old dresser" that I've had for forty years. It has  quite a history. 

Inside one of the top drawers is this information, written by my father, probably after my Mother received this dresser from her parents' estate back in the late 1960's.  The only thing I would disagree with was the date of 1905.  I was of the impression that my grandparents had this dresser when they first got married, which was in 1901.  Either way, it is well over 100 years old.  

After my mother got the dresser from her parents' estate, she kept it for a while, but then my brother and his wife needed it, so they took it and kept it for a while. I believe my (then) sister in law actually refinished it. Sadly, my brother and his wife divorced, and he didn't want to keep the dresser, but since it was a family "heirloom" he brought it back home to my parents' home.  At that point there was apparently no room in the house for it, so it was put in my father's workshop/garage, where he subsequently started storing parts for his toy train collection and other various miscellaneous tools, and "stuff".  

In 1984 our little family was moving to a new home/parsonage, and we needed an extra dresser. So I asked if I could have this dresser, and my parents agreed that I could have it. From that point it traveled with us through many more moves over the next 40 years.  It originally had a very large and heavy mirror, but the silver on the back of the mirror was quite old and scratch and you really couldn't see yourself very well in the mirror. Plus the frame was coming apart, and so I believe that mirror just kind of got "left behind" at one of our houses when we moved away.  

One of the things that I stored in that dresser was my first real journal. I wrote about that journal HERE, for one of our "Random Journal Days" some time ago.  In this particular post I also shared more about my Grandma Tedlie, the grandma who had this dresser for so many years. You might appreciate her more when you read more about her story.

Here's an excerpt from my journal, written not long after I received this dresser:

So with all of this family history and sentimentality connected to this dresser, why would I not want it anymore you may ask? Well, it's not so much that I didn't want it, but it is starting to show its age (after 123 years you'd show your age too!).  The two big drawers are so big and heavy that they are very difficult for me to open and close without hurting myself.  And there really wasn't any other place in the house where it would fit.  So finally, after a LOT of prayer and working through guilt feelings, I made up my mind to "let it go".  I told my son that I wanted the dresser that he has for sale (I would pay for it, of course!), and I wanted this old dresser to go to a new home.  He and Rose could not take it to their house as they do not have room for it either.  So I sent out an emergency message to all of my siblings and nieces/nephews and told them that if anyone was interested in having Grandma Tedlie's 123 year old dresser to let me know asap and make arrangements to come and get it like this weekend! One by one they saw the message, and either responded with their regrets over not having space for it either, or they just didn't respond at all.  So with that final step out of the way, I told my son to come and get it and take it to our church thrift store when he delivers the "new dresser" to the house.

Last night I spent the evening cleaning out the drawers and throwing some things away, putting some things in a bag to donate, and then reorganized what was left. (Still way too much stuff!).  Then this morning he and Rose came and brought the new dresser and nightstand and took away the old to our church thrift store.  I didn't even cry, but I thought for sure that I would.  No, it took a lot of strength for me to finally "let it go", but when I did I felt so much better and am at peace with my decision.

And here is the new to me dresser:

The drawers all slide so nice and easy and it is not groaning and stiff with age like my 123 year old Grandma's dresser.  I have a feeling that Grandma is actually smiling at all of this and congratulating me on making such a difficult decision over something that really shouldn't be such a big deal.  It's really only furniture and we can't take it with us...

OH, and yes, my old journal is in the top left hand drawer, just like before.

Here are some pictures of the "old dresser" on its way out and then at its current resting place until a new owner comes along to claim it:

This is in the garage at our church Thrift Store. I am praying that God will send someone who will love it just like I did and who will treasure it and make new memories with it.

Tonight, as a way of celebrating this "event" and also thanking our kids for their help with this today, we took them out to eat at Cedar River Seafood.

Rose and I had fun figuring out the puzzles and riddles on the back of the placemat while we waited for our dinner:

Oh, here's Benton and Rose now...two very hard working and sweet kids that we greatly love and appreciate!

And here' s me and hubby, trying to take a selfie, but somehow we didn't quite get our eyes in the right places...LOL.  But we were having a good time and it felt good to get out with the kids and relax after a long day filled with a lot of hard work and some anxiety on my part.

In closing for tonight I thought I should look at my devotional book for today's reading...Hey! It's Leap Day!!! This only happens once every 4 years, so this is a very significant day!  And would you please read what this devotional and scripture reading says for today:

Oh my goodness! I promise you I did NOT look at this until just now!  What an appropriate message for what I have been going through in this past couple of days.  Trust me, I wanted to figure out a way to keep the old dresser and have the new one too...but it was as if God was trying to help me learn about "letting go" and "letting God" guide me into giving up something that even though it was wonderful and sentimental and special, it was starting to cause me pain not only physically but emotionally.  Letting go of this world and all its attachments is not easy for any of us, but the day will come when we will leave this world behind and all of those "attachments", and God will give us something so much greater on that day...a new home, new peace, and joy for eternity in His Presence.  

2 Corinthians 5:17

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; 

old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

And with those thoughts still swirling around in my mind, I will bid you good night dear friends! 
 

Friday Foto Friends ~ A Place of Peace and Deliverance

A few weeks ago I shared with you a place that was special to us, Lake Swan Camp.  Well, this morning I didn't have any pictures to share with you for Friday Foto Friends, so we decided we needed to take a little ride anyway and get away from the TV for a while.  Sometimes you just need to have a change of perspective in your view so you can see things more clearly, or at least see things that are more pleasant and positive.  Therefore, I will share the pictures I took this morning at Lake Swan Camp.

The lake was very calm and peaceful, soothing to my spirit.

If I'd brought my paddle, I might have been tempted to go for a canoe ride:

They have a very interesting Miniature Golf game there:

A fun way to learn some key scripture verses as you play your way through the golf course.

Then I was intrigued by this wonderful firepit, with all the benches around it. I can just imagine campers singing "Kum By Ya, My Lord, Kum By Ya".... and

 "Pass It On" 

(By Kurt Kaiser)

It only takes a spark to get a fire going,

And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing;

That's how it is with God's Love,

Once you've experienced it,

Your spread the love to everyone

You want to pass it on.

What a wondrous time is spring,

When all the tress are budding

The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming;

That's how it is with God's love,

Once you've experienced it.

You want to sing, it's fresh like spring,

You want to pass it on.

I wish for you my friend

This happiness that I've found;

You can depend on God

It matters not where you're bound,

I'll shout it from the mountain top - PRAISE GOD!

I want the world to know

The Lord of love has come to me

I want to pass it on.

I'll shout it from the mountain top - PRAISE GOD!

I want the world to know

The Lord of love has come to me

I want to pass it on.

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/kurt-kaiser-pass-it-lyrics.html

Then roast some marshmallows and make some s'mores, share testimonies around the firepit, pray for one another...makes me want to go to camp...how about you?

As I left that comforting spot I walked through the gorgeous old live oak trees and came to a sunken place where there was an old pond with a kind of marshy area in the middle.  Of course I had to move in a bit closer to check it out.

I could just barely see something hiding in the middle of the bushes...

A beautiful white egret, who I am certain was hoping I wouldn't discover her hiding place.

Reminded me of another song that you may have heard or sung at camp or at church:

"You are my hiding place

You always fill my heart

With songs of deliverance

Whenever I am afraid

I will trust in You

I will trust in You

Let the weak say I am strong

In the strength of the Lord

You are my hiding place

You always fill my heart

With songs of deliverance

Whenever I am afraid

I will trust in You

I will trust in You

You are my hiding place (I will trust in You)

You always fill my heart (Let the weak say I am strong)

With songs of deliverance (In the strength of the Lord)

Whenever I am afraid

I will trust in You"

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Michael James Ledner

You Are My Hiding Place lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

This song comes from Psalm 32:7

"You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; 

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah"

From there we drove past the chapel and dining hall, nestled in among the lovely old oak trees...

After spending some time walking about these beautiful grounds and soaking in the comforting warmth of the Holy Spirit's Presence into our souls, we felt refreshed and ready to head back home and face whatever the future may hold.

During these days of uncertainty, I believe we each have to seek our own place of peace. 

No matter what lies ahead, we know that we are safe in the protection and strength of the Lord.

He will never leave us nor forsake us, and 

God is STILL in control, no matter what!

I hope you are also able to find this kind of peace of mind.

It's taken me all day to get this post written as there have been several interruptions...

had to get my hair cut, had to tend to some other business matters...and now I must tell you that we are going to be away for a few days, on a little getaway trip to the "mountains" with our kids.

They were sweet enough to invite us "old folks" to go along with them as they head for the hills of Georgia to celebrate their upcoming 3rd anniversary next week. So I may be offline for a few days, but you can be sure I will be taking plenty of pictures and will have plenty to share with you when we get back. And if you are a friend of ours who lives in Ga., please don't be offended that we aren't able to stop and visit on this trip. Since we are traveling with our kids we are on their schedule and are kind of along for the ride.  There are several dear ones we know whom we would love to visit, but that will have to be at some other time when we are traveling on our own.

Have a blessed and beautiful weekend everyone.

Keep praying for our country!

And look for ways to find some peace.