Monday Monday!! The Prodigal Returns

 Hello Monday!  This week is starting out beautifully! The weather is perfect at 70 degrees and sunshiny and beautiful! The low was 59 this morning! The high will only be about 82, with low humidity! So that is pretty close to perfect for north central Florida in mid October (or anytime!)   And Praise God! The hostages are free in Israel, and there is PEACE in the Middle East! What a marvelous miracle that is! We give thanks to God for His mercy and grace on behalf of Israel and also the innocent families and people in that region who have suffered so much for the past two years. May this peace be a lasting peace and may hearts to be turned to God in praise and thanksgiving! We are thankful for the work of President Trump and his team of ambassadors and other leaders in that region who have finally come together and agreed to end this brutal war.  Now we pray that it will last and that families will be able to get back home and rebuild their lives. That will take a long time, but at least this is a good start.  May God send the help they all need to be restored. 

Thank you all for your kind comments on my last post (and always!)  For those of you who have asked and have been concerned about my wayward porch kitty, "Blackie", I am happy to report that he came back home this morning!  He had been missing for almost a week, except for one late night visit Saturday night at 11:00 p.m.  We were asleep in our beds, but we have a security camera on the porch and it made a "ding" sound, which woke me up and I checked the camera through my phone, and there was Blackie, jumping around from the chair to the table and down again toward the food bowls, which were empty.  So of course I jumped out of bed and ran outside in my bare feet and nightie to welcome the wayward prodigal home.  I "killed the fatted calf" and prepared a feast for him (a scoop of Meow Mix with a few "Temptations" cat treats on top) and gave him lots of "hugs" while he gobbled up his food. Sunshine came running up the steps from the woods nearby where he likes to hang out at night and welcomed him home too.  But alas, as soon as Blackie was finished eating he disappeared again and did not return all day yesterday or last night.  

So this morning I was a big dismayed when I went out to feed the kitties and not even Sunshine was there!  I called and called and no one showed up.  So we went on about our business and took a ride and a walk and came back home and Sunshine appeared for his breakfast.   A little while later I looked out the window, and there was Blackie, again acting like nothing was amiss, as though he'd been here all the time and why was I so worried?  

So, of course I ran out there and loved on him again and made sure he had plenty of food and water...and Sunshine showed up and was a little bit standoffish at first, 

I think Sunshine was deliberately turning his back on Blackie and he came over to where I was sitting and plopped down in front of me as if to say, like the Prodigal's older brother: "‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’  Luke 15:29

(You can read the whole story HERE in Luke 15:11-32), and here is what the father said to the older son...

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ” 

And pretty soon Sunshine warmed up to Blackie just like always, 

and hopefully this story will be "and they lived happily ever after".

I sure hope so!  Especially since we are going away in a couple of days for a vacation, and our neighbor will be feeding them morning and evenings. I hope they don't get scared off by the change in routine.  

Anyway, I thought you'd want to know how things turned out for them.  The Prodigal Son story is always such a wonderful example to me of how God loves us and is always ready to welcome us "prodigals" back home when we lose our way.  I am very thankful for His unchanging love.  

I may not have time to write again before we leave, so if not, I will see you when we return.  Hope you all have a wonderful week too!!

Tuesday 4: Just Wondering~ A Repeat

Tuesday 4

Just Wondering.. a Toni Repeat

From Annie: "This week slipped away from me and I didn't get the Tuesday 4 up.

I will post one from Toni's site in case you would like to do one this week whenever you wish. I am very sorry this happened friends.

This Tuesday 4 is from Monday December 9. 2019...."


Well, I've tried to come up with some new answers since I last did this actually in January of 2021.  To be honest, I can't improve on that so we might as well leave at that!  So what you see below is what I posted in January of 2021...

 

Wondering..,   


Welcome back to Tuesday 4 where we remember the wonderful memes of our friend Toni Taddeo by continuing them on in her memory. I am glad you've stopped by to join in.


To begin 2021 I thought I would re-post the final Tuesday 4 from Toni, posted on Monday Dec. 9, 2019! Enjoy playing along friends.

A Repeat ~ Just Wondering  (my original 1/5/2021)

1. When was the last time you tried something new?: 

Hmm, well, maybe when I tried to paddle a kayak around Still Waters Pond last year...

And I lived to tell about it! That was such fun...and I am so glad I did it! When it warms up a bit I hope to get back out there and do it again!

(Update 10/17/2023:  I haven't done much kayaking in the past couple of years due to shoulder/arm issues. I miss doing this as there is much I'd like to explore on the other side of the pond, like for instance, what is this thing that keeps popping up on the island?  I thought it was gone after the big rainstorm we had the other day, but today it has popped up again. It looks fuzzy and fluffy...I think it is some kind of mushroom spore...?)

2. Who in your family do you compare yourself to?:

Well, probably I am more like my father than my mother. My daddy and I both had bright red hair as children and we had to put up with a lot of teasing. I am the only child of four kids in our family who got daddy's red hair.  

And I tend to be a lot like him in other ways too. I like adventure and family fun, and he was always ready for family fun.  My mother was a lovely lady and she liked to have fun too, and I learned a lot from her about cooking and sewing and appreciating the "finer things in life", but still I think I am more like my dad.  

My Dad, after winning a game of horseshoes. "Always the Champ!"

Update 10/17/2023:  I can't play horseshoes like my dad could, and I'm not much of a champ, but I tend to have his outgoing and competitive personality.  

However, in many ways I am like my mother...

Do you see why?

(this photo is several years old)

3. What lesson in life did you learn the hard way?:

Don't think that just because you tried to be a "perfect parent" and brought your kids up in the "right way" , that they would always be "perfect kids".  Every child has to find their own way in life, but the good news is this promise found in Proverbs:

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."

So even if a child should wander from the fold, there will come a time when he/she will come back home. We just need to be patient and be like the father in the story of the prodigal son, (See Luke 15) and stand ready and willing to welcome them home. 

I also learned that I cannot always protect my children from harm and sickness. This world is not always a kind place. Things happen beyond our control, even when we think we have done everything possible to protect our children. But again, God gives us grace and comfort and strength when we go through the valley of the shadow of death. He gives us what we need when we need it, even in the midst of the storms of life. I don't know how anyone can get through this life without a relationship with Christ.

4. What can you do today that you weren't able to do before?:

Let's see, now that I'm retired I can sit here in my comfy house and enjoy reading and writing this blog and visiting with dear friends from around the country and world whom I would never have been able to meet if it weren't for the invention of computers and the internet and the time to sit and enjoy doing this! Say what you will about modern technology...it does have its faults and downside, but when used appropriately it can be a wonderful tool to "reach out and touch someone".  Remember these commercials for AT&T telephone calls?

Of course nothing can replace the sound of a human voice...and now with Zoom and Facetime we can talk and see each other at the same time.  What a wonderful world we live in...when used appropriately. Thank you for being a part of my world, and for this opportunity to "reach out and touch someone". Happy New Year!  (written in January 2021)

I really can't improve on what I said above in 2021, so I will leave it at that.  

Now let's mosey over to Tuesday 4 and see what others are posting!  Thank you Annie, for setting this up each week!  I am sorry I couldn't really come up with anything new to say. 

I Know It's Not Friday Foto Friends Yet

I know it's not Friday yet, but I have to share a few pictures to keep up with our little deer... See Here for last week's story...,  and Click HERE for the original post before that one...

Last week I told you about the little fawn that got left behind from the rest of the family, and how she/he just stood there so bewildered, not knowing what to do or where to go.  I felt so sorry for the little fella/girl...but had to leave it alone so that hopefully it would be reconnected with the family group when I was clearly out of the way.  I hadn't really seen the deer since last Friday, so I wasn't too sure what was going on.  They move around the neighborhood early in the morning and in the evening, and sometimes my timing was off...or it rained and stormed and it was impossible to go out.  But this morning I managed to get out of the house a little earlier, hoping it would be a good to time to see them out for their morning foray.

Sure enough, drawing nearer to the area where they usually are, the adult deer were hurrying across the road, with a couple of fawns scurrying to keep up with them.  I couldn't get close enough to get any pictures of them, so was feeling frustrated but quietly kept moving forward just in case...

And then I saw movement near the fence next to the woods where the family had just entered. There was a young fawn desperately trying to find his way past the fence, but he just couldn't seem to find the opening where the rest had gone.

He swiftly ran alongside the fence, searching for an opening...  (I marveled at how much he has grown in a week!)

A large Red Shouldered Hawk flew overhead and landed in a tree nearby, keeping his "hawk-eye" sharply focused on the activity below...

Even though Little Fawn is now too large to be considered a prey for this predator, the instinctive notion of fear is still beating in his chest...not only fear of the hawk...but of the two legged creature slowly coming closer and closer...and here was another fenced dead-end!

Got to get out of here...there has to be some way to get back with my family...Oh, why did I dawdle behind again?  Why can't I learn to keep up with the rest of the group?

I can see by his eyes and his open mouth that he is panicking...he keeps thrashing against the fence, unable to leap high enough to jump to freedom, acutely aware that he is lost again and in danger...

I wanted so badly to lead this little one back to the safety of his family...but he wasn't in any mood to listen to my voice or to follow me anywhere, so reluctantly I turned around and headed back home, saying a little prayer for this wayward "child" who just can't seem to follow the rules in his wild kingdom.

This little fawn reminds me of the little sheep that went astray...and the Good Shepherd left the rest of the flock of ninety-nine sheep to go out and search for the wayward sheep who was lost...

Luke 15:4-7

4.  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep,

if he loses one of them, does not leave the 

ninety-nine in the wilderness,

and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

5.  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders,

rejoicing.

6.  And when he comes home, he calls together

his friends and neighbors,

saying to them:

"Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep

which was lost!"

7.  I say to you that likewise there will be

more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents

than over ninety-nine just persons who need 

no repentance."

(See also Matthew 18:10-14 for another version of this same story.)

I do hope that little fawn's family will not give up on this wayward "sheep", but will continue to encourage him to keep up with the herd and not wander away from safety again.  Perhaps I need to stay away for awhile and give them time to teach him better self-discipline! I wonder why there always seems to be that one child in every family who is either more independent or more bent toward adventure, (or just plain rebellious?)  And yet...who among us as parents would not continue to search for that child no matter how often they wandered away from home...and would you not rejoice when he/she finally was found and came home again?    ( This reminds me of another parable here..."The Prodigal Son", found in Luke 15:11-32)

Some things to think about...