Wednesday Treasures From Still Waters Pond and Beyond...

 Just a little bit of this and that and some floral beauty while it lasts...

The other day I went to the Ladies' Bible Study, which is held at our church parsonage.  The parsonage is currently not being used by our Pastor as he and his wife already have their own home. So our women's groups from the church use it for Bible Studies and other small group gatherings.  

When I arrived I couldn't help but notice these beautiful camellias blooming in the garden. They needed to be noticed and appreciated before they totally drop to the ground.  Some of these are already getting pretty wilted, but they still have a rich beauty even as they begin to fade.

There were still some buds waiting to open as well...still holding their fresh loveliness tightly until it is their time to blossom...

I'm so glad I took a few minutes to capture their beauty.  It would be a shame for them to die before ever being noticed...

However, they are doing exactly what they were designed to do...they are "blooming where they are planted"...

This made me think of an old southern gospel song "Where the Roses Never Fade"    You may want to sing along...

Where the Roses Never Fade

I am going to a city,
Where the streets with gold are laid;
Where the tree of life is blooming
And the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season
Soon their beauty is decayed.
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.

In this world we have our troubles,
Satan snares we must evade.
We'll be free from all temptations;
Where the roses never fade.

Loved ones gone to be with Jesus,
In their robes of white arrayed;
Now are waiting for my coming,
Where the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season
Soon their beauty is decayed.
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.

I hope you enjoyed that old song and the beautiful flowers blooming here for a season.  I know that I am truly looking forward to the day that I will be going to that city, "where the roses never fade".  

Which reminds me, I wanted to thank you all for your kind words on my last post here...  Yesterday (February 25th) was a difficult day for me in some ways, but writing about our son and sharing him with you and you responding with love and kindness really helped.  Thank you for being such special friends.  

One thing I did yesterday was take a little walk down my little path through the woods to Still Waters Pond so I could go check on the Sand Hill Crane nest.  As I walked down that little path, I couldn't help but notice the carpet of little yellow flowers strewn all along the pathway...

 It was almost like they were spreading out their golden beauty just for me to enjoy...

This sweet and simple little gift did not go unnoticed by me. I whispered a "thank you" to Jesus...

It's the simple little things that sometimes mean the most when we are paying attention to the ways God wants to bless us...

The trees above me were loaded with these lovely little Carolina Jessamine flowers, spreading a canopy of joy and beauty to shelter me as I walked through the woods...so wonderful...

Finally I made my way around the pond and just had to take a moment to breathe in the beauty of this spot as well...

That's what I call Goose Island, but there was no sign of the geese today...

But when I made it around to where I could see...there she was...Mrs. Crane, sitting there so pretty on her nest...enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sunshine...

Hello!  I think she noticed that I was there...but she still wouldn't stand up to show me how many eggs she was sitting upon...

Ahhh! But who's that?  Standing not too far away from her was her faithful mate of many years

He was preening himself while keeping a watchful eye on his lovely mate sitting on the nest...

I was actually a ways away, standing behind some bushes and trees along the shore of the pond where they couldn't really see me (but I think they knew I was there).

Mr. Crane stays very attentive to any possible intruders who may come calling, and he's always ready to send them away with a big swoosh of his powerful wings and a loud cry...

But all was peaceful today...and I guess I was just too early for the "changing of the guard" on the nest, so reluctantly I decided to head back home.

Apparently they were waiting for me to leave to make the big switch on the nest because it wasn't long before I saw Mrs. Crane back around by our house looking for birdseed, and so I gave her some to help her find something to eat quickly so she could get back to the nest again.  

Here's some words of wisdom for today:

Psalm 32:7-8

"7 You are my hiding place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye."

I hope you enjoyed these "treasures" for this Wednesday. 

The Secret Garden Chronicles-Day 6-He Hideth My Soul

Today it was a little rainy, cold and dreary, so it wasn't a good day to sit in the Secret Garden...

Looking out the window toward the Secret Garden

But  God had already prepared another place for me to sit under the cover of our back porch, and still be in a quiet, peaceful place, sheltered by His loving hands.

This is also a very special place , set apart as a memorial garden in loving memory of our precious son Matthew, who was called away to heaven much too soon for us, but right on time in God's perfect plan for his life.

And so I ventured out, and entered the garden and prepared my heart for worship.  The first thing I noticed before sitting down was how the birds were being sheltered within the trees and the birdfeeder, as they waited out the drizzly rain.

And immediately my heart started to sing and praise the Lord , yes, I actually sang silently so as not to disturb the birds, but my heart was singing out loud, and I know God heard me...

"A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord,

A wonderful Savior to me..

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

where rivers of pleasure I see.

Chorus:

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock

that shadows a dry thirsty land,

He hideth my life in the depths of His love,

and covers me there with His hand...

And covers me there with His hand.

A wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord;

He taketh my burden away..

He holdeth me up, and I shall not be moved;

He giveth me strength as my day...

(chorus)

With numberless blessings 

each moment He crowns,

and, filled with His fullness divine,

I sing in my rapture,

Oh! Glory to God!

For such a Redeemer as mine!

(chorus)

When clothed in His brightness,

transported I rise

to meet Him in clouds of the sky;

His perfect salvation,

His wonderful love,

I'll SHOUT with the millions on high!!

(Chorus)

(He Hideth My Soul, by Fanny Crosby)

Then God directed me to Isaiah 51:15-16:

"But I Am the Lord your God,

Who divided the sea whose waves roared--

The Lord of hosts is His name.

And I have put MY words in your mouth,

I have covered you with the shadow of MY hand..."

And I responded with Psalm 32:7-8:

"You are my hiding place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance.

I (God) will instruct you and teach you

in the way you should go;

I will guide you with my eye."

Then God brought me to Psalm 31 as follows:

14> "But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;

I say, 'You are my God,

15>  My times are in Your hand...'"

19> "Oh how great is Your goodness,

which You have laid up for those who fear You...

which You have prepared for those who trust in You

in the presence of the sons of men!

20>  You (GOD) shall hide them in the 

"secret place" of Your Presence 

from the plots of man;

You shall keep them "secretly"

in a pavilion from the strife of tongues."

I couldn't help but notice how God was showing me how He is covering me (us) with His loving hands...and hiding us in the "secret place"...away from the plots of men and those who would seek to harm us.  In this current day and age, many of us have concerns about the "plots of men and those who would seek to harm us"...terrorists and other enemies of our nation, as well as the enemies of our faith.  But God is sheltering, protecting, and keeping us safe in the secret place of His love. We need not fear what man may do to us.

My heart broke out in song again:  singing the praise chorus that says...

"How Great is our God... (click HERE for video "world" version with Chris Tomlin)

"How Great Is Our God"

The splendor of a king
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps Himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father, Spirit and Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see
How great, how great is our God

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

Name above all names
You are worthy of all praise
And my heart will sing
How great is our God

[3x]
How great is our God
Sing with me
How great is our God
And all will see
How great, how great is our God

And then I sang the more familiar chorus to "How Great Thou Art"

"Then sings my soul,

my Savior God, to Thee;

How great Thou art,

How great Thou art...

Then I looked across the page in my Bible Psalm 30, and I see some of the verses that I've underlined as they've become precious to me since the passing of our son almost three years ago...

Psalm 30:4-5

"Sing praise to the Lord,

you saints of His,

and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name...

For His anger is but for a moment,

His favor is for LIFE;

Weeping may endure for a night,

but JOY comes in the morning!"

Verse 11:

"You have turned for my my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth

and clothed me with gladness,

 12:

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You

and not be silent...

O Lord my God,

I will give thanks to YOU forever..."

"Then sings my soul,

My Savior God, to Thee...

How great Thou art,

How Great Thou art!"

No, I'm not so calloused that I no longer mourn or grieve the loss of our son, 

But...I KNOW where he is!!  He's with God Our Father, Jesus the Son, Our Savior, and the Holy Spirit...All there together...in heaven for eternity!  And we will see him again one day,

so how can I be sad?  He's safe at home, eternally!  Praise God for that peace and assurance!  

"Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine!

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation,

purchase of God,

born of His Spirit,

washed in His blood.

This is my story,

this is my song,

Praising my Savior

all the day long.

This is my story,

this is my song;

Praising my Savior all the day long!!"

Amen

(Blessed Assurance, by Fanny Crosby)

Note: I sure look forward to meeting 

Fanny Crosby someday in heaven!

What a blessing she has been to me and 

countless millions of people who have sung 

the hymns she wrote out of her heart and love for

Jesus Christ our Savior!

I pray that your Sunday worship is a time of great joy, knowing that the Lord hides our soul in the cleft of the rock...and that He is keeping us safe within the shelter of His loving hands.  

"How Great is OUR God!!!"  

Amen!!

Be Exalted, O God!

 "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!

For my soul trusts in You;

And in the shadow of Your wings

I will make my refuge,

Until these calamities have passed by."

Psalm 57:1

The bird you see flying high above is an eagle.

"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth."

Psalm 57:5

Great Blue Heron

"My heart is steadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and give praise.

Awake, my glory!

Awake, lute and harp!

I will awaken the dawn."

Psalm 57:7-8

American Robin

"I will praise You, O Lord,

among the peoples;

A Red Bellied Woodpecker among the Robins

I will sing to You among the nations."

Psalm 57:9

"For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,

And Your truth unto the clouds."

Psalm 57:10

"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth!"

Psalm 57:11

I hope you have enjoyed these readings from Psalm 57, with pictures taken here in my neck of the woods and along the road as we traveled.  God's glory is abundantly surrounding us wherever we may be...and He is covering us in the shadow of His wings no matter how difficult the journey.  We just need to lift up our eyes and behold His glory...and give Him praise!    

Verses 2-3 of Psalm 57 says:

"I will cry out to God Most High,

To God who performs all things for me.

He shall send from heaven and save me;

He reproaches the one who would swallow me up.

God shall send forth His mercy and His truth."

There is no picture to adequately describe what God does for us when we cry out to Him in our distress...but in my mind's eye I can imagine Him sending His holy angels to rescue me from danger...and I can also see the angels fighting for me when my enemies would swallow me up...

Psalm 32:7 tells me that God is my hiding place; and that He shall preserve me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance!  What a beautiful picture that is...and such a marvelous song...I wonder how many times God has had to dispatch His angels on my behalf...and I wonder if the beautiful music of the birds singing all around us could possibly be the songs of the angels...

Some day we will have our eyes opened to see just what God hath done for us, but in the meantime, let us continue to give Him praise among all people...and sing to Him among the nations!

"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Let Your glory be above all the earth!"

Psalm 57:11

Amen!

In the Secret Place...

This morning I was rushing to put a load of clothes from the washer into the dryer...rushing because my husband was waiting for me in the car to leave to go run some errands...and I remembered at the last minute that the clothes were sitting in the washing machine and I didn't want to come home to stinky clothes that would have to be washed all over again...and yes, I was in a hurry as usual...because that is just how I tend to operate...

and God got my attention....

I looked up and out of the window that is just above the washer and dryer...and there sat this beautiful male cardinal...partially hidden in the branches...but an obvious contrast to the green leaves surrounding him.  Naturally, I stopped what I was doing...and ran and got my camera, and prayed he wouldn't fly away before I could get a picture of him...and there he was, waiting for me...

because he was God's little reminder to me about my new One Word for 2017...REST... Stop what you are doing and pay attention to ME for a moment...the errands can wait...(even though my husband came back inside to see what was taking me so long...)   The pictures aren't the best quality due to being seen through a dirty window and it was rather cloudy this morning...

but God got HIS message across to me...

and here it is:

"You are my Hiding Place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with 

songs of deliverance."

Psalm 32:7

and:

In Psalm 32:8 He says:

"I will instruct you and teach you 

in the way you should go; 

I will guide you with My eye." 

"Oh how great is Your goodness,

which You have laid up for those who fear You,

which You have prepared for those who trust in You

in the presence of the sons of men!

You shall hide them in the secret place of Your Presence

from the plots of man;

You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion

from the strife of tongues!" 

Psalm 31:19-20

Oh yes! I believe I am going to enjoy this new One Word adventure for 2017...  The Lord is drawing me closer to Him...hiding me in the secret place of His Presence...away from the plots of man and this world and away from the strife of tongues.  He is already surrounding me with songs of deliverance...singing His loving lullabies over me...and sending songbirds to brighten my pathway.  

Now, if I could just learn to stop rushing around so much!

Have a blessed, joy-filled, restful, peaceful day, my friends!