Tuesday 4~ Starry Nights

I'm a little late getting to the Tuesday 4 party, but it's better late than never, I always say! So here we go! Thanks, Annie, for another thought provoking and interesting meme this week!  You all can click on this link below to see what others are saying about this:

 Starry Nights

Welcome Friends to another Tuesday 4 started by Toni Taddeo and kept up in honor and memory of her.
Let's talk about starry nights....


1. Have you ever seen the milky way or been to one of the designated black out areas where no light can obscure the starry night?

Well, I guess we are looking at "the Milky Way" whenever we look at our stars and moon and planets, because that is our galaxy, and I assume that is what we are looking at.  I've never been to a "designated black out area", but I've lived in the forest where there are no other kinds of lights around, i.e., street lights or city lights, and the stars are so much more visible there, it's really awesome!

2. "The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork." (Psalm 19:1)
Are you in awe of the starry skies. Do they inspire faith for you?

Yes, I am in awe of the starry skies, and yes, they are very inspirational to me. I echo what King David wrote in Psalm 8, especially in verses 3-5...

Psalm 8 NKJV

"1 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth,

Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants

You have ordained strength,

Because of Your enemies,

That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen—

Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air,

And the fish of the sea

That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

How excellent is Your name in all the earth!"

3. Have you ever wished upon a star or seen a meteorite fall to earth?

I probably have wished upon a star as a child, especially as most every child in America and beyond probably learned this little nursery rhyme at some time:

 

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!", 

but we added the phrase, "wish I may, wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight." 

 

And who can ever forget Jiminy Cricket singing to Pinnochio, "When You Wish Upon A Star"....

Of course, as an adult, we know that wishing upon a star won't make all our dreams come true...We are better off to make our wishes known to God in prayer, and He will give us the desires of our heart if they are in His divine will for us.

Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, 

with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Psalm 37:4 ESV

4 Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

4. Do you think money is wasted on the space program that might be better used on earth?

I don't think it is wasted...I believe that the more we know about the universe, the more we see just how marvelous God's Creation really is. What God has designed and created for our benefit is far beyond what any man can even imagine.  Everything in the universe points to God our Creator.   Certainly there are many important things on the earth that need more support and help, but if our governments would use the money wisely (and that's a big IF), there should be plenty of funds to cover both outer space and the earth as well!

Wednesday Treasures!

Happy Wednesday..."Hump Day"!  I think I will start out this post with a mystery photo.  If you can figure out what is going on in this picture, then you are smarter than the average bear... LOL.

Any guesses?  I'm sure your guess was as good as mine!  I thought that splashy looking area in the middle was probably some kind of fish enjoying the fact that there was water in Still Waters Pond again after the rain!  Or maybe a goose taking a bath.  Any other guesses?  Well, much to my surprise it was actually four Wood Ducks going around and round in a circle chasing each other. They did this for several minutes and then all of a sudden took off flying up into the air and across to the other side of the pond.  We don't get to see them very often as they are very "shy" of humans.  I don't know if this was a mating ritual or just a fun water party.  But I sure never thought it was four ducks chasing each other in a circle!

This isn't a very clear picture, but this is a male wood duck. I took this picture several weeks ago when he wasn't looking. LOL.

Now, if you look at THIS picture below you will have a difficult time figuring out who's who! The young Sand Hill Crane colts Pat and Val are getting almost as big as their parents and from a distance it is getting harder to tell them apart:

Thankfully they are continuing to grow bigger and stronger every day. I love that they still come "home to roost" every evening.

I hope you can see the male bluebird in the photo below. There's a story to tell here...

Early this morning at daybreak I looked out the window and noticed that the male Bluebird was flying around in front of the birdhouse very rapidly, flapping his wings but not landing. Then I realized that the door was hanging wide open!  Without stopping to consider the consequences of me running out there early in the morning to repair the birdhouse with both parents close by in a frantic state,

I grabbed my roll of duct tape and ran out around to the back of the birdhouse, all the while speaking softly to the birds in the tree to reassure them that I was there to help them and meant no harm to their nest of babies (who have recently hatched, by the way).  This has happened before in the past...some critter (maybe a cat or a raccoon) manages to climb up that skinny pvc pipe to the birdhouse and pull open the door when there are new babies inside.  Thankfully this time I noticed that the nest appeared to still be intact, and there was no sign of any debris or other evidence on the ground, so I assumed all was well inside the nest. So I quickly pulled up the door from behind and wound a length of duct tape around it to secure it.  The old duct tape that had been on there had actually been cut at the seams of the door some time ago when I cleaned out the birdhouse last year, and I guess I never put a fresh strip of tape back around it. So technically it was my fault.

You can tell I did this in a hurry in semi-dawn light. It needs to be tidied up a bit, but I was in a hurry to get it done so Mother and Daddy Bluebird could come back and check on the babies.  Shortly after I left they each came and took their turns looking inside and chattering back and forth about the near tragedy.  But after a little while they started bringing fresh bugs to the nest to feed the babies, so I am hopeful that all is well inside.

All's well that ends well!  

Now for another blessing and happy "ending" to a story:

Yes, that is our grandson Noah, all dressed up for an interview!  The clothing is another part of the blessing even beyond the fact that he had an interview to go to.  When they came down here they really didn't pack any appropriate clothing such as this for an interview.  He went to an "open interview" yesterday at a big car dealership in another city about an hour away, dressed in his clean everyday clothes, but no tie or dress shirt.  The interviewer told him that if he could come back today dressed more suitably for an interview he would be happy to talk to him more seriously. And so miraculously I still happened to have these dress pants hanging in a closet that I had purchased for Noah almost six years ago when he came down here for Benton and Rose's wedding. Even after getting measurements from his mother, the pants did not fit him then as he had gained a little weight between the time she had told me the size and when he came down. So I just hung them up in the closet because at that time it was more trouble than it was worth to return them (via online order), and he had to go find another pair of pants that fit in a hurry for the wedding.    Well, believe it or not, he has actually lost a little weight in the past six years and now those pants fit him perfectly!  But still he needed a long sleeved dress shirt. The problem is, Noah is VERY tall and has extra long arms. You can't just walk into any store and find a tall man shirt with extra long sleeves. (especially not around here where we live). Well...back to six years ago...I had actually purchased some extra shirts for that wedding when our local JC Penney's was closing and they had these very good dress shirts on sale for a very good price. Back to that closet again and I found this brand new white long sleeved shirt hiding amongst some other shirts and jackets.  I looked at the still attached price tag/label and it said the sleeves were 37" long, which is what he needs! He tried it on and it fit him like it was made for him!  Next came the tie.  Thankfully his Grandpa (my hubby) is also a tall man, and I've always had to buy extra long ties for him. We had a very large selection of ties for Noah to choose from! 

Noah also has a very extra large shoe size. Bigger than anyone here.  He only had some tennis shoes and some black boots with him, and they were definitely not in proper shape for an interview. So he and Dawn got busy cleaning the boots (there was some paint spray across the toes from working with Uncle Ben painting furniture)...and after scrubbing and polishing for about an hour, they had the boots looking good enough to pass any inspection! 

He does have some better dress shoes on order, but these had to suffice for today's interview.

And the good news is:

He got the job!  He will actually start a special training course tomorrow and if he passes the "test", he will start to work next week.  

So this was a great answer to prayer!  

While I was writing this Dawn brought me another sweet little "gift".  I had actually given her these cute little beads in a bag of beads I had from broken necklaces and bracelets that had been given to me in the past, so she made me a new one using a variety of those beads. She knew I would love this one, and she was right:

These are just a few of the blessings that are going on around us here lately. God has been so very kind and gracious and we are so very very thankful for all that He has done.

This little picture sits on the bookshelves next to my desk.  This is a picture of Noah with me, many many years ago. We were planting a pineapple plant together...you know, you cut off the top of a pineapple and plant it in the dirt and it will grow? Well, that's what we were doing.  We were planting something together for the future.  I have shared this photo with Noah before, along with the little verse that I have attached to it:

Psalm 37:4

"Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (KJV)

Even though we moved away from that house where that pineapple was planted, the seeds that were planted there for Noah were not limited by time or place. This is a promise from the Lord that lasts forever.

I continue to pray this prayer for him and now for his beloved Dawn.

I believe God is working on their behalf.

Thank You, Lord!

Amen.

Good Night Everyone!!

I hope you enjoyed these special "Wednesday Treasures".

 

SONday Morning Blessings

Good SONday Morning everyone!  I hope this beautiful day finds you rejoicing in the Lord and giving Him thanks and praise for all He has done!

I received this sweet card in the mail yesterday from one of our blogging friends! She created this sweet little card with my One Word "Delight" and my key verse for 2022, Psalm 37:4, so I can put it on my countertop above my sink and enjoy it every day...and be reminded to "Delight (myself) in the LORD; and HE will give (me) the desires of (my) heart!"  What a DELIGHTful way to start each day! Perhaps you'd like to remind yourself to do this each day as well! What a wonderful way to live our lives, DELIGHTing in the Lord and all His goodness and love.  Last week in our Pastor's sermon he mentioned this verse, but the version he quoted (and I'm not sure which translation it was) used the phrase "Draw NEAR to the Lord" in place of Delight...and I thought, yes, that is true...Delighting in the Lord is the same thing as drawing near to Him.  Because when we draw near to Him, we will be DELIGHTed in all that He is, all that He does, and all that He provides for us through His grace and love.  When we DELIGHT ourselves in the Lord by drawing near to Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts because our hearts will only want to be in His perfect will.

Here's another little "delight" I saw yesterday at our church when we were there for a pot-luck "Agape" luncheon:

This beautiful camellia flower blooming!

The bushes around the church will filled with such lovely flowers!

I thought you'd enjoy seeing this in January, wherever you are!

It truly was a delight!

You might also enjoy hearing our choir singing

"Go Tell it on the Mountain"   and also hear our pastor's message for today.

These are pre-recorded ahead of time.

Go tell it on the mountain....Tell the good news! Tell the good news!

Go tell it on the mountain! That Jesus Christ is born!

One more note before I go.  I had a message from our blogging friend Martha Jane Orlando's husband Danny yesterday. Martha is still in the hospital, fighting pneumonia.  They have put her on a new antibiotic and he is hopeful that she will start feeling better now as she wasn't coughing as much, but she is still quite ill and in need of our prayers.  Thank you for your continued prayers on Martha's behalf. 

Now, I hope you will have a DELIGHT-ful day, drawing near to the Lord, and sharing the good news with everyone that Christ has come to us!! Amen!

 

Friday Foto Friends and One Word for 2022

 Hello my Friday Foto Friends and everyone in Blogland! This will be the last post for the year 2021! Wow! I thought the end of this year would never get here!  Actually these past two years have been rather "long" and "challenging" for everyone.  I am certain that we are all anticipating much better days ahead in the new year of 2022.  May God hear our prayers and show us the wonderful plans He has for us, one day at a time.  I just want to share some random positive thoughts as we anticipate the New Year...

Jeremiah 29:11 

"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."

This is a new magnet my sister gave me for my refrigerator:

Remember this chorus to the beloved hymn, "Blessed Assurance"?

"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!"

On this last day of 2021, let's sit down and have a cup of tea together...mine is Twining's "Gingerbread Joy", 

It says: "Lift your spirits this season with the ginger and cinnamon flavours of this irresistible black tea".

I love it when even my teabag encourages me to have joy, and to lift my spirits!

I was wearing this particular t-shirt earlier today...it was a Christmas gift from last year, and it just speaks to me...yes, "Life is good"...living peacefully under God's beautiful stars and heavens, enjoying all that He has done for us...

Ha Ha, I took this picture of our shed earlier today, because it reminded me of this little cabin in the woods, and it even looks like it has snow on the roof and on the ground in places...(which is actually our Florida white sand), about as close to a winter scene as you can find here in our neck of the woods.

At least a girl can dream...

So, in preparation for the New Year, I am getting ready to put up the new calendars...this one is an annual traditional gift from my sister:

She knows I love teapots and all things pertaining to tea, and so years ago she started giving me these calendars every year for Christmas. I actually save them from year to year, because the photographs are so beautiful and they often have recipes and stories to go along with the pictures that are very interesting.

Anyway, here is the picture for January...I believe this is an Arabian teapot...very lovely.

I love the quote below by Richard Francis Burton, from "Explorers of the Nile", (A British explorer, not to be confused with the actor Richard Burton).

I think as we begin this New Year we are about to embark on a "departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands." This quote says it is one "of the gladdest moments in human life".  Perhaps so...but sometimes the beginning of a journey into the "unknown lands" of life can be a bit frightening as well. We don't know what lies around each bend in the road.  But I know Who does know...and that is the Lord.  We do not need to fear the future when we put our trust in the Lord. 

And so, in anticipation of selecting my "One Word" for 2022 I began to pray and seek God's direction.  I thought I had decided on a word earlier today, and so tonight when I began to write about it my computer started acting up. No matter what I tried to do it slowed down, pages froze up, I couldn't get things to cooperate. I finally had to walk away from my computer for awhile and go sit down and read.

I picked up this new "Devotions from the Front Porch" book, again another gift from my sister (gee, Doris, you really gave me a LOT of wonderful gifts this year!! I am overwhelmed as I think about it),

but anyway, I began to read a few pages ahead and came to this one:

"Cornbread and Buttermilk" ! ?

I'm thinking, "who eats that?"  My husband does. But again, let's keep moving on here. I read the verse at the top:

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

And in His law he meditates day and night."

Psalm 1:2

and the word "DELIGHT" jumped out from the page. And immediately I thought of another verse that has long meant so much to me:

"Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

And I suddenly realized that God had directed me to my new "One Word" for 2022.  Delight is the word the Lord chose. The one I thought it was going to be was "Steadfast", which is also a good word, but that's the one that when I tried to write it on this post my computer kept stalling and it wouldn't let me do it...well, maybe that was God not letting me do it, because He had something else in mind for me this year..."Delight"...Delight in God's Word, meditate on it day and night...Delight myself in the Lord...and He will give me the desires of my heart...! Well, that doesn't mean He'll automatically give me everything I'm wishing I had, no, it doesn't mean that at all...but it does mean that when I delight in the Lord, my desires will be for Him...and for His will...and I will be delighted in the ways that He chooses to bless me in this new year.   And just maybe you realized as you were reading this post above that I was delighted in so many wonderful things around me...little blessings that God has already given me...delighting in the ways that He shows His love for me. Delighting in His Word, the Bible, and all that He teaches us through His Word. Oh yes, I believe this is going to be a "delightful year".  I pray that God will open my eyes to all that He wants me to be delighted in and about.  It may not always be perfect things or a perfect outcome...but it's all about the heart...all about trusting God no matter what the circumstances...that's delighting in Him.  So there you have it. My One Word for 2022 is DELIGHT.

If you'd like to look back at the previous years that I've been doing this, you can click on the following links and read about the words for each year, all the way back to 2012, I believe.  (Oh, Believe! That's my word for 2021!)  Do you select a 'One Word' each year? How do you go about it? Is it always what you thought it would be at first?  I'd love to hear about your experiences with this as well.

One Word for 2021 - Believe

One Word for 2020-Joyful

One Word for 2019 Abundance-and all years before

Okay, I need to go for now...This will post tonight, on New Year's Eve EVE.  Most likely I won't be writing again until next year, so see you then!!  

"Into His Marvelous Light"

"You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,

His own special people,

that you may proclaim the praises of Him 

Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

I Peter 2:9

When you start feeling discouraged with the way the world is turning...

When you feel like there is no hope and there is darkness everywhere...

When you just want to give up and walk away (or even run away)...

Stop, Look, and Listen!  

Stop...Don't let this world and the things of this world drag you down.

  

Look UP, Look all around you...See the marvelous light surrounding you...

the Light that comes from our Creator God...

Look at the beauty of His creation and rejoice...

Listen...Listen to His Word as spoken from the Bible...listen to the sounds of nature...

and Proclaim His praises!  

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world

to be holy and blameless in His sight."

Ephesians 1:3-4

"Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

I hope you enjoy the photos of the delightful deer family in my neighborhood.  This has been such a source of joy and comfort to me as I take my early morning walk.  When this old world starts to get me down with all of the negativity of the news and actions of the enemies of our faith, I take a few minutes to retreat to the woods, and there reflect on the beauty of God's creation surrounding us. 

If you are feeling like you are being engulfed by darkness, sorrow, or fear...remember these words from God's Word above.  We are His special people...and we need to realize that we have been "called out of darkness and into His marvelous light."  Rejoice in that light...Delight yourself in Him...and He WILL give you the desires of your heart...Peace, Comfort, and Joy.

Praying your day is filled with His Marvelous Light!

Desires of the Heart - Updated

This is a repost of what I wrote last year for Memorial Day, (5/25/15) on the 1st anniversary of the passing of our son Matthew.  Even though Memorial Day falls on a different day each year, we will always be reminded of our wonderful son and the life that he lived on this particular holiday. I guess that is rather fitting.  I submit this for you today in loving memory of our son, and continuing to pray for our precious Grandson as he grows and matures into the young man God intends him to be.

5/25/2015:
 I've had this little picture on my kitchen windowsill for many years. It isn't a spectacular picture, but it is a significant picture.  Look a little closer.....

This is a picture of me with my little grandson Noah when he was about three years old.  He had come to visit us (with his parents) all the way from Maine to Florida.

Noah was a delightfully inquisitive and expressive child...so full of questions and exuberance about everything that surrounded him in his little world.  Pretty typical for a three year old...and yet uniquely wonderful...because he was our very first (and only) grandchild! So of course he was the brightest and best little boy
ever to call anyone "Grandma".

In this particular picture we were planting something together...a pineapple plant to be exact...after cutting off the top of a pineapple and planting the top with its leaves in the dirt.  For Noah this was a big adventure...and for me...well, it was a big adventure because we were doing this together...planting for our future.

I don't know whatever happened to that pineapple.  We didn't live in that particular house very long, and I didn't have a green thumb, so I think it went the way of most plants...it probably died.  But we had such fun together digging in the dirt and placing the pineapple in the ground and patting the dirt back around it...and then giving it a good watering.  We did this together... and that is what was significant and wonderful.  I was delighted and thrilled to be planting something with my grandson...such a joy and blessing from the Lord!

After they went back home to Maine I framed this little picture and placed a scripture verse on the glass...

"Delight thyself also in the Lord, 

and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Psalm 37:4 KJV

and every time I looked at this picture I would pray for my grandson...and for myself to delight in the Lord as well. This child was such a delight, and even though we didn't get to spend much time together due to the distance between us, my prayer was that God would bless him and help him to grow strong in the Lord and strong in body, mind and heart. And that would be the desire of my heart for him.  

Noah, age 12, with a funny acorn.

As time went by this young boy grew stronger and taller and smarter every time we'd see him. He was always filled with joy and wonder about life. We were very proud of him, and continued to pray for God to bless him, and to give him (and us) the desires of our heart.

A few years ago something happened to change the direction of our prayers. His sweet daddy, our son Matthew, was diagnosed with an incurable and extremely aggressive cancer.  This was not the desire of our hearts for our son or for our grandson or for the rest of the family. This was a strange way to answer our prayers. I didn't understand. None of us understood God's plan.  But I kept praying and trying to delight myself in the Lord, with the hope that God would indeed give me the desire of my heart...and for the sake of our son and our grandson and his mama too, that God would hear my prayers and heal our son.  Sadly, that was not God's plan.  After a four year struggle, our son passed away one year ago, on May 25, 2014.  (click on link for that story).

Just recently my daughter in law Nicole sent me another picture.  As soon as I saw it my mind immediately went back to the little picture sitting on my windowsill, and I cried.
  

 This is a picture of my grandson Noah, quite grown up...fifteen years old. And here he is, planting in the ground again.  These plants are adorning the grave of his daddy.  Such a precious picture of love and devotion. I can imagine that Noah was talking to his daddy in his mind while he planted the flowers for him. 

And I looked at the little picture of us planting together when he was three, and I cried..."Lord, this is not how I thought life would turn out.  I thought if I delighted myself in YOU, that You would give me the desires of my heart.  The desire of my heart was never to see my grandson planting flowers on his father's grave...the grave of my precious son.  But, Lord, in Your sovereign will, this is where we are today. Now I must continue to pray for my grandson...and I must continue to delight myself in You...and I know that you WILL give me the desires of my heart concerning him.  My prayer was that he would grow up to be strong in the Lord, and strong in his body, mind, and heart. Even though I don't understand the way of Your plan, Lord, I will continue to trust in You...that perhaps even in this great loss and horrific sorrow, Your plan will be fulfilled. The desire of my heart will still be completed. 

The verses before and after Psalm 37:4 says this:

3."Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

4. Delight yourself also in the Lord,

and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5. Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him,

and He shall bring it to pass.

6. He shall bring forth your

righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

7. Rest in the Lord, 

and wait patiently for Him..."

I know that God is at work in this whole big picture.  He has promised to give me the desires of my heart concerning my grandson.  My part is to TRUST, DELIGHT, COMMIT, AND REST IN THE LORD...and He shall bring it to pass. 

I know that my son Matthew's  greatest desire was that his son would grow up to be strong in the Lord as well. 

Our son Matthew baptizing his son Noah

 He laid a firm foundation for him to stand upon. Things have been a bit rough, but God has promised to give us the desires of our hearts. So I will trust in Him.  He knows exactly what He's doing!

Noah and his Daddy Matthew doing Tae Kwon Do together

Noah and his Daddy walking in the woods

Noah and his Daddy on the big Moose Hunt
(click on the caption for this story)

Noah and Matthew in "The Shaving Lesson"
(click on the caption for this story)

Nicole, Matthew, and Noah on their last vacation together in St. Augustine, Feb. 2014

This story is dedicated to my grandson Noah, in loving memory of his daddy, our son Matthew, written for this Memorial Day, May 25th, 2015, the first year anniversary of Matthew's entrance into heaven.  May God hear my prayers and give me the desire of my heart.  Amen.