Wednesday Treasures-A Pause That Refreshes...

Happy Wednesday Morning!

"This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24

We are off to a rather foggy start this morning here on Still Waters Pond, but it promises to be a sunny and warm day.  Sadly, we are no longer hearing or seeing our sweet Sand Hill Crane family. They seemed to have moved on in the past couple of days.  I guess "Colt" finally got big enough to take out into the bigger world beyond our pond and yard. Perhaps he is now learning to fly. I wish I could have seen him fly for the first time, but maybe they had to take him to a more open space where he would be safer as he takes that all important step to adulthood and freedom. I hope they will come back by and visit now and then, but apparently it was time for them to "leave the nest".  We aren't seeing our Canada Geese much anymore either. I don't think that our geese migrate north as we see them over on a larger lake quite a bit all year long. I believe they just like the smooth wide open space of a big lake where they can swim without so much obstruction of lily pads in the way. Hopefully they will come back here again in the winter like they normally do.  Until then, we will enjoy the peace and quiet of Still Waters Pond with the bluebirds nesting and the occasional Great Blue Heron fishing. There's always something to enjoy watching.

Just while I was writing t his the Bluebirds were busily chasing away a Blue Jay from their nest. 

Like I said, there's always something to watch out there, even in the fog!

And if we get bored here, we can go over across town to where we take our daily walks. Every so often God gives us some real surprises, like this:

This young buck and doe were standing in the road as we were walking by, and we had quite the "stand-off" for about five minutes.  I believe they were just as curious about me as I was about them.

You can see that they are conferring with one another about what they should do. Should we run, or should we just stand here and pretend we aren't here so maybe they won't see us...

I believe they are actually twins, brother and sister, as they appear to be about identical in size, and you can tell they are still quite young...maybe yearlings.

I was SO happy I had my good camera with me so I could zoom in on them, as they were actually quite a distance away from me...

I was afraid to move, and so were they...

So this went on for quite a while...

"What should we do? Do you think we should make a run for it?"

"Maybe if we just ignore her she'll go away and we can go on about our business..."

"No, that doesn't seem to be working.  I think she'll stand there all night if we don't do something..."

"Maybe if we make it look like we are getting ready to run after her she will get scared and leave us alone..."

"No, I don't think that's working.  She's a pretty tough lady. I don't think she's going to leave until we do..."

"Well, then, I guess we are just going to have to make a run for it..."

"Okay...Let's get ready to run..."

"Okay, you go first and I'll stand guard and watch her and then I'll follow..."

And with that they disappeared back into the woods and we were both free to go on our way. But they were right, I would have stood there forever watching them, if it hadn't been for my hubby walking back behind me and telling me it was time to go...

Yeah, sometimes we need someone to take the lead and make us get a move on or we'd be stuck in one spot and never get anything done...

But then again, sometimes we need to take a break and just rest...and listen to nature...and listen for God's still small voice telling us which way to go or what to do next.

"1. As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?"

Psalm 42:1-2

So, maybe this was our call to pause and listen for God's still small voice this morning, telling us which way to go and how to order our day.  I know this post went a totally different direction than what I thought it was going to be.  Apparently God knew what I needed and perhaps what you needed as well. So until next time, take a few moments to stop and listen for God's voice this morning before you head out for your day. It's that "pause that refreshes..."

Have a wonderful day!

 

Catching Up

Hello Friends!

It's November already! Wow! October sure flew right by us like a rocket ship out of control.

Even Halloween kind of caught us off guard, because our town told the kids to go trick or treating on Saturday night, Oct. 30th, instead of Sunday. Unfortunately, no one told me!

However, with "Lily Grace's" help, we got the little packages of candy ready to pass out as quickly as we could and had a great time watching the children parade up and down in front of our house...

Yes, Lily was a great helper. She wore her Brownie Scout uniform for her costume, mainly because Mommie never got around to making anything else for her, but it served the purpose and she was quite happy all the same...

She had some assistance from Mr. Jack O'Lantern:

I wish I had thought to take more pictures of the cute little trick or treaters who came to our door, but I was so busy passing out candy I forgot, except for this one interesting dune buggy thing that kept changing light colors...

I thought that was pretty cool, but prayed the kids on the back of it didn't fall off...

Some of you may have already seen this great discovery on my Facebook page.  From a distance I thought it was some kind of Halloween decoration beside the road, but as we got closer to it I realized it was only the "Ghost of Christmas Past."  

Yes, I passed up on this great "bargain", which was left there for the garbage collectors.

Ha Ha Ha.

So, I wanted to thank you all for your kind words and prayers for me on my last post.  Praise God I am feeling so much better, and was even able to go to church on Sunday. I especially wanted to go because it was Pastor Appreciation Sunday and we had a pot luck dinner after church.  

Here is our wonderful pastor and his wife. Very special people that we love dearly.  His wife Carol is also our worship leader/choir director...a very busy and talented lady, and a good friend.

I love this plaque that our UMW ladies gave to the Pastor:

I was so happy to be able to attend the dinner, although I am still having some difficulty with swallowing and it was a bit frustrating to see so much wonderful food and not be able to fully enjoy it, but I needed the fellowship more than the food.

Here I am on the right, and my good friend, the "other Pamela" is in the middle, and another dear friend, Lisa, on the left.

My kids Benton and Rose were also at our table, as was my hubby, but he was busy being the photographer in place of me, so he didn't make it into any of the pictures!

Here are just a random sampling of some of the pictures of our dear church family, enjoying this special time of fellowship and TOO MUCH food together!

As is the case in any church across America, we all have great cooks and we sure love to eat!

Always a joy and blessing to spend this time of fellowship together

We are blessed with some of the sweetest and best...

And the most fun too...

It was a great way to honor our pastor

As an added blessing, the church presented my hubby with this very nice card, as a way of honoring him for his many years of service in the pastoral ministry. He was truly surprised and blessed, as was I.  We were not expecting this, and it was very humbling and so nice to be thought of in this way.

Wow! That truly brought some tears to my eyes. So glad I persevered and made it to church!!

Also, in case you are interested and want to follow along with Sunday's message from Colossians 4, here is the video:

Back to the present:

This morning I had a follow up visit with my Primary Care physician, and everything was declared to be looking good.  I am feeling a bit better every day, and my appetite is getting better too as my throat heals and I am able to swallow better.  I was shocked, however, that the scales did not show that I had lost any weight over the last week...I wonder what they put in that Titanium brace installed in my neck? Maybe it was really made of lead...oh, I hope not...that would not be good. LOL.

I think this picture from my November  "Country Seasons" calendar (by John Sloane), is a fitting way to close out today's post...

Psalm 42:1

 "As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God."

I am very very thankful for how far the Lord has brought me in this healing process, and I just want to give Him praise!  And thank you all again for your kind words and prayers.

I am still trying to stay caught up with you all, but as soon as I think I've read them all, there's another whole bunch of new posts to read! You are a wonderful, but prolific group of writers! LOL.

Love you all!!

Happy November!!

 

My Morning Walk

I looked out our back windows this morning toward the eastern sky, and noticed that there was a gorgeous sunrise developing.  So I grabbed my flannel shirt (58 degrees),  my camera, my bear whistle, and I headed out the back gate and down the road toward the pond. I will take you along on my journey so you can experience what I saw. 

As I turned out of our back gate and looked down the road, there was the sun rising in all it's morning glory...and also you can see "Old Glory", our American Flag, blowing in the breeze at the top of that pole:

As I rounded the bend and passed the little A-Frame cottage (that is currently for sale, btw), I noticed a lone deer in the yard, having its morning breakfast...

It was a little dark to get very clear pictures at this point, but this was beautiful.

As I kept walking down the road to the pond, I could see the gorgeous sun rising up between the trees...

Upon arriving at the pond, I just stood in awe at the majesty and beauty of God's amazing morning creation.

Psalm 123:1 says

"Unto You I lift up my eyes, 

O You who dwell in the heavens."

Psalm 121:1-2

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills, 

from whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth."

 I wish you could have heard the sounds of the morning birds (a Kingfisher bird was calling and darting back and forth around the pond)  (click on the video above to hear him. No, I  didn't get a picture of him. He was too quick)

Psalm 121:5-6

"The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night."

Psalm 121:7

"The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul."

 Psalm 121:8

The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

from this time forth, and even forevermore."

And then I looked and saw that same deer headed for the water, and I thought about the verses found in Psalm 42:1-2

"As the deer pants for the water brooks,

so pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirst for God, for the living God."

You can sing along ...

Soon the deer headed back up the bank, and I turned to take one last look at the sunrise reflecting on the water...and praised the Lord for His goodness to us...His mercy and grace and great love.

As turned to head back home, I noticed the whole deer "family" trotting down the road behind me...they were trying to high-tail it past before I could catch up with them...and they were successful. By the time I reached the road they were nowhere in sight, having slipped back into the woods. They were probably watching me as I walked by, giggling about that crazy woman with the camera always out there watching for them.

That's okay...they weren't the "main event" today.  God's glory in the skies was what drew me this morning...and it was wonderful how He threw in the extra bonus of the deer, the Kingfisher bird, and the peace and joy of time spent alone with Him. 
As I headed back to the house I resolved in my mind that whatever house we move to, I hope and pray it will be near some water, because I would truly miss these beautiful moments with the Lord. But then, I must remember...He is everywhere present...I don't really need water views and great sunrises, or even deer...to appreciate His beauty and glory.  He is my one desire...and I long to worship HIM...

So, Lord...wherever You lead, I will go. I feel certain You will have plenty of beauty and surprises waiting for me wherever that may be.  Thank You, Lord, for this marvelous blessing today. Amen.