A Celebration of Journaling- The Beginning of "The Secret Garden Chronicles" Revisited

I used to belong to a wonderful blogging group known as "Random Journal Day", hosted by a very enthusiastic friend, A.K.A. "Enthusiastically Dawn".  Click on this link to Dawn's present day journaling exercise...https://enthusiasticallydawn.com/2018/03/24/an-invitation-to-celebrate-journaling/  and you will realize that she has orchestrated a reunion of sorts for all of us former "Random Journal Day" members, as  well as any newcomers who would like to join in the celebration. 

The idea is to randomly share something from one of your own personal journals...from the past or present time.  We did this for a few years until we kind of all either ran out of material or started pursuing other interests...but it was such a fun time and we were such a lovely group that we knew we had to get back together somehow. 

In the meantime, some of our original group members have even published their own books...Susie Klein formerly known as "Recovering Church Lady", and now of "Walking Butterfly" fame. (click HERE for more details)   Cecelia Lester, A.K.A. "Following My King", and the author of "Times of Trouble Brings Rays of Joy".  And our fearless leader, Dawn Paoletta, of "Enthusiastically Dawn", and the author of "Journaling for Discovery and Delight".  I know there are others, but these are the three that I am most familiar with, and I have purchased each one of these books...and enthusiastically recommend them all!!

So now, for our reunion, I would like to share my most recent "journaling" adventure, which started last year with the creation of my own personal secret garden.  Click Here for more about that story  One thing led to the other as I sat there in my little sanctuary, and finally, God directed me to go get a new "journal" and start writing as I sat there.  The following post is that story. 

I would like to say that I kept up this practice faithfully ever since...well, I did pretty well the first six months or so, and then things got busy....it got hot in the garden...my son got married in the fall, and then it was Christmas, and then it was too cold in the garden...and so on and so on.  I am now trying to get back in the routine, and perhaps Dawn's enthusiastic reminder to celebrate journaling will help me get back on track.  I would like this to become the foundation for my future book someday, so that one day I can be added to that "Hall of Fame" of published authors...but all in God's good timing.

Meanwhile, why don't you join me in a visit to "The Secret Garden":

Original Journal Post: January 24, 2017  

"The Secret Garden Chronicles"

This morning I entered The Secret Garden, to sit and ponder what messages the Lord would send to me through His Word and His lovely creation.


The first thoughts that came to me were:

"How lovely is Your tabernacle,

O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, yes even faints for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh cry out 

for the Living God."

Psalm 84:1-2

As I looked above me I could see new growth of leaves on the Wild Black Cherry Tree that will help shade the Secret Garden throughout the summer months and also provide natural food for the birds.  This brought a smile to my face and joy in my heart for the many ways the Lord provides for His children and creation.

And then I began to sing the chorus (written by Matt Redman) that actually comes directly from Psalm 84:

"Better Is One Day" (Click HERE to sing along)

How lovely is Your dwelling place
O Lord Almighty for my soul longs
And even faints for you

For here my heart is satisfied
Within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere

One thing I ask and I would seek

To see Your beauty
To find you in the place Your glory dwells

My heart and flesh cry out
For you, the living God
Your spirit's water to my soul
I've tasted and I've seen

Come once again to me
I will draw near to you
I will draw near to you

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere

As I was reading these verses and singing this song, my eyes were lifted to the treetops surrounding me, and it truly felt like I was sitting in a lovely tabernacle, with the perfectly blue sky as the ceiling, and the treetops were pointing up like a church spire, lifting their hands in praise toward God Almighty.

And then I know I heard God say to me to start writing these thoughts down as I sit here in the garden...this is what He spoke to my heart:

"Don't wait and try to remember the words I speak to you 

when you get back inside the house to your computer...

but GO, get a new journal and begin to write

the messages as I tell them to you.

I want you to write a journal from

The Secret Garden...

My Own Messages to you from My Heart."

A little later my hubby and I took a ride to the nearest store where I could find a new journal book and begin writing...so here it is...

This may be the beginning of some very special communications between God and me...and I look forward to  sharing what He wants to teach me here in this place that has been set apart for prayer, worship and meditation on God's Word.  

Thus begins 

"The Secret Garden Chronicles"

Then I was directed to Psalm 86:10-12

"For You are great,

and do wondrous things;

You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, O Lord;

I will walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your Name.

I will praise You,

O Lord my God,

with all my heart.

And I will glorify Your Name forevermore."

Yes, Lord, This is my prayer as I begin this new adventure in The Secret Garden with You!

Make Your Presence known to me Lord...here in the "Secret Place of (Your) Tabernacle."

(Psalm 27:5)

"One thing I have desired of the Lord,

that will I seek;

That I may dwell in the 

house of the Lord

all the days of my life

To behold the beauty of the Lord,

and to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavillion;

In the SECRET PLACE of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be 

lifted up above my enemies all around me;

Therefore I will offer 

sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;

I will sing, yes I will sing 

praises to the Lord."

Psalm 27:4-6

Thank You, Lord, for speaking to Me today.  I am ready to do Your will!  Amen.

Back to the present:

I hope you enjoyed this visit to The Secret Garden today.  I hope to see you again soon!!

Be blessed, my friends...and be sure to write it all down when it happens...or even when it doesn't happen...write it down! It's all good!

"The Secret Garden Chronicles"

This morning I entered The Secret Garden, to sit and ponder what messages the Lord would send to me through His Word and His lovely creation.


The first thoughts that came to me were:

"How lovely is Your tabernacle,

O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, yes even faints for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh cry out 

for the Living God."

Psalm 84:1-2

As I looked above me I could see new growth of leaves on the Wild Black Cherry Tree that will help shade the Secret Garden throughout the summer months and also provide natural food for the birds.  This brought a smile to my face and joy in my heart for the many ways the Lord provides for His children and creation.

And then I began to sing the chorus (written by Matt Redman) that actually comes directly from Psalm 84:

"Better Is One Day" (Click HERE to sing along)

How lovely is Your dwelling place
O Lord Almighty for my soul longs
And even faints for you

For here my heart is satisfied
Within Your presence
I sing beneath the shadow of Your wings

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere

One thing I ask and I would seek

To see Your beauty
To find you in the place Your glory dwells

My heart and flesh cry out
For you, the living God
Your spirit's water to my soul
I've tasted and I've seen

Come once again to me
I will draw near to you
I will draw near to you

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere

As I was reading these verses and singing this song, my eyes were lifted to the treetops surrounding me, and it truly felt like I was sitting in a lovely tabernacle, with the perfectly blue sky as the ceiling, and the treetops were pointing up like a church spire, lifting their hands in praise toward God Almighty.

And then I know I heard God say to me to start writing these thoughts down as I sit here in the garden...this is what He spoke to my heart:

"Don't wait and try to remember the words I speak to you 

when you get back inside the house to your computer...

but GO, get a new journal and begin to write

the messages as I tell them to you.

I want you to write a journal from

The Secret Garden...

My Own Messages to you from My Heart."

A little later my hubby and I took a ride to the nearest store where I could find a new journal book and begin writing...so here it is...

This may be the beginning of some very special communications between God and me...and I look forward to  sharing what He wants to teach me here in this place that has been set apart for prayer, worship and meditation on God's Word.  

Thus begins 

"The Secret Garden Chronicles"

Then I was directed to Psalm 86:10-12

"For You are great,

and do wondrous things;

You alone are God.

Teach me Your way, O Lord;

I will walk in Your truth;

Unite my heart to fear Your Name.

I will praise You,

O Lord my God,

with all my heart.

And I will glorify Your Name forevermore."

Yes, Lord, This is my prayer as I begin this new adventure in The Secret Garden with You!

Make Your Presence known to me Lord...here in the "Secret Place of (Your) Tabernacle."

(Psalm 27:5)

"One thing I have desired of the Lord,

that will I seek;

That I may dwell in the 

house of the Lord

all the days of my life

To behold the beauty of the Lord,

and to inquire in His temple.

For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavillion;

In the SECRET PLACE of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

And now my head shall be 

lifted up above my enemies all around me;

Therefore I will offer 

sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;

I will sing, yes I will sing 

praises to the Lord."

Psalm 27:4-6

Thank You, Lord, for speaking to Me today.  I am ready to do Your will!  Amen.

The Plucky Little Woodpecker UPDATED

If you are one of my Facebook friends you most likely have been following the saga of the red-bellied woodpecker family in my neighborhood.  I became intrigued with this little family a few weeks ago when I heard the constant rat-a-tat-tat of Mr. Red Belly Woodpecker, faithfully hammering away at his new home in the old dead pine tree not far from my home.  What was especially interesting was that I could actually hear him working from inside the tree as I took my evening walk. I couldn't see him, but the incessant pecking revealed his location...and the ever increasing hole in the side of the tree became more and more obvious each day.

Soon I noticed more than one woodpecker flying around this tree every time I'd get close, and calling to one another.

Then one evening as I strolled by, I looked up, and there was someone watching me from the opening in the tree...

 Hello Mrs. Red Belly! How are you today?  She kept a wary eye on me, as she nervously watched the sky above as though looking for someone to come to the rescue...

Sure enough, it wasn't long before her protector came in for a landing...

and most likely brought some juicy bugs for supper.

Life went on like this for several more days...Everything seemed to be going just fine for Mr. and Mrs. Red Belly.  I looked forward to our evening visits.  They seemed to be getting used to me and didn't seem quite so nervous about my presence.  I was hoping that someday soon I might even get to meet the children...

However, one sultry spring evening the sky grew dark and stormy. The air was thick with humidity as the winds picked up and thunder could be heard rolling in from the west.  As we humans settled into our home and made sure everything was tight and secure, I wondered how our fine feathered friends might be faring.  Hopefully their nest was snug and dry inside the old snag of a dead pine tree.

When I awoke the next morning and pulled out of our driveway to head for work, I looked down the road to my left to the area where the "woodpecker tree" was located. Something looked different...there was a lot of debris on the road, and it seemed like something was missing in the sky. Instead of turning right to drive to the highway and work, I turned left and drove the short distance to where the woodpecker tree was supposed to be...and this is what I saw:

The top of the tree was missing...

And as I zoomed in, to my horror I could see the forlorn little woodpecker standing atop what used to be his nest...surveying the damage of his home.

If you look closely, you can see the round bottom of the entrance to the nest, but the rest of the nest and tree was completely blown away.

The shattered and splintered remains were strewn along the road...actually they had been all over the road but someone had already cleared the way so cars could get through.

A closer view of the actual inside of the nest...

My heart was broken for this sweet little family.  I don't know what happened to the eggs or baby birds that were most likely inside this nest.  I assume they were blown away when the tree crashed to the ground. This literally made me sick and sad.  But I had to move on and get to work. I couldn't spend my day crying over destroyed woodpecker nests.  I thought to myself that there are certainly more important issues going on in the world right now than this...so why should I be so affected?

The first thing I did when I got home that evening was run down the road to search for the woodpecker family...Would they even still be around?  Would there be any sign of activity in or around their former home? What would they do? Where would they go?

As I walked down the road there was a familiar sound..."rat-a tat tat....rat a tat tat....rat a tat tat...."

loudly reverberating in the air...sort of like the sound of a machine gun firing...rapidly repeating....

But this time it was coming from the opposite side of the road...directly across from where the old tree stood.  Rat a tat tat.....rat a tat tat....rat a tat tat....

There was that plucky little woodpecker pecking away as hard as he could. He wasn't wasting any time at all building a new home for his family!

The very first night this is how far he had gotten in opening up the door to this new nest.  

He has labored night and day for the past few days...and today this is what I discovered:

Sorry this is kind of blurry...it was getting late...but look at the progress he has made!

This is an even better view

Rat a tat tat

Rat a tat tat

Checking it out...working on the inside...rat a tat tat!

Gotta keep pecking away!

He can get his whole head inside the nest now!!!

I am so proud of this plucky little woodpecker!  He has continued working on this new nest for several days...gotta get it ready in time!  Mama Red Belly must be getting desperate for a place to lay her eggs.  

So, I've been trying to pull some kind of lesson from this story...

My first thought was...this is an excellent example of the title theme for this blog...

"Closed Doors...Open Windows...When God closes a door, He opens a window"....

When the storms of life come along and destroy our carefully laid out plans, dreams, and security...don't give up!  Take a lesson from this plucky little woodpecker...When one door closes,  (or one nest blows away), get up and move on.  Open your eyes and look around, and trust God to lead you to something even better...and then get to work!

In this case, the original tree wasn't really an ideal location.  The tree was already leaning over quite severely.

The original woodpecker tree the evening before the storm came

 When the woodpecker pecked away at the interior of the tree to create his nest, it was right in the leaning portion of the top of the tree.  When the winds and rains came along, it didn't take much to break off that weakened, hollowed out section of the tree...and thus the nest was destroyed.  This time the woodpecker has chosen a better tree that, although an old dead tree, it is straight and strong.  I don't think it will be as easy to break.  

So another lesson would be to choose wisely in the first place...

"How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow (woodpecker?) has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young..

Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts,

My King and my God.

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;

They will still be praising You.

Blessed is the man whose strength is in YOU,

Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca,

they make it a spring;

the rain also covers it with pools.

They go from strength to strength;

each one appears before God in Zion.

O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer;

Give ear, O God of Jacob!

O God, behold our shield,

and look upon the face of Your anointed.

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

The Lord will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold 

from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts,

Blessed is the man who trusts in You!"

Psalm 84

Amen!

Obviously, this is a story that will have to be continued...so stay tuned for further developments.

4/19/15:  Here are the latest pictures from the new Woodpecker Nest!  I am SO proud of this Plucky Little Woodpecker.  He never stopped until he could peck out a nest within the new tree.  This is what I saw tonight:

Hey! Look at me!  I made it!  I now have a safe new home inside this tree!!!

Gotta get up to the rooftop to view my new kingdom!

I'm almost there!

Ahhh Yes!!! The view is great from up here!

All is well!  Now we can wait for the babies to be hatched!

Probably not the end...so keep watching!