Happy Sunday~Flag Day and Beyond~On Eagle's Wings

Happy Flag Day!  I proudly display our American Flag on our front porch every day, but today was extra special...

Just as I put the flag out, I noticed these clouds "flying" in towards the flag...and the one looked just like a giant American Bald Eagle soaring in the sky...what a perfect symbol of our very wonderful, strong, and powerful nation and American Flag.  But it's even much more than that...

God speaks to us about the Eagle's wings throughout Scripture, with messages of comfort and strength and protection for us as well as His chosen people Israel...

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Exodus 19:3-6

3 Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

This made me think of the song "On Eagle's Wings"... 

The song is based on Psalm 91:

Psalm 91 NKJV

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

I don't know if you noticed it, but there is also "The Sign of the Fish" in a cloud just above the Eagle's Wings.   

I don't know about you, but I found these clouds to be quite a powerful display of God's love and power and strength today...for myself personally, and also for our nation as we celebrate "Flag Day" and all that our flag represents: 

Just prior to signing the Declaration of Independence, this was the final statement contained at the very end of the document:

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

As long as our nation remembers that we are "One Nation, UNDER GOD, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all", "with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence," we will continue to be a powerful nation who represents trust in the One True God before the world.  But when we lose sight of that truth, we will fall captive to other world ideologies and failed systems of government, and our great nation will be doomed to destruction.

But God gives us (and Israel, as this verse was written for them, but we who are believers in Almighty God through His Son Jesus Christ are also called by His name), this promise...that if we will humble ourselves and pray and seek HIS face, and TURN from our wicked ways (REPENT), then He will hear from heaven and will forgive our sins and restore our land.

I am very thankful for our country and our flag and all that it stands for.  May God continue to bless America.

Now, onto another note, thank you all who had such kind things to say the other day regarding the loss of my friend Maura (and her husband Woody). I did indeed go to their Celebration of Life service yesterday, and it was very moving and special in every way.  I felt like God was bearing me up on eagles' wings to help me get through the service. I sat with our mutual friend, Marian, and together we cherished the sweet and special memories that we have of our dear friends.  Maura, in particular, was such a powerful witness for Christ wherever she went. She loved the Lord so much and was never afraid to share her faith with others. She was such a positive and loving person...and there is such a huge void now that will be difficult to fill.  My prayers are with her granddaughter in particular, as she now must take care of all the details of their estate, etc. by herself. May God give her the strength she will need.

I also want to thank the Lord for the good rains we've been getting the past few days.  I said I wished that I could just sleep through the storm like my kitty...right there on the porch while the rain was pouring (it's hard to see it, but it was definitely raining).  Blackie seems to be in perfect peace...not even afraid when there is thunder.  He is definitely a sweetheart.  BTW: Hubby didn't feel up to going to the funeral with me yesterday, but I noticed when I got home that Blackie had been inside the house keeping him company while I was gone...Who was it that said he didn't want a cat in the house????? LOL.

And just to close out with some extra pictures of that old house in our historical section of town that I showed you before...word has it that it has been sold. 

 We had taken a little ride past there again a couple of weeks ago, and I got out of the car to get a closer look...

I was surprised that the old porch swing was still hanging there! I didn't try to sit on it just because I wasn't sure how secure it was, but I thought this made a wonderful picture...

And since there weren't any pictures of the kitchen on the Zillow ad for this house, I wanted to look in the "open" window to see what I could see...

But there really wasn't much to see, so that's probably why they never showed it in the listing. Whoever bought this house will have their work cut out for them to put in a working kitchen...but I just saw on the listing that they closed on the house with a sales price of $125,000., so they got a good deal and hopefully they will have plenty of money to do all the restoration that needs to be done to make it a beautiful restored home.  I may have to stop by sometime and get acquainted with the new owners!

But for now it remains a "Closed Door"....

And so I will close this post on that note.

I wonder how many of you put out your flags today? How many of you put a flag out every day?  Especially as we approach our 250th celebration of our freedom as a nation, I hope everyone will find ways to show our patriotism and pride in our amazing nation!  "One nation, UNDER GOD, with liberty and justice for ALL!"  Amen.

My door is always open to you!

 

Wednesday Treasures...Or Photo Dump Day!

 Happy Wednesday!  Some people call Wednesday "Hump Day", but today I am calling it "Photo Dump Day!"  It seems like I've been accumulating a lot of miscellaneous photos that haven't found their time to "rise and shine", so today will be the day. So pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee and let's take a walk through the garden or the house or wherever this leads us, okay?

I don't always take pictures of my breakfast, but I thought this was pretty so I did.  I baked some banana nut bread the other day, and we enjoy a slice (or two) for breakfast while it lasts...I prefer to put some cream cheese on mine. Of course, one must have some protein, so I made a little "omelette" of eggs, spinach, ham and cheese.  This made a delightful breakfast! I may just have it again today if there is anymore Banana nut bread.  HERE is a link to a post with the recipe if you wish to make your own!

I just looked at this again, and thought that might qualify for a "Green Eggs and Ham" Day.  If you've ever had grandchildren or have worked with young children, you know all about this! LOL.

Well, what's this?  Oh, yes, we must have some Blackie pictures! The other day he saw that our bedroom door was open, and for him that is an opportunity to race me to and through the open door and go hide either under the bed or, if the closet door is open, he loves to go in there and jump in my clothes basket.  This time, since I couldn't entice him to get out of the basket, I just pulled the basket with him inside out into the living room!  He actually enjoyed the ride and stayed right there in it once it stopped! 

But lately he has been choosing to come sit in this rocking chair, which is right behind me as I sit at my computer in the "Room With a View".  

Please notice what is written on the little pillow behind him..."The Song of Bluebirds".  

After he gives himself his morning bath after eating his breakfast, he curls up on this chair and goes to sleep.  For some reason he has decided he likes this even better than sitting in Daddy's lap!  Although he will still do that at other times of the day if Daddy is sitting still long enough.

Speaking of the Bluebirds, some of you may have already seen some of these pictures on my Facebook page the other day.  I took these pictures a couple of mornings ago, when Mama Bluebird was trying to entice the babies out of the nest by offering them bites of this big juicy bug.

How would you like THIS for breakfast?  (would it be better than green eggs and ham??)

What she would do is stick her head in the house with this bug, and let the babies get a little taste of it, and then fly away with it trying to get them to follow her.  

Reminds me of this part of Psalm 34...

"8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints!

There is no want to those who fear Him.

10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing."

I used the illustration of the bluebirds enticing their babies out of the nest with little bites of food in our Ladie's Bible Study the other day.  One lady was asking about how do you encourage someone to go back to church after many years away. The person had recently lost her husband, and had not been to church in many years, and she was very despondent.  However she was resistant to those who were inviting her to go to church, and when she did finally go, she was very critical of everything and didn't want to go back.  I had just watched these bluebirds trying to get the babies to follow them out of the nest with little bits of food, and I shared with these ladies that sometimes you have to "spoon feed" a person with just little bits of "food" from God's Word, and let your own light shine before them so that they will see how God is working in your own life as you go through difficult times.  Perhaps eventually they will want to know how you've found peace in your own life, and you will be able to share Christ with them more fully.  We can't just try to shove a steak down their throats when they really need to be fed with little bits of "baby food" until they are ready for more.  I love how God gives us illustrations from His creation to get His point across, don't you?

Speaking of feeding birds...Our hummingbirds have been active too. This is a male Ruby Throated Hummingbird at the feeder...can you see how smoky it is?  This was a couple of days ago. The smoke has been really thick for the past few days, although this morning is a bit better.  The fires are mostly north of us about 20-25 miles, but the wind blows the smoke our way and it has been pretty bad.

But I was happy to get these photos of the hummingbird. He looks healthy enough.

Also, if you are a Facebook friend, you probably already saw this opossum drinking from the pan of water in the yard.  This was early in the morning the other day.  I know all the critters are very thirsty since the pond is so dry and even some of the lakes are getting quite low.

I'm glad there was still some water in that pan for him. I've been trying to keep them filled.  (There's a lot of dead leaves in there, which I also try to keep out, but there's a lot of dead leaves still blowing around out there with the wind and the drought).

Thankfully our squash plants are doing quite well, since I water them every day...

Everyday there are new flowers on them, so that means there will hopefully be a good crop of zucchini and yellow squash this summer!

And the tomato plants are also getting lots of little flowers. They seem to like the new location.

We took a walk the other morning and I saw this Coral Bean plant blooming...They will attract hummingbirds, and there are some good uses of the plant, however, the beans are poisonous, so don't eat the beans! (or get them on your hands).

I also followed this Red-Bellied Woodpecker  around  trying to get a good picture of him:

He just kept flying further away and I couldn't keep up with him, but he was busy finding bugs to eat in the trees, so I left him alone.

Last night's sunset was pretty special, after a day will smoke filled skies...

However, if you look at the lower clouds on the horizon, you will see that there a lot of smoke there:

Still, we could see the Crescent Moon up in the sky:

Pretty cool!

It was a beautiful evening and I said a prayer of thankfulness that we were safe from the fires here...

But we continue to pray for those in harm's way who are fighting the fires as well as those who live in closer proximity to them.  There have been some evacuations, but thankfully no loss of life (that I've heard of).

However at sunrise this morning, the skies were still very smoky in the distance, and we could still definitely smell it:

Actually, that smoke isn't that far away...but thankfully the fires are...

The skies over the still very dry Still Waters Pond this morning:

I would like to close this post with a favorite passage of scripture from the Psalms, which I believe is appropriate in these turbulent times both here locally with the fires and drought, and around the world, with the wars and unrest and serious threats to so many...Praying this for our firefighters, law enforcement, political leaders and our soldiers, and any who are in harms' way.  

Psalm 91 NIV

1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

Amen.

I hope you enjoyed my Wednesday "photo dump day".

Have a blessed and safe day, wherever you are.

Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

I can't keep up with these weeks flying by so quickly! They say that is what happens when we get older...the days and weeks and years just fly!  Do you remember when you were a child in school, and it seemed like that 3:00 bell would NEVER ring? (or whatever time you were let out of school for the day). I remember watching the clock for the last half hour or so, and thinking 3:00 would never get there!! But now, here it is 3:00 today, and I have no idea how this day flew by so quickly! LOL.  

Well, really, I do know...let's see, we took a ride this morning just to get out of the house for a while. Once in a while we like to drive the 30 mile drive back down to the community where we used to live in the Ocala National Forest.  There's a lake and a boat ramp/park where we like to go and see the water...today when we arrived there was a couple letting their dog run free and frolic in the water since no one else was around, and so we decided to drive on through the woods/town and come back by there later on our way back.  Dogs running loose are not one of my favorite things when I don't know them or their owners.   

However, we did stop back by there on our way back out, (and the people with their dogs were gone) and this was what I took a picture of...Isn't she a beauty?

Actually there were two butterflies flitting around, but I couldn't get them both to be still long enough to get a really good picture, so this one will have to do:

I also managed to get a picture of this little Bluegill down in the water! They were swimming around so fast I was fortunate to get this picture!

But I digress...

We decided to drive by our old house and see if anyone has purchased it yet.  It has been on the market for at least this whole year.  The people who bought it from us 4 years ago sold it to some investor, who has totally renovated it inside, but they are letting the outside be taken over by nature! According to "Zillow", it still has not been sold, and the price is still set much too high, in my humble opinion.

 Click HERE for a previous post showing some pictures from this house earlier this year, when our son stopped by to see what was going on there.  

And this is a picture from our last visit there, which was in February.  I wrote about that visit HERE.

The big sycamore trees were still bare, as was a lot of the other foliage...

Here I am, back in February,  sitting in the little pergola that we built in memory of our son:

That looked pretty good compared to what we saw there today.

These are the pictures from today:

It was so overgrown with wild grapevines and other wild growth that I couldn't even step inside to sit on the benches.

These are some of the trees we planted in the back yard about 6 years ago:

These are two Drake Elm trees that we planted in memory of our fathers, one for each of them on their 100th birthdays.

They have grown so much they may need to be trimmed back!

There are several Crape Myrtle trees in there, struggling to survive as they are being trapped under the many wild grape vines, which are, by the way, loaded with wild grapes right now! I did make grape jelly one year with the wild grapes that grew next to our yard, but this area we always kept trimmed back and neat and pretty...

It's like a jungle there...and if they don't start taking better care of it the  house will soon be returned back to nature.

This is what the front of the house looks like with the trees all full of leaves:

I know it's not my problem anymore, but it does make me kind of sad to see it so overgrown and neglected. We had so many happy memories at this house during the 7 years that we lived there. I do hope someone will purchase this house soon and rescue it before it is too late. They'd better have strong arms and backs so they can maintain all that yard work! That's one of the reasons we left there...we just couldn't keep up with all of the yard work by ourselves.  

So those are the photos for the Friday Foto Friends post.  Now, what am I thankful for? 

Well, I am thankful for our current home and the blessings of where we are, near our kids and church and friends...and not quite as much yard work as before.  Hubby and I did go out and do some weed-whacking with the new weed eater he got for Father's Day. I used it for quite a while and appreciated the fact that it is light weight and easy to use, but my arms are still hurting today because I am terribly out of shape (among other issues!) LOL.  I am thankful we got it done, however.

I am thankful for the fact that this home overlooks Still Waters Pond, and we are able to enjoy so much beauty here, watching the birds and any other wildlife God brings our way. We currently have been seeing a lot of Cardinals...there are some young ones as well as the parents, and they enjoy dining at the bird feeders:

Do you see both of the birds in this picture above?

And here's either Mom and Dad, or it could be Dad and one of the youngsters...

I am happy they enjoy these fancy bird feeders!

I am thankful for my new cell phone...(this picture was from the other day, when it was 87 and raining. Today it is 96 and bright and sunny...very HOT!

I ordered this phone to replace my old one because it was dying. It wouldn't keep a charge for very long at all.  This new phone is actually reconditioned, but it is a newer version than the iPhone I had before. You can get some very good deals online for reconditioned phones if you aren't locked into a phone contract.  It works great and I am very happy with it. However, getting it set up and ready to use, transferring data, etc., was very challenging.  I called the customer service people to help me, and, well, let's just say it was an extremely exasperating experience trying to understand people who do not speak English very well, and just when I thought we had something figured out the call would drop, and I'd have to call back again and start all over again with a new person. This took over an hour to accomplish, (and SEVERAL phone calls!) and by the time I was done, I was really done!! I hope I don't have to go through that again! But everything is fine now, and I am VERY thankful for that!

I am also thankful that my brother called the other night just to chat. He lives in N.C., and we don't get to talk very often, so it was a real treat and joy to hear from him. Our family is planning reunion up at their place in September, and I hope and pray we will be able to attend.  

There are some other things I am thankful about...some medical appointments that we were able to schedule sooner than first thought, and answers to prayer about several things.

Oh, this one is a big thing...last evening we were pulling out of our driveway, planning to go to our walking place on the other side of town and take a walk, even though it was still about 90 degrees, but we needed some exercise. Anyway, just as we were pulling out, there was a man walking down the middle of our street, no shirt, and his jeans kept falling down around his behind, and he was carrying a plastic gallon jug that looked empty, and he was acting VERY strange. We took one look at him and thought he had to be very high on drugs or drunk or something.  We decided not to leave our neighborhood, but stayed in our car and I called 9-1-1 and reported this man and his strange behavior. We drove around the block and kept an eye on him to make sure he didn't go up to our house or any of our neighbors, and we kept talking to the dispatcher for a few minutes. She assured us someone was on the way. Well, we drove around the block several times, not wanting him to notice us as we didn't want him coming up to our car. He wandered down the street, still in the middle of the street as other cars passed him. He was definitely out of his head high.  Finally we saw the deputy car come into the neighborhood and we watched to see what would happen. The man started to run into the woods, and then we decided to go back home and stay out the way.  Shortly after we saw an ambulance come. Apparently they did take him away, and we don't know anything more.  It left us feeling rather unnerved throughout the evening. Our neighborhood isn't perfect by any means, but this was not the norm. I am thankful that there was no harm to anyone in the neighborhood, and we prayed for this man that he would get the help that he needed. God knows who he is and exactly what was wrong. 

So on that note, I will say that I am thankful to God for His watchcare over our home and family...and am thankful that we know we can depend on Him to keep us safe.

Psalm 91:9-12

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Thank you, Lord!

Amen.