Thursday Thankfulness and Friday Foto Friends

Good Evening from Still Waters Pond!  I thought I would start out tonight's post with a few new photos from our fine feathered friends here at the pond...This Great Blue Heron was enjoying some peace and quiet out there on the marsh island (what's left of it) yesterday afternoon...

It seems to be a good fishing spot, so he spent a good bit of time there, either watching and waiting for the fish to jump, or maybe he was just enjoying seeing his own reflection in the water!

During the day the Sand Hill Cranes are usually off to other places (and yes, it still is just the two of them, arriving at sundown and leaving at sunup every day...) so the little bit of land in the middle of the pond is still free to whomever wants to land there for the day.  However, if the cranes do decide to build a nest there, they will keep any intruders away day and night.  

So Mr. Heron is enjoying it while he is able.  I guess he saw me looking at him, so he turned his back on me...

And the next thing I knew, he had flown over to this big tree branch along the south side of the pond. That is his favorite spot to sit and survey the pond while he enjoys a bit of warmth from the sun. Can you see him?

Well, let me zoom in on him...better?

He has used this branch for a perch for as many years as we've known him to come here...

Can you see him way over there?   Yes, I am thankful for my zoom lens on my "real camera", not my cell phone camera.  Otherwise I would miss so much out there on the pond.

Not long after I took this picture he flew off to find a more private place to fish.  I guess I was crowding him too much! LOL.

 Also the other day I noticed this "Red Bellied Woodpecker" perfectly still on the side of this pine tree.

I was beginning to think his bill was stuck in the tree or something, because he never moved a muscle for quite a while.

Maybe he was sucking some kind of good bugs or pine sap through his tongue into his mouth and didn't want to stop until it was all gone.

"A Red-bellied Woodpecker can stick out its tongue nearly 2 inches past the end of its beak. The tip is barbed and the bird’s spit is sticky, making it easier to snatch prey from deep crevices. Males have longer, wider-tipped tongues than females, possibly allowing a breeding pair to forage in slightly different places on their territory and maximize their use of available food."  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-bellied_Woodpecker/overview#

Hmm, maybe I was correct in my observation!  Anyway, soon he finished his snack and flew off across the pond to the bigger island, where I am sure he found some other tasty treats in the trees there...

There is never a dull moment living here on the shore of Still Waters Pond. I am very thankful for this gift.  God knew what I needed when He led us here to live.

Speaking of gifts and blessings...

Let's see...I had a good report at the Doctor yesterday, which was a follow up to lab work I had done last week. However, one area was not so good...my cholesterol levels were way up. The Doctor was perplexed since I am supposedly taking a statin for that. Well,  unbeknownst to him I had stopped taking it back before Christmas, because I was having a lot of other issues which seemed to be attributed to taking a statin.  (at least that is what I deducted from my readings, etc.)   I wanted to try some other options, like taking a natural alternative, "citrus bergamot",  and trying to watch my diet.  But unfortunately my levels went sky high and he was not happy with me.  So after further discussion I decided to go back on the statin. He advised me to take some extra supplements, like Co Q 10 and a combination of Calcium, Zinc, and Magnesium, to help with the muscle cramping, etc.  So I am trying it to see how it goes.  I just hate to take medicine, but after some prayerful consideration of my situation, I have decided to listen to my doctor and follow his instructions.  I believe he has my best interests at heart, and I am thankful for his care and concern.  

We are blessed with our little town having this doctor's office. We can get in for appointments very quickly if we are sick or have a concern. They have been very supportive with my husband's health issues as well and thankfully with our Medicare Advantage Plan (Humana Gold HMO), we don't have to pay any co-pay to go there, and we've had no problems finding excellent specialists who take our insurance as well.   Speaking of which, hubby has a follow up appointment with his specialist out of town tomorrow.  We are trusting that the medical procedure/surgery he had last fall has taken care of his issues, but tomorrow will tell us more.  So a little prayer would be appreciated.

Moving right along, and speaking of "moving",  back in November I told you HERE about a friend at church who was getting ready to move, when she gave me a little box full of  treasures from her house.  Well, she hasn't exactly moved yet, but they are definitely getting ready. They have sold their house, and also their mother in law will be moving with them and is packing up her house as well.  The other day they had a little "open house" to come and see things that they wanted to either sell or give away, and they wanted people from the church to have first  choice.  So of course I went to see what was there that I might like to have.  I tried to be reasonable and realistic and not overdo it, and actually I saw a few things there for my DIL Rose that I wanted to get for her, but then there was one thing I really liked for myself and decided to bring it home with me...

Yes, this lovely globe table lamp was just really special, and I thought about how often I've wished I had one after we let my mother's beautiful lamp get away when we had the estate sale of our family home. (Or maybe one of my siblings has it, I really don't know what happened to it).  But I thought this was very pretty and decided to bring it home with me. 

 Of course, when my hubby saw it his first typical male reaction was why? And then he said he thought it was very pretty, but it reminded him of the father's "Major Award" lamp in that movie "A Christmas Story".  I'm sure you'll know what I mean if you saw it.  So now we laugh and call this my "major award" lamp.  But it really is pretty, and the sweet little lady I got it from is 92 years old and moving away and she wanted me to think of her and pray for her when I light this lamp.  And so I will.  Her name is Mary, and she really is a dear lady that I hate to see move away, as well as her son and daughter in law (Donna).  

The other items you see were things I thought my DIL Rose would like, because they have roses on them:

So I will offer them to her if she wants them, and if she doesn't want them now, she will get them eventually when they have to clean out our estate some day! (hopefully in a long time from now.)  

The last item was this sweet little tiny tea set:

My friend Donna had this already packaged to give to me because she thought Lily Grace would enjoy it!  (No, I'm not kidding!  I told you people dote on Lily Grace around here...she's just that special!)

I think it is really sweet with the Dutch windmill and the little swans on it.  

And yes, Lily Grace loves it!

She wanted to have a little party with her dollies right away.

I am thankful for good friends and sweet, thoughtful people.  I feel sad when they have to move away, but my life is so much richer for knowing them for a little while than not ever knowing them at all.

"Nothing with God can be accidental", according to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.   Yes, I believe that is true.  People come into our lives for a season, and then they may be called away...but they were there for that season for a reason...

And Jeremiah said "For I know the plans I have for you..." Jeremiah 29:11

None of us really knows from one day to the next if this will be our last day on this earth or not.  But with God, we can be sure that He will fulfil His plans for us one way or another, and it will always be for our good and even for the good of others around us.

While I was writing this, hubby called me out to the front porch to see the full moon:

It really is beautiful...much better than what my camera can capture.  While we stood there together gazing at the moon, hubby said a prayer of thanks to the Lord for this blessing of the moon in the sky, and for all the beautiful ways He blesses us.  Then he said that someday we will be looking up in the skies and see Jesus Himself coming in the sky, much brighter and more beautiful than the moon or the sun or any star...He IS the greatest Light of all...the Light of the World!  And on that day, every eye will see Him coming in the clouds:

Revelation 1:7-8

"7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 22:20

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.”

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

I look forward to that day.  I pray we'll all be ready.  Amen.

Sunday Morning Meditations: Be Ready and Watching!

24.  “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25.  the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27.  And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

Mark 13:24-27

 "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."

Revelation 1:7

16.  "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

I Thessalonians 4:16-17

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” 

says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, 

the Almighty.”

Revelation 1:8

Some sobering thoughts to ponder this Sunday morning.  The cloud pictures were taken on my way home Friday afternoon with my sweet daughter in love. We thought about how wonderful it would be to see Jesus coming through those clouds, coming to take us "home".  I know I am ready for that day to come....what about you?

Here is our worship service for this Memorial Day weekend. I hope you will enjoy the message and the song by the choir: I Sing a Song of the Saints of God:

1. I sing a song of the saints of God,

patient and brave and true,

who toiled and fought and lived and died

for the Lord they loved and knew.

And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,

and one was a shepherdess on the green;

they were all of them saints of God, and I mean,

God helping, to be one too.

2. They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,

and his love made them strong;

and they followed the right for Jesus' sake

the whole of their good lives long.

And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,

and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;

and there's not any reason, no, not the least,

why I shouldn't be one too.

3. They lived not only in ages past;

there are hundreds of thousands still.

The world is bright with the joyous saints

who love to do Jesus' will.

You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store,

in church, by the sea, in the house next door;

they are saints of God, whether rich or poor,

and I mean to be one too.

 Have a blessed and beautiful SONday!  And be ready and watching for the Lord's return. 

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."

Matthew 24:36-44