Thankful Tuesday!

I kind of took a few days off from blogging...just needed to rest and refocus for a while.  But today I am up bright and early and feel like chatting with my friends.  I know we are all getting weary of this enforced isolation, even though we understand the need for it and pray for those who are suffering and working on the front lines for our behalf.   Today I am very thankful for many things, and thought I wouldn't wait until "Thankful Thursday" to express my thanks. So this will be a "Thankful Tuesday".

 I am thankful for the beauty that surrounds us every day. The birds that sit and sing sweetly in the trees...

 The joy of watching our Canadian Geese come and go, and in this picture, flying back out to his perch on the pond where he keeps guard over his mate as she sits on her nest (out there somewhere but we can't see exactly where)

The signs of new life on our trees...Pine Cones!

And their new spires reaching up to the heavens to praise the God above Who made them. You may notice a few of the pine cones on the new growth make little crosses on the trees...this is a phenomenon you will see every spring just prior to Easter...

Isaiah 55:12

"For you shall go out with joy,

and be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills 

shall break forth into singing before you.

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

I am thankful also to be able to take short walks with my hubby again.  I am not quite up to speed yet, and mostly just walk around a little bit and look at things while he takes his longer walk, but I like to see what is growing new each day.

 These are "Paw Paw" flowers blooming on the wild Paw Paw bushes in the woods. 

 Not sure what kind of insects those are enjoying the nectar of the Paw-Paw flower, but they both seem quite content to "stick together" and enjoy. No, they are not practicing "social distancing", are they? LOL.


I was so happy to see the wild plum trees are loaded with little wild plums, and they are growing every week...

I was also thankful to NOT bump into this lovely little white flowered plant...We call it a "Stinging Nettle", or a "bull nettle".  They grow about ankle high and if you bump into it, you will be very sorry. It will sting like crazy. Good reason NOT to go barefoot in Florida... (among many other reasons that I won't go into)

But back to the list of thankfuls...

I am thankful that I am starting to feel much better and day by day I can see good progress. Thank You, Jesus!

I am thankful for the wonderful bag of books that I was given to read...and am continuing to read every day!! I am up to #10 already!!! (they are quick reads)! I still can't get over how God nudged my friend to bless me that way!

I am thankful that we are retired and on a fixed income (albeit small, but adequate) and not dependent on the stock market or hourly wage jobs to survive during these difficult days.  I pray for those who are not so fortunate that God will provide their every need.

I am thankful that our children are also able to continue working and except for our son's carpentry business, which has slacked off in sales a little, they are still doing well and God is providing their every need.  I am also thankful for the dishwasher they gave us...it is working very well! What a blessing.

I am thankful that so far, as far as I know, all members of our extended family are staying healthy and have not been adversely affected by this virus.  We do know people who have contracted it, but thankfully even they are recovering and God has taken such good care of them. Praise God!!

I am thankful for our church and for dear ones who have taken the time to call or send messages of encouragement around to everyone to stay in touch and keep our faith strong.  Our pastor has sent us good messages of hope, and we are blessed to be part of the Family of God.

Of course we are disappointed that we won't be able to have our usual Easter services, but one of our church family members made an interesting comment the other day that blessed me:

"We are Easter Christians, not Easter Sunday Christians.  We should be celebrating His resurrection everyday. Celebrating the resurrection is celebrating God's love for us. "For God so loved the world". It is also a time to celebrate our love for God. We can show our love through salty service, which is reaching out and helping others. What a great opportunity we have during this "stay at home time"to phone or email a neighbor to see how they are or to just chat. Be creative. How can you use this time to honor God? I look forward to the day we can all gather again at the church and CELEBRATE His love. Remember that we, God's people are the real church, not the building."  Barbara Thorick

I also love that this same friend did exactly what she was encouraging others to so, and called me on the phone just to visit and check up on me to see how I was doing. I love it when people don't just give "lip service" to doing good deeds, but actually follow through and live what they say.  That is a good lesson and example for us to follow as well.

And so, with those thoughts in mind I will close this little post for today.  It gives us some good food for thought...and also a challenge to live out our faith by encouraging others who may be lonely, discouraged or perhaps not doing so well during these days.  We may not be able to visit in person, but we can encourage one another with calls, cards, or other creative ways.

May God fill your life today with His peace, joy, and blessings overflowing.