Thankful Thursday

 It's Thursday Evening...and I'm thankful for so many things...

Let's start with this gorgeous sunrise this morning...

Psalm 118:24 NKJV

24 This is the day the Lord has made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

And our flag is still standing strong, no matter what the rest of the crazy people in our world (country) may be doing or thinking...but this is not going to be a political post...let's just say I'm thankful to live in Florida, where we still proclaim "In God We Trust"!

This was last night's sunset over Still Waters Pond...

Psalm 19  NKJV

The Perfect Revelation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

 1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

2 Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3 There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Last night's full moon...(I wish my phone could capture its beauty better, but you get the idea)

And here it is again tonight, partially hidden behind some cloudy skies, but still beautiful:

Many of you have mentioned and noticed how dry our Still Waters Pond is from my previous post.  Here was how it looked early this morning...Even though it is nearly dry, the Great White Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Mr. and Mrs. Sand Hill Crane are still finding some water in which to look for their breakfast:

It was still just barely daylight, so these photos aren't real clear, but I wanted you to see that there is still life on Still Waters Pond in spite of the dry conditions. I am very thankful for that little bit of water, and continue to pray that the rains will soon come and replenish and restore it to new life once again.

Now, here'a praise item.  I hadn't mentioned it, but our pretty kitty Sunshine had not been home for over two days, which is not like him at all. He rarely ever misses a meal, even if he might be a little late sometimes.  I was really getting worried and was afraid he was lost or hurt or perhaps got himself locked in someone's shed or something...I read about someone else's cat doing that here in our community, and the poor kitty was locked in a neighbor's shed and the neighbors weren't home for several days, and the owner of the kitty finally heard the kitty meowing in there, but had no way to get him out. Finally some good Samaritans came to her aide and they managed to get the kitty out, who was hungry, but otherwise fine after several days of confinement. Anyway, when I saw that on Facebook in our community "Word of Mouth" page, I wondered if that could've happened to Sunshine. So I thought maybe I should at least check our shed just in case, even though I knew it was doubtful he could be in there.  Just as I was on my way to unlock the shed, I looked at our car, and there he was, relaxing in the shade under the car! I don't know when he showed up there or where he'd been, but I was so happy to see him I literally had tears of joy running down my face!

It wasn't quite supper time yet, but I knew Sunshine would be starving, and of course Blackie showed up and he'll eat anytime of day or night if I put food out there, so I fed them and gave them both lots of loving.  

When I was petting Sunshine on his back, he winced and meowed like he was hurt, and then I noticed that he had a cut near where the tail attached to his hindquarters. It was very tender, and it was pretty obvious he had probably been in a 'cat fight'. It's not too bad or deep, and he has been licking it and taking care of it, but if it doesn't get better soon we will get him checked out. That must explain where he'd been...somewhere perhaps licking his wounds for a couple of days. I'm so thankful he's home safely and I pray he'll stay out of harm's way.  Yes, I'd love to bring them both inside, but they are outdoor cats, and I'm not too sure that would work out so well for us or them. 

I guess, that's all I've got for now. It's bedtime, and the time change is still making me want to go to bed at my usual time pre-time change time,which would be right now, so I think it's time to say good night.

Here's some closing thoughts that bring comfort and peace...

John 14:27  NKJV

27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Amen.

Thursday Thankfulness/Friday Foto Friends

 Here it is Thursday evening, and it's been a beautiful day! We had some wonderful rain showers earlier and it cooled things off a bit. I can't believe it's actually only 79 degrees at 6:00 p.m.  We haven't seen that in a while!  So hubby and I were able to take a much needed walk. It's been so hot and humid lately that we've had to forego our daily walks, except for a jaunt to Walmart to walk around where it is cool. (plus needed to buy a few things as well).  So #1, I am very thankful for this little bit of cooler weather while it lasts!

#2.  Actually, now that I think about it, it was quite lovely this morning when I first got up. So lovely, in fact, that I couldn't restrain myself from going outside and watching the "moonrise".  I know, you think the moon rises at night! Well, this morning it seemed like there was more of a "moonrise" than a sunrise. 

Psalm 19:1-6 is one of my favorite passages...Thought it would go along nicely with these pictures that I took while I was running around enjoying the morning "moonrise".

Here it is, in order of its appearance this morning:

1. The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork.

2. Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

3. There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

4. Their line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

5. Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

6. Its rising is from one end of heaven,

In this photo if you look above the trees, you can actually see the sunrise in the east and the sunbeams rising up from behind the trees.

And its circuit to the other end;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

(And also from Psalm 19, my life verse:)

14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

What a beautiful way to start the day. I'm sorry I didn't get it posted until tonight, but it's also a good way to end the day, right?  God's beauty is everywhere around us if we just take the time to look and appreciate all that He has given us to enjoy.

#3. Thankfulness:  Yesterday afternoon I had the joy and privilege of spending some time with a young lady that I am pleased to know.  You'll never guess what we were doing!  

It has something to do with these pine needles:

Actually we were gathering them up and putting them into bags. Why? Well, because this dear lady does something very special with them. And she prefers to remain anonymous, so I will honor her wishes.

The hurricane a couple of weeks ago knocked down a lot of big pine branches on the lot next door, and these pine needles were just laying there waiting to be picked up.

And here's why she wanted them:

This very talented lady makes these baskets out of pine straw, to give as gifts to people. This one was for a dear friend, and I would say she must be very dear to her, to work this hard to make such an amazing gift!  But not only that, this sweet young woman also puts together special baskets (not the pine baskets) to give to people who are fighting cancer and are going through chemo. She puts things in the baskets that they can use for their comfort, along with little cards of encouragement.  I can only imagine what such a gift would mean to someone who is suffering the ravages of cancer and treatment. I know it would be a wonderful blessing to receive.  This young lady has lost a dear loved one to cancer, so she has a special reason for wanting to do something for others who are going through this.  I know I was blessed just hearing about it.  

#4.  Thankful for some unexpected gifts from unexpected sources. God always has ways of blessing us when we least expect it.

#5.  I heard from my brother (from North Carolina) recently. Sadly, his wife's brother just passed away, and he lived not too far away from where we live.  They will be coming down next weekend for a kind of celebration of his life with my sister in law's family, and then they hope to come visit with us on Saturday morning before they head back home to N.C.   Although I am sorry that it is under such sad circumstances, I am glad that I will be able to see my brother and his wife. We haven't seen them since last fall.  Clifford is my next to the oldest brother, but our oldest brother passed away several years ago, so now Cliff is my oldest sibling. Our sister Doris is next in line after him. (and then me, the baby).  Anyway, this has also encouraged me to get busy on some projects that need to be done around this house before "company comes".  

#6.  Just thankful to God for our health and for the ways God provides for us on a daily basis.  Each day is a gift from God, and that we are well aware of.  

Romans 11:33-36  NKJV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has become His counselor?”

35 “Or who has first given to Him

And it shall be repaid to him?”

36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things,

to whom be glory forever. Amen.

And with that I will close this post for tonight.  I pray that your day has been blessed as well. Perhaps you can share something you are thankful for today.

Good Night dear friends!  

Thankful Thursday and Friday Foto Friends

I seem to be combining these two days more often these days! I haven't been taking many pictures this week as it has been rather busy, but a few things have gotten my attention and so I thought I would share them with you.  BTW, I've been enjoying reading everyone else's posts this week about your Christmas and also your thoughts and plans for the New Year. I can't believe it's already here...when we were kids did you ever imagine that we would be living to see the year 2023? Wow! Time sure flies when you are  having so much "fun"!  

Speaking of time, this year seems to be a year for calendars! Everyone in the family seems to be getting them...and maybe not just one or two!  I believe this year we may have enough calendars for every room of the house!  But I am not complaining! I LOVE calendars, especially pretty and interesting ones. I want to share one sweet little one I received as a gift from a dear friend:

The 2023 "Heart of the Home" Calendar by Susan Branch.  I love her artistry throughout the pages, with lots of cute quotes and ideas interspersed throughout the months. I can't wait to see what each month will bring.

For January there are some thoughts about "How to write a Diary".  Now, most of us probably don't keep a "diary" of sorts anymore like we did as young girls, where we wrote our innermost secrets and thoughts about cute boys and stuff like that...but for us grown up girls we are kind of writing our diaries right here in our blogs!  Definitely no secrets here...these are open to the whole world, so we need to use discretion about what and how we say things, but I enjoy the fact that we are actually sharing our thoughts with other sympathetic and caring and encouraging friends.  We have a bond that seems to grow day by day as we get to know each other on a more personal level through our writing. 

Many of us may still keep a written journal that is private and personal...I used to before I started blogging so much, but my handwriting is so bad these days that it is difficult for me to do a lot of "real writing", so my computer aided blog posts are really the only journaling I am doing anymore.

The little quote at the bottom of the page above says,  

"Reserve your memories, keep them well, what you forget you can never retell." 

Louisa May Alcott

Good advice!  I am thankful for this way of reserving our memories. I just need to print them off now and then so they won't be lost when this computer technology is gone (or I am no longer around to share them).

That same dear friend who sent me the little calendar also sent me a bag of whole pecans, straight from her very own pecan trees!  What a delight and blessing that is!

She even included a nutcracker set to crack them with!

My cup overflows with joy and love and thankfulness!

And speaking of pecans, another dear friend from church gave us this lovely jar of "Cranberry Pecan Muffin Mix"!

What a wonderful idea and sweet gift!  I haven't tried them yet, but may do so this weekend. 

So thankful for thoughtful people who are also so creative!!

What a neat gift idea!!

Now here is something I love:   This little picture ornament was created by one of our vendors at Dixie Cottage. I had my eye on it for the past several weeks, wanting to buy it, but also wanting to give other people a chance to buy it first. I have to be careful or I will be bringing home something from there every day!  Anyway, I was surprised that no one purchased this before Christmas, and knowing that this particular vendor would be coming to take home her Christmas items that had not sold soon, I decided to give myself a little gift. It wasn't expensive, and something about this picture just really spoke to me.

When our boys were young and we lived up north, we often went to tree farms and cut our own Christmas trees. It was often quite a long, cold experience, as I had to check out every tree available before making a decision of which one to cut.  The boys would run around and say, "how about this one, Mommy?"  And I would inspect it and look at all sides and so many had bare spots here and there and I would say, "Let's keep looking!".  Hubby was somewhat patient, but after a while his feet were getting numb and the kids were getting tired, and everyone would say, "Just pick a tree so we can go home!" LOL.  By then we usually had looked at every one, and I had to narrow it down to the final choice, and hubby would cut it and we'd happily drag it up to the man to help tie it on our car and away we'd go! And of course the trees were always perfect when we got them home to decorate! (well, maybe not really perfect, but good enough to be beautiful and make us all happy).

Precious memories.

One last photo...the Christmas Cactus that just keeps on reviving every year and putting on its beautiful dress for us to enjoy!  (Click on this link for a little story about this cactus)

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and comments on my last post.  I had mentioned about having some back spasms, etc., and I wanted to tell you that I had an already scheduled Dr. appointment on Tuesday as a follow up to last week's labs.  I told him about my back and shoulder/arm issues, and he prescribed an x-ray for me, which I had on Wednesday. I won't get the results for a little while, unless he calls me when he gets them. He suspects that I have a pinched nerve. Not sure an x-ray will show much, but insurance requires the least expensive kind of tests first before going for the big ones like an MRI or CT Scan, so we will see what develops,  I have a history of slipped discs and spinal issues and surgeries, so we shall see what happens.   Stress causes these things to flare up, and then it just kind of goes downhill from there. Praying it will be an easy fix and no more surgery. It hurts the most during the night, so I'm not sleeping well, but during the day it isn't quite as bad. I told my hubby if I could just learn to sleep standing up I might be okay. LOL.  It's better to stay active and keep moving and not give in to this thing. (sometimes easier said than done).  But I am thankful it isn't something worse. 

Oh, I am still waiting for the Lord to show me what my "One Word" for 2023 is going to be. Time is running out, but I know He will show me on time. I just have to "listen" for His voice.  (I don't want to use the word listen, because I saw someone else had that word already...but then again, it does keep showing up in my thoughts...we'll see what happens...stay tuned).

"My flesh and my heart fail;

But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." 

Psalm 73:26

Thankful Thursday And Friday Foto Friends

Wow! Would you look at that sunrise this morning?  I didn't even realize we were having such a beautiful sunrise until I saw someone else post a picture from her house about 60 miles south of here this morning, and I wondered if our skies looked like that too and sure enough...there it was in all it's glory!

If I hadn't have had that little nudge from God to go check it out, I would have missed it, because it didn't last very long and then it soon gave way to stormy skies and a lot of rain!

We were under a tornado watch almost all day, but thankfully no seriously bad weather developed here. I don't know about other places in our state, but we are very thankful that we only got some much needed rain.

Psalm 19:1

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

And the firmament shows His handiwork."

I am thankful for my "One Word" for 2022, "Delight". The other morning I was making my usual pot of tea and one of the Lipton Tea bags said "Delight in Deliciousness".  That one comes up every so often in the batch of tea bags, and I am always "delighted" to see it, as it reminds me of my One Word.  And this year I have delighted in so many things throughout the year. God has certainly given me many things to be delighted about, and I am very very thankful for that.

Now I suppose I should start thinking about my new One Word for 2023. No clues yet...but I still have a couple of weeks...God always seems to steer me toward the new word sometime around the last week of the year, just prior to January.  So I will be watching and waiting, maybe while having a cup of tea. That's when I found it last year, while reading in a devotional book that I got for Christmas from my sister. Maybe I should pull that book back out and read some more!  

Meanwhile, yesterday was our church ladies' annual Christmas fellowship, which is usually held at the parsonage.  Before the party began I noticed the beautiful camellia bush outside in the yard, and had to take some pictures.

Aren't they gorgeous?  Someone had to take notice of them, because God put them there for us to enjoy. 

This one looks different...that must be a different bush, even though it seems to be connected to the others...but it sure looks different. It's unique and lovely.

This bud that is starting to open on the larger flowers looks like some kind of giant fish about to bite. LOL.  Anyway, the parsonage is not currently lived in because our Pastor has his own home, so we ladies have kind of taken it over for our Ladies' Bible Study meetings and our United Women in Faith monthly meetings. 

It's a lovely home, and it seems so much happier when all of us sisters in Christ are there together.

Here's a collage I made of all of the women who attended yesterday. Don't you see how happy we are?

I am so very thankful for these beautiful women in the Lord. What a blessing! They are the ones who pray for us when we are sick or feeling down. They bring food when we are sick or coming home from the hospital. They provide funds for so many wonderful projects in our church and community...always giving for the glory of the Lord.  Beautiful women in Christ.

We always have a great time of fellowship in the Lord, and Christmas is the culmination of a year of many blessings. We pull on our Christmas sweaters and tops and bring a dish of some kind of food to share, and then we exchange little gifts.

I received this sweet necklace and bracelet and a cross magnet for the refrigerator.  I love them.

And here's what I was wearing yesterday...notice the earrings...LOL.  Are they big enough, do you think?  We have a vendor at Dixie Cottage who makes all kinds of interesting things from vintage jewelry, sea shells, mirrors, all kinds of fun stuff, and she had made these big Christmas earrings and they happen to be clip-ons, which I know I am the only woman on earth who doesn't have pierced ears, so they were just for me!  Yes, there I am, wearing my Christmas vest and pins, etc....stuff we only get to wear once a year so it lasts forever!  

 "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

Luke 1:45

Amen.

I will close with that. I do believe that God will fulfill His promises to me...

I am blessed.

How about you?

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Thursday Thankfulness and Life in the Christmas Village

There's a full moon rising out there, and it is so beautiful. My little phone camera doesn't have the special features to really zoom in on the moon, but we can enjoy looking at it anyway and give thanks to the Lord for letting His Light shine on us so beautifully.  God placed the moon and the stars in the heavens for us to enjoy, and so I will give Him praise and thanksgiving for these gifts.

And while I was outside looking at the moon, I also enjoyed looking at our little grapevine Christmas tree on the front porch.  My son Benton and I made that little tree out of the wild grapevines found in our woods around our previous home in the Ocala National Forest. It was a job to do, but I'm so glad we did it.  This little tree has blessed our front porches ever since.

This is a close up of the little Nativity scene on the top of the porch tree. Jesus was born in a stable outside, so it is fitting that this is also outside...

And here's the lit up view of the stable...I'm so thankful for Jesus, that little Babe in the manger...aren't you?

Luke 2: 6-7

"6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

I am thankful for our kids and grand pups coming over to help us set up the train and village last night.

Sugar and Spice were quite curious about everything that was going on.  

Here's Benton putting together the train tracks...

And meanwhile Rose helped me set up all the little buildings for the village.

Our village is the old fashioned Lionel Plasticville type of buildings, and they are not very user friendly like the new cute little village buildings you can buy in the store. These are plastic, and have to be snapped together, and they really don't hold together very well anymore as they are quite old, so we have to tape the corners and carefully set them up on a flat surface and pray they don't fall apart before you can get them set up under the tree.  It's quite challenging, and I am happy Rose is patient and willing to help me with this project each year.

Meanwhile, Benton got the train engine running on the track, and Sugar and Spice went kind of crazy. They had never seen this before and they were very very excited and barking and somewhat afraid of that little black engine going around on that track.  

It took some doing to calm them down, but every time the train started up again, they were right there barking like it was the most exciting thing they'd ever seen. It was really quite funny. Their tails were wagging the whole time.

Finally we got most of the village set up, and then Benton and I tried to get the whole train moving on the track. It took some time and patience as we worked out the wrinkles...mostly the wrinkles in the sheet under the track that kept getting hung up on the train...

You can see the doggies are still quite interested in this project.

Another thing I am very thankful for is that I was able to get down on the floor with a little more ease than this time last year. AND, I was able to get back up without going through tremendous pain. (Still needed to figure out HOW to get back up,  but once I got myself moving in the right direction, it wasn't so terrible). Last year this time I was still recovering from neck surgery and had a very badly frozen shoulder and weak and painful arms. So trying to do this last year was almost impossible for me. But this year, even though I still have some shoulder/upper arm issues on both arms, it is not nearly as bad as before and I am VERY thankful to God for His continued healing.

And, I enjoyed being able to get down and "play" with the trains with our son. Sweet times. We missed having our son Scott here to help us with this,  as he is the more agile of the whole bunch, but we managed to get it done. When he comes home to visit he will be surprised!

This train and village is the same one that our kids played with when they were little boys. My dad, who was a toy train collector, gave them the train, and we accumulated the village buildings little by little over the years.  

Here is a link to the post I wrote about this a couple of years ago. This tells more of the history of the train set and village with our kids. We have a lot of precious memories with all three of our boys back in the day playing with the trains. 

So today I tried to finish setting up more of the village people.

It is a job to get down there on the floor and do this. Maybe one day we will figure out a way to put this up on a table...

But we only do this once a year, and it's definitely NOT done to perfection.  

But it brings back a lot of happy memories and we enjoy being a "child" again at Christmas time...

I try to envision myself living in this little village and putting myself in the place of those little tiny people going about their daily lives...going to church, the kids going to school, people coming and going at the train station...there's a big hospital where people go to get well when they are sick, and there's a skating pond for the kids to enjoy.  

It's just a microcosm of life in the world today...although we don't seem to be as dependent on the trains as we used to be.  That's kind of sad in a lot of ways...but life moves on.

I am thankful for our little village where we live now, and for the people who come and go and live and love and share their lives with us in various ways.

We are blessed to live in a free country...and I pray that never ever changes...may we never take these freedoms for granted...

Well, that's the tour of the Christmas village...Oh...Baby Elva and Lily Grace and their little friends Bailey and Boo Bear are enjoying the train and village too.  

One more thing...

One of our dear and very talented blogging friends paints a new Santa picture each year. Then she takes a picture of it and creates her own special Christmas cards.  I don't know if you know Linda Chapman or not,, from Linda's Life Journal, but I was so thrilled and blessed to receive this beautiful Christmas card from her in the mail and I was just awestruck! Truly she is very talented...and I love that this Santa is holding a snow globe in his hands that has a nativity scene inside of it. What a blessing! Thank you, Linda, for sharing your gifts with us. I feel so honored and blessed to have received this card from you! 

And now I know I need to get busy and send out some cards myself, but I honestly am not sure that I will be able to send a lot of them this year. I mostly send our cards to people that I don't get to communicate with as often throughout the year on social media, etc....some family and old friends who aren't necessarily computer savvy and thus they don't keep up with our daily activities like we all do here, but I want to stay in touch with them and Christmas is usually the only time.  So, please don't be hurt if you don't hear from me at Christmas time via the mail. "My spirit is willing, by my flesh is weak"...LOL.   But to those of you who do send out cards, I commend you and thank you for them. 

Each and every one of you is a blessing to me, and I look forward to hearing from you here in blogland and Facebook, etc., as often as possible! You are very special people indeed.

Okay, that's it folks. I need to call it a night. 

Oh, I forgot the most important thing I am thankful for this week...

my health! I am finally feeling so much better than I was for the past two weeks. I am very very thankful for that!! Praise God!

Okay,  Good night dear ones.

May God bless you each and every one.