Monday Monday! The Day After Mother's Day

 Well, yesterday was Mother's Day, and I pray that it was a lovely day for you in every way. Our day was very special, even with a few unexpected events, but God is good and we are very thankful.

I'll start out with our church service and choir anthem.  It's a good thing this was recorded ahead of time, because we ended up not being able to stay for church afterall.  We made it to and through Sunday School (hubby is the teacher of the adult class), and then just before the worship service was ready to start hubby came to me and said he was not feeling well and needed to go home.  So long story short, we came home, and thankfully son Scott had already arrived here and helped me get him inside and to bed. He rested awhile, and when Benton and Rose arrived after church he got up and tried to eat, which he did manage to eat a bit and I think that helped revive him. He still was  rather weak and wobbly, but refused to go to the ER and get checked out.  As the afternoon progressed he felt a bit stronger and this morning as I am writing this, he is up and having his coffee and seems to be much better. We think he either had a blood sugar drop issue because he hadn't eaten much before church, or very possibly a mild TIA. I would like to take him to the doctor this morning, but we'll see how things go. As most of you probably know, men can be stubborn when it comes to their health...enough said, but I am very thankful that it wasn't something much worse and that he recovered, so we praise the Lord for helping him. **

**After I wrote this earlier this morning, I did call the doctor's office and they were able to work him in right away.  They did an EKG and checked his BP, etc., and all that seemed okay, but he was having a bit of a weak spell there.  The doctor sent in a referral for a CT scan and some other tests and we were able to get into the  radiology office this afternoon and got it all taken care of. We will go back to the doctor next week, unless things change between now and then. But I am now writing this in the evening, and he is feeling a lot better, praise God!

Hmm, this song seems to be appropriate..."You are my strength when I am weak..."  Yes, that is so true for me and for hubby too...

Song: You Are My All in All

"You are my strength when I am weak,

You are the treasure that I seek,

You are my all in all...

Seeking You as a precious jewel,

Lord, to give up I'd be a fool.

Jesus, You're the Lamb of God,

Worthy is Your Name

Jesus, Lamb of God,

Worthy is Your Name.

All to Jesus I surrender,

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live,

I surrender All

I surrender All

All to Thee my blessed Savior

I surrender all.

Taking my sin my cross my shame

Rising again I bless Your name

You are my all in all

When I fall down you pick me up

When I am dry You fill my cup

You are my all in all

Jesus Lamb of God worthy is Your name

Jesus Lamb of God worthy is Your name

Worthy is Your name

Worthy is Your name."

Amen.

Oh my, just now as I am writing this it is pouring down rain again! It rained all night long too! Praise God!  This is exactly what we've needed, and we are SO grateful for this rain!!  (that was this morning. Now I am back to writing in the evening, and it is cloudy, but no more rain for now. Still, it was a good soaker and Still Waters Pond is very happy).

It rained off and on all yesterday afternoon, and the kitties were content to stay on the porch. I took these pictures last evening when Sunshine surprised us by jumping up on the porch rail right outside our glass doors...I've never seen him do that before. I think he wanted to see what we were doing. 

It's funny because the TV is reflecting on the glass doors, so it looks like he has a TV hologram out there to watch! He really can't see that, but it looks like he's watching it. LOL.

After a while he just settled right down on that skinny ledge and took a catnap.  I'm surprised he didn't fall off!

Blackie Sue is more sensible and stays on the porch, but still she was right there where she could see what we were doing also. They both have become much more watchful of our every move...and are always right there at the back door when we try to open it to go out. Someday I expect they will try to just move on in...but woe to the stuff in high places in our house because Sunshine, in particular, loves to jump up onto high places.  That just wouldn't be a good idea here in this house! LOL.

And no. Blackie Sue has not had any kittens and it does not appear that she will. Her appointment is set for next Friday to get things "fixed", and then that concern will be over finally! I am very thankful.

So back to our Mother's Day dinner and time with the family.  I am so thankful the kids were here and we had a good time even though hubby wasn't feeling up to par, he still wanted to be with the family as much as possible.  We had a wonderful dinner of BBQ boneless ribs cooked in the crockpot, and they turned out really good. The corn on the cob also turned out really sweet and yummy, and Rose's scalloped poatoes were perfect, as was the salad. I didn't take any pictures of the food.  My mind was a bit preoccupied with hubby and making sure he was really okay.  

However, I did ask Scott to take a picture of me before I changed clothes after we got home from Sunday School cause it seems like we never get pictures of us in our Sunday clothes. This dress is old, but it only gets worn a few times a year.

I wore this dress because it went well with that new pendant I bought on Saturday:

Here's our sweet Rose...and guess what she and Benton gave me for Mother's Day?

A Rose Bush of course!! LOL. And it is loaded with buds! Here is a picture of what the roses will look like:

Wow! I can't wait to see them bloom. I pray I won't kill this rosebush! It's beautiful!!

And last but not least, here is our family portrait. We decided we wanted to add our son Matthew's portrait to this family picture, because he is one of the precious children that God gave us, and also because he is certainly with us in spirit.  

Oh, yes, Lily Grace wanted to be in the picture too.  Our family humors me quite a bit. Gotta love them.

This Psalm just seems like an appropriate passage to end this post today, especially verses 4-5 and 11-12.

 

Palm 30

"1 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up,

And have not let my foes rejoice over me.

2 O Lord my God, I cried out to You,

And You healed me.

3 O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave;

You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

4 Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,

And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

5 For His anger is but for a moment,

His favor is for life;

Weeping may endure for a night,

But joy comes in the morning.

6 Now in my prosperity I said,

“I shall never be moved.”

7 Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong;

You hid Your face, and I was troubled.

8 I cried out to You, O Lord;

And to the Lord I made supplication:

9 “What profit is there in my blood,

When I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise You?

Will it declare Your truth?

10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me;

Lord, be my helper!”

11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever."

Amen.

I hope you've all had a good weekend and day. I haven't had time to get around to reading any posts yet as I spent most of the day going to and from appointments and trying to do some laundry in between and fixing our lunch and supper (which was leftovers, thankfully, from yesterday!) So now, barring unforeseen circumstances, I will try to get around to your posts and saying hello!! Thank you all for being here!  Good Night!

The Secret Garden Chronicles-Anointing Jesus' Feet

Today our "Lovely Ladies of the Lord" met at the lake for a time of prayer, fellowship and encouragement from God's Word.  The Lord could not have chosen a more beautiful and peaceful setting than this...

And thanks to a kind fellow on a motorcycle, who just happened to drive up as we were trying to take some pictures of our group...he immediately offered to take our picture so that we could all be included.

After a time of prayer and then feasting on our bagged lunches (and "Twinkies", thanks to one of the ladies...a first for me! I kid you not! Pretty good...), we opened our Bibles to the Story of Mary of Bethany anointing the feet of Jesus, in John's Gospel, 12:1-11.  We talked about what a loving and tender moment this was... 

3.  "Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped  His feet with her hair.  

And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil."

and then how Jesus defended Mary's actions when criticized by Judas...

John 12:7

"But Jesus said, "Let her alone; 

she has kept this for the day of My burial."

We wondered how Mary knew that Jesus was about to be crucified and buried, when the others seemed to be still so oblivious to this...and we were reminded of how back in the book of Luke 10:38-42, we were told the story of Martha and her sister Mary when Jesus came to visit them in their home...and remembered how Martha complained to Jesus that she had to do all the work while Mary 

in verse 39

"sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word."

And remember how Jesus kindly rebuked Martha in verses 41-42:

"Martha, Martha, you are worried and 

troubled about many things.

But one thing is needed, 

and Mary has chosen that good part,

which will not be taken away from her."

I wonder if Mary was learning even back then what Jesus' purpose on earth was...to "seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10).  

Maybe Mary had paid better attention to everything Jesus was teaching them...and she understood that in order for Him to save us from our sins, He would have to be the only perfect sacrifice...

I also noticed in John 12:2 that when Jesus came back to visit them in Bethany, "they made Him a supper; and Martha served..."

So here again, Martha was busily working to make sure everything was served just right, and Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet again...this time she was anointing His feet with her most prized possession, and was wiping His feet with her hair.

Mary knew that Jesus was going to die, because she had sat at His feet and listened.  She paid attention to everything He was telling them, and the Lord impressed it on her heart to do this loving deed for her Master, Whom she loved.

We asked ourselves today, "What would WE have done?"  Would we be like Mary, giving the Lord our richest treasure; lavishing fragrant oil upon His feet and wiping them with our hair...or would we still be like Martha, quietly serving, which is not a bad thing in itself, but missing out on the greater blessing because of our constant busy-ness...or would we be like Judas...critical and condemning...calling Mary wasteful and too extravagant? (see John 12:5-6)

How often do we hold back our BEST gifts, and keep them for ourselves rather than give them to Jesus, lay them at His feet for His glory and honor...our talents, gifts, praise, worship and adoration...

Do we offer these gifts up freely to the Lord, or do we hold back, criticize those who do, or stay so busy we have no time for such "nonsense.'

As we approach Good Friday and Easter Sunday, it is a good time to reflect on our attitude about serving and worshiping our Lord.  

• What is my BEST gift that I can give Him? 
• What am I holding back?  
• How can I change my critical spirit and open my heart to lavish my costly oil upon the beautiful feet of Jesus, Who gave EVERYTHING for me???

Lord, help me to no longer hold back the precious gifts You've entrusted to me.  Help me to open my heart, home, and hoarded treasures to give to You as I honor and glorify You and lift You up in praise.

Thank You for this beautiful picture of Mary anointing Your feet today.

And thank You, Lord, for the amazing sign in the sky that we noticed as we sat there together thinking about how to better worship You.  It was a blessing upon our little group as we sat in awe of You and felt Your Presence as You wrote Your love message to us in the sky.

These pictures may not look like much to you, dear readers, but to us today it was a glorious sign in the sky of God's Presence and pleasure over our little group.  At the very tip of this cloud/vapor was a beautiful teal color, and a little bit of other hues following in its trail.  The photograph does not do it justice at all...but to us it was so lovely...right when we were talking about the anointing of Jesus' feet for His burial...it just appeared in the sky and we noticed it and were in awe.

There was no sign of rain or other vapor, but the color in this was so striking we could not miss it.  We all acknowledged that it was a gift from the Lord to us at that moment, showing us His glory.

Thank You, Jesus...You are my King, My Lord and Savior...

"You Are My All in All..."

"You Are My All In All"

Na na na…holy

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down You pick me up
When I am dry You fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking You as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I'd be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is Your name
Worthy is Your name
Worthy is Your name

What precious gift can I lavish on my Lord at this time of His passion...He poured out His very life for me...what can I do to show Him my love?  Something to ponder...for all of us.

Be blessed, my friends.   Jesus is worthy of our praise....