Wednesday Treasures From Still Waters Pond and Beyond...

 Just a little bit of this and that and some floral beauty while it lasts...

The other day I went to the Ladies' Bible Study, which is held at our church parsonage.  The parsonage is currently not being used by our Pastor as he and his wife already have their own home. So our women's groups from the church use it for Bible Studies and other small group gatherings.  

When I arrived I couldn't help but notice these beautiful camellias blooming in the garden. They needed to be noticed and appreciated before they totally drop to the ground.  Some of these are already getting pretty wilted, but they still have a rich beauty even as they begin to fade.

There were still some buds waiting to open as well...still holding their fresh loveliness tightly until it is their time to blossom...

I'm so glad I took a few minutes to capture their beauty.  It would be a shame for them to die before ever being noticed...

However, they are doing exactly what they were designed to do...they are "blooming where they are planted"...

This made me think of an old southern gospel song "Where the Roses Never Fade"    You may want to sing along...

Where the Roses Never Fade

I am going to a city,
Where the streets with gold are laid;
Where the tree of life is blooming
And the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season
Soon their beauty is decayed.
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.

In this world we have our troubles,
Satan snares we must evade.
We'll be free from all temptations;
Where the roses never fade.

Loved ones gone to be with Jesus,
In their robes of white arrayed;
Now are waiting for my coming,
Where the roses never fade.

Here they bloom but for a season
Soon their beauty is decayed.
I am going to a city,
Where the roses never fade.

I hope you enjoyed that old song and the beautiful flowers blooming here for a season.  I know that I am truly looking forward to the day that I will be going to that city, "where the roses never fade".  

Which reminds me, I wanted to thank you all for your kind words on my last post here...  Yesterday (February 25th) was a difficult day for me in some ways, but writing about our son and sharing him with you and you responding with love and kindness really helped.  Thank you for being such special friends.  

One thing I did yesterday was take a little walk down my little path through the woods to Still Waters Pond so I could go check on the Sand Hill Crane nest.  As I walked down that little path, I couldn't help but notice the carpet of little yellow flowers strewn all along the pathway...

 It was almost like they were spreading out their golden beauty just for me to enjoy...

This sweet and simple little gift did not go unnoticed by me. I whispered a "thank you" to Jesus...

It's the simple little things that sometimes mean the most when we are paying attention to the ways God wants to bless us...

The trees above me were loaded with these lovely little Carolina Jessamine flowers, spreading a canopy of joy and beauty to shelter me as I walked through the woods...so wonderful...

Finally I made my way around the pond and just had to take a moment to breathe in the beauty of this spot as well...

That's what I call Goose Island, but there was no sign of the geese today...

But when I made it around to where I could see...there she was...Mrs. Crane, sitting there so pretty on her nest...enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sunshine...

Hello!  I think she noticed that I was there...but she still wouldn't stand up to show me how many eggs she was sitting upon...

Ahhh! But who's that?  Standing not too far away from her was her faithful mate of many years

He was preening himself while keeping a watchful eye on his lovely mate sitting on the nest...

I was actually a ways away, standing behind some bushes and trees along the shore of the pond where they couldn't really see me (but I think they knew I was there).

Mr. Crane stays very attentive to any possible intruders who may come calling, and he's always ready to send them away with a big swoosh of his powerful wings and a loud cry...

But all was peaceful today...and I guess I was just too early for the "changing of the guard" on the nest, so reluctantly I decided to head back home.

Apparently they were waiting for me to leave to make the big switch on the nest because it wasn't long before I saw Mrs. Crane back around by our house looking for birdseed, and so I gave her some to help her find something to eat quickly so she could get back to the nest again.  

Here's some words of wisdom for today:

Psalm 32:7-8

"7 You are my hiding place;

You shall preserve me from trouble;

You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye."

I hope you enjoyed these "treasures" for this Wednesday. 

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!

 

SONday Morning Blessings

Good SONday Morning everyone!  I hope this beautiful day finds you rejoicing in the Lord and giving Him thanks and praise for all He has done!

I received this sweet card in the mail yesterday from one of our blogging friends! She created this sweet little card with my One Word "Delight" and my key verse for 2022, Psalm 37:4, so I can put it on my countertop above my sink and enjoy it every day...and be reminded to "Delight (myself) in the LORD; and HE will give (me) the desires of (my) heart!"  What a DELIGHTful way to start each day! Perhaps you'd like to remind yourself to do this each day as well! What a wonderful way to live our lives, DELIGHTing in the Lord and all His goodness and love.  Last week in our Pastor's sermon he mentioned this verse, but the version he quoted (and I'm not sure which translation it was) used the phrase "Draw NEAR to the Lord" in place of Delight...and I thought, yes, that is true...Delighting in the Lord is the same thing as drawing near to Him.  Because when we draw near to Him, we will be DELIGHTed in all that He is, all that He does, and all that He provides for us through His grace and love.  When we DELIGHT ourselves in the Lord by drawing near to Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts because our hearts will only want to be in His perfect will.

Here's another little "delight" I saw yesterday at our church when we were there for a pot-luck "Agape" luncheon:

This beautiful camellia flower blooming!

The bushes around the church will filled with such lovely flowers!

I thought you'd enjoy seeing this in January, wherever you are!

It truly was a delight!

You might also enjoy hearing our choir singing

"Go Tell it on the Mountain"   and also hear our pastor's message for today.

These are pre-recorded ahead of time.

Go tell it on the mountain....Tell the good news! Tell the good news!

Go tell it on the mountain! That Jesus Christ is born!

One more note before I go.  I had a message from our blogging friend Martha Jane Orlando's husband Danny yesterday. Martha is still in the hospital, fighting pneumonia.  They have put her on a new antibiotic and he is hopeful that she will start feeling better now as she wasn't coughing as much, but she is still quite ill and in need of our prayers.  Thank you for your continued prayers on Martha's behalf. 

Now, I hope you will have a DELIGHT-ful day, drawing near to the Lord, and sharing the good news with everyone that Christ has come to us!! Amen!

 

Thursday Thankfulness-"Jesus The Light of the World"

 Good Thursday Morning! This will have to be quick because I have my six week post-surgery checkup with the surgeon this morning at 10:00 a.m., and it is an hour's drive...so don't let me ramble on too long here!  I may have to finish this later, but at least I'll get started!  

First off, I need to "promote" Lily Grace's latest "ADVENT-ure" over in the "little town of Bethlehem". She wanted to tell you that she loves it when you folks come over and visit her at her place, and she promises you will enjoy this little Advent journey with her.

That being said, let me move on to my own ADVENT-ures.  Yesterday was our church ladies' UMW Christmas luncheon, also known as a "Birthday Party for Jesus".  We always have a special cake made for the occasion, and we gather around and sing Happy Birthday to Jesus.  Here is the cake:

The beautiful star is like the star of Bethlehem, guiding us to the Christ-child, Jesus, 

The Light of the World!

We had such a lovely group of ladies joined together for good food, fellowship, and also a gift exchange. Some ladies participate in a Secret Sister gift exchange throughout the year, so they reveal who they are at this gathering with their Christmas gift to their "secret sister". For those of us who do not wish to participate in the year-long secret sister idea, we each bring a gift and then we swap gifts with others who aren't in the secret sister program. That way, everyone gets a little gift. It's all very lovely and fun and a happy time.

Here's my "gift" to the ladies. I am kind of the unofficial photographer and I go around and make sure I take a picture of every woman present. Then I make this collage to share on our Church Facebook page, and send copies via email of the individual pictures to each lady. 

One of our ladies did a special little presentation which included a gift for everyone present. She read this poem to us and then told us that there would be a cup and saucer for every lady to take home with her after the meeting:

Here's my little cup and saucer (the white set), with the poem attached:

That was such a sweet idea!!

Another dear lady, who could not be present at our party due to health concerns, sent this little gift to me via another friend who is her neighbor:

It's a little lapel "Colonial Teapot Pin", and actually, she sent me two of them! She said she found them in her mother's things as she has been cleaning out her home following her passing last year, and when she saw them, she thought of me! I was so surprised and blessed by this very thoughtful gift. I may have to pass one of them on to another friend since I don't really need two of them.

Here's some of the good food we had, which was pot luck "finger foods".  

And here are the lovely gifts before we opened them. We have this party at our church "Parsonage", which is the house designated for the Pastor and his family to live in, but our Pastor already has his own home, so we use the parsonage for our ladies' UMW meetings, our Ladies' Bible study, and other smaller gatherings. We pretty much had the house full to overflowing yesterday, but it was a warm, happy time together.

Just some of the decor in the house:

Some of you will remember that my hubby and I stayed in this house for about 6 weeks the summer we moved to this town, while we waited for the closing on our new house and made some repairs on it before we could move in. It was a wonderful blessing to us to be able to live in this beautiful home temporarily.  God is so good to us.

Oh, and this gorgeous camellia bush is blooming outside the parsonage right now!

Another fun thing! You might have noticed this picture in the collage of the ladies above, and wondered why we three ladies were standing together. Well, we now have three Pamela's in our church!  Can you imagine, three of us????  We called ourselves "Three Peas in a Pod".  First there was me, (I'm in the middle), and then Pamela #2 (on the left) came down for the winter last year and we became good friends...she even made some clothes for Lily Grace you might remember and had a special Valentine's party for her... and we became the "Two Peas in a Pod"

And now there is a new "Pamela"  (on the right) who has recently started coming to our church, so now we are "Three Peas in a Pod".  No telling where this will lead!! But I look forward to getting better acquainted with our new "Pamela #3" and hope she will decide to stay with us at our church. I hope we other two Pamela's don't scare her off! LOL.

Well, friends, it's getting late, and I need to get a move on or I'll be late to my Dr. appointment.

I hope you enjoyed this little Christmas Adventure.

And always remember,

"Jesus is the reason for the season"

Jesus, The Light of the World

 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 

“I am the light of the world. 

He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, 

but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

P.S. I almost forgot! The gift I got from the gift swap was something I needed very much! Since this was a random "pick your gift from the gifts not designated with any name on them", the person giving the gift had no clue who would get it.  Here is what I got:

Believe it or not, I've been saying to myself quite often lately that I need a new hairbrush, and I also need a new hand mirror, with a magnifying mirror on one side and a regular mirror on the other. Well, that is exactly what I got! I was so surprised! It was like God must have told somebody (I still don't know who gave this gift as there was no name on it) to buy this gift because there would be someone at that party who really needed this exact thing!  All I can say is, "Ain't God good???"  He knows the thoughts of our hearts, He knows what we need, He knows how to provide even in the most mysterious of ways.  Our God is an awesome God!! Amen?