Sunday Afternoon Blessings

 

Happy Sunday!  Today has been such a lovely day, and I just wanted to share some of the joy with you!

I always feel blessed when we've been to church and were able to sing God's praises! I'm excited also that we will be starting back to choir practice this week and so the choir will be singing in the worship services again!  Although we've had some wonderful special music this summer in place of the choir, there's just something really special about singing praises to the Lord together in harmony, and I have really missed it!

In addition to that, I am really really excited because I have sighted the first actual water on Still Waters Pond once again, finally, after a very long drought! We haven't seen water on the pond since last winter...it's been a whole year, so even though this isn't a lot of water here yet, it's progress and I am so happy and excited to finally see it happening!!! Praise God!!

Isaiah 43:18-20 NIV

18 “Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.

20 The wild animals honor me,

the jackals and the owls,

because I provide water in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,

Isaiah 41:18 NIV

18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights,

and springs within the valleys.

I will turn the desert into pools of water,

and the parched ground into springs.

I was so excited I literally walked across the spongy part of the pond that is still very dry to get close enough to where I could see the water so I could take those pictures above.  Looking back toward the shore you can see how far away I was from our house...

Yes, there is still a lot of dry ground, but where you see the green bushes growing, there is some water underneath...not very deep yet, but it's progress!!

The skies were really beautiful this afternoon...

I took these photos while standing near the island that is on the pond. The island is still mostly surrounded by dry land, but little by little the water is creeping up around it and this gives me such hope that perhaps by winter time there will be enough water for our Sand Hill Cranes to nest here again. They had to forego their nesting this past winter because there was no water and they were too vulnerable to predators, but hopefully with enough rain between now and then they will be able to find a suitable spot to build their nest.

Those posts that you see are usually half way under water.  

This is what the ground looks like that I walked across. This is very dry and spongy. Once the water starts filling it back up, the water lily roots that are buried in this dry muck will sprout back up and be beautiful once again.

Speaking of beautiful skies, this was the picture at sunrise today:

And THIS was the sky about an hour ago, after we had received a Severe Thunderstorm Warning...

You can see that something big was brewing out there in the skies...

And here it was just a few minutes later...the storm was moving in and heading in our direction...

It looked pretty awesome and somewhat concerning for a few minutes...

The wind started blowing  and leaves were swirling and we braced ourselves for a big storm, and then we got another notice that the storm had died down and wasn't as severe as expected.  I am still waiting for the rain to hit us, but it appears it has gone a different direction.

I just stepped out on the front porch, and this is how the skies look right now...

It still looks rather stormy to me, but apparently it is moving away and we didn't get but a little sprinkle of rain.  Oh well!  I still rejoice that little by little Still Waters Pond is showing signs of filling once again, and I will just keep believing!!

The other nice blessing today was that our kids came over for lunch after church, and we had such a nice meal together. I roasted a Pork Tenderloin  and made some scalloped potatoes, and Rose brought the delicious mixed vegetables.  That's all we had, and it was plenty and SO good!  Sadly Scott didn't come down today, so it was just the four of us, with the grandpups, of course, and we had a really nice afternoon.

We spent some time discussing some possibilities and ideas for our future, which is really just that right now...a discussion...but also some things for us to truly think and pray about as we aren't getting any younger and we want to have a "Plan B" in our minds for consideration should the need arise to make any kind of changes as we age.  There's nothing concrete or definite or even more than a discussion, but it has given us some "food for thought" and some things to pray about and consider in God's timing.

I saw this on Facebook this week, and of course I saved it because it goes along with the title of my blog perfectly. And it also goes along with our line of thought as we look to the future.  But God knows how difficult it is for me to sometimes "let go of the doorknob".  We often place our security in the things we have and the places we live and the people we have in our lives...and there comes a time in every person's life sooner or later that they have to make some tough decisions and be willing to "let go of the doorknob" and let God take control.  I especially love the verse attached to this: 

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans." Proverbs 16:3

Yes, that's always the best plan...whatever it is we want to do or think we should do, we need to commit our thoughts and plans to the Lord, and HE will take care of the rest.  

And so on that thought I will close this post and do exactly what this message is recommending.  There's no need to worry or fret about the future...just give it to God..."let go of the doorknob", and He will direct our steps in accordance with HIS sovereign will for us.  There is NO better place than that to be!  

Amen, and good night!

Weekend Reflections

 It's a lazy Sunday afternoon after a busy week.  Blackie has the right idea...find a comfy spot and take a nap.  He likes to be near me while I do my "work" here in my little "Room with a View". I enjoy his peaceful companionship, especially when he decides to sleep on a chair away from my desk and keyboard and mouse, where he often likes to perch himself and stop me from using either of the above tools.  This is a much better compromise.  We'll see how long it lasts. LOL.

So today has actually been more of a day of rest for me. I woke up not feeling too great and having my persistent chronic tummy issues that I tend to have after enjoying too much good food.  So we decided it was best for us to stay at home rather than go to church where the restrooms are difficult to get to in a hurry, and especially without interrupting the service and drawing too much attention to oneself. TMI.  Sometimes "discretion is the better part of valor".  (which means it is often smarter to be careful and avoid danger than to take foolish or unnecessary risks. [1, 2]) Maybe that's overstating the situation a bit, but perhaps you get the idea.  LOL.  I'm sure God understands why I chose to stay home from church and doesn't blame me a bit.  

Anyway, being able to go visit our family yesterday and enjoy a wonderful time together makes having tummy issues today worth it all.  Yes, we traveled about an hour and a half away to meet up with our extended family for lunch at a fun restaurant where we have met many times before because it is very accommodating to our rather large and noisy group:

This is a gathering of both sides of our family, including my sister and her family and hubby's brother and his family, and our son Benton and sweet Rose. Scott was not able to make it as he lives a bit too far to make that trip back and forth.

Our waitress was very kind to take these pictures for us from both ends of the table.

It was wonderful to catch up with each other and find out all the latest "news" from each family. There was some exciting news, and some I am not permitted to divulge just yet. LOL.  We each shared our joys and hopes and even some of our aches and pains. And we celebrated several August birthdays and three August anniversaries.  Birthdays ranged from 21, 24 (updated! I left that one out before! Sorry Nicholaus!), to 55, to 60 and 72.  Anniversaries ranged from 21 to 28 to 57! (Guess who?)  It was all good fun and a wonderful time of celebration. God has been very gracious to our families and we are very thankful.

This was what I had to eat...the "Seabreeze Salad" , with Mandarin oranges, grilled chicken, dried cranberries and candied pecans over a bed of lettuce greens, with Zinfandel Viniagrette dressing. It was supposed to have bleu cheese crumbles, but I don't like those so had cheddar cheese instead. It was very good and quite a large salad.  I almost ate the whole thing. 

Regarding the weather here in our neck of the woods...it is still hot and steamy, but no rain today or yesterday. Some of you may have already seen my cloud and lightning pictures from Friday evening on Facebook.  Here's one of the most unusual looking cloud out in front of our house:

And here's a video of some of the lightning in that cloud:

And this video is of the same clouds a little while later, and much more lightning! Be sure to watch for it!

We had all those clouds and lightning and not one drop of rain at our house. It was all to the southeast of us.

All in all it was a good weekend, even if I haven't felt that well today. Oh, and the dear man with cancer that we were visiting and took food for his family on Thursday night did pass away early Saturday morning. Although my heart breaks for his family, we rejoice for this dear one because we know he is present with the Lord and that he is no longer suffering and he is fully healed in heaven.  

This is the hope and promise for every believer in Jesus Christ:

2 Corinthians 5:1-8 NKJV

Assurance of the Resurrection

1 For we know that if our earthly [a]house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our [b]habitation which is from heaven, 3 if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as [c]a guarantee.

6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

Amen! Yes! What a glorious day that will be!!!!

And so with that wonderful thought in mind I will bid you all good night. I pray you have a blessed and beautiful week.

Friday Foto Friends

Hello and Happy Friday Foto Friends!

I woke up this morning and bemoaned the fact that I did not have any new pictures to share with you today. It was still dark, and I figured I'd just have to go around the house and look for something to take some pictures of, but then I got distracted with other usual morning routines and pretty soon the sun was coming up and so I went outside to put out the flag, and this is what I saw:

As I watched the sun attempting to break through the billowy, turbulent yet majestic clouds, this song came to mind.  If you wish, you can listen to it while you scroll through the rest of the pictures that I took both in the eastern skies as well as over Still Waters Pond...

A PERFECT HEART

 Lyrics Words and Music by Reba Rambo and Dony McGuire Arranged by Tom Fettke

"Morning sun, light of creation; 

Grassy fields, a velvet floor; 

Silver clouds, a shimmering curtain, He’s designed a perfect world.

I’m amazed at His talents,

 

stand in awe of One so great; 

Now my soul begins to sing out 

to the source from which it came. 

Bless the Lord who reigns in beauty; 

Bless the Lord who reigns with wisdom and with power. 

Bless the Lord who fills my life with so much love, 

He can make a perfect heart.

Bless the Lord, O my soul; 

Bless the Lord, O my soul; 

And all that is within me bless His holy name."

I hope you enjoyed that song and the pictures of the morning skies.  By noon those clouds turned into a beautiful rainstorm.  I took a video of the rain pounding on the tin roof of our porch and shared it on Facebook. It's too long to share here, so if you want to see it, go to my Facebook page for today.  But this is how it looked...along with quite a bit of thunder to accompany it.  It was delightful. We needed the rain!!  I hope it cooled things down a bit.  Our mornings have been lovely, but the afternoons have still be quite steamy and hot.  

But Fall is making her way into our region a little at a time...as well as making her way into our home a little at a time....I picked up this new fall garden flag this morning at our Ollie's store. I am waiting for the rain to go away before I attempt to put it outside:

Although we still haven't been able to bring in all the fall decor tubs from the shed, I've been bringing little things out here and there to change things over from summer to fall inside the house:

I baked a banana nut bread the other day with some overripe bananas, and decided these "Grateful" dessert plates would be appropriate to start using for breakfast and/or snacks.

It was time to change the summer teapot and cups for something with more of an Autumn flare as well.

I did manage to find the Fall wreath for the front door:

(I think it might be upside down...what do you think?)

And that's as far as I've gotten!  

Well friends, it's now Friday afternoon and it's time to start thinking about what we are doing for supper. It will either be leftovers or pizza. Hubby kind of wants pizza. I kind of want to use up the leftovers. Maybe we'll compromise and do both. LOL.

What do you usually do for supper on Friday nights?  Is it a casual supper kind of night...or do you go out to eat...or do you go all out and fix a big meal?  Since it's just the two of us, we tend to do whatever seems simplest and be done with it. 

And so with that, I will say have a pleasant and wonderful evening, no matter what you do!

Happy Friday!

 

Mountains in the Clouds?

Do you ever look at the clouds and pretend they are mountains? Where we live in Florida of course there are no mountains...but if you look at the clouds as the sun is setting and lighting up the tip tops of the clouds you can almost imagine snowy white peaks with the sun glistening across the tops of them...

The pictures never do them justice, of course. You had to have been there.  But for a few fleeting moments I could imagine myself in the Alps, or the Rockies, or maybe the White Mountains of New Hampshire...

And as the sun was setting even further, the crescent moon was appearing above the trees, and the "mountain range" turned a lovely shade of blue.  Actually, I was trying to capture a picture of the heat lightning that kept lighting up my "mountains" in the distance, but my finger was never quick enough to catch the flash, so we will just enjoy my "mountain range" in the dusky twilight.

Kind of puts a new perspective on the evening skies, doesn't it?

There was a time in our lives when we had moved from those gorgeous White Mountains of NH to the plains of Kansas.  Nothing could have prepared us for the stark flatness of the horizon at sunset. The sun looked so close and huge and bright you would think you could almost touch it. There was nothing between us and the sun it would appear. Very few trees, absolutely no hills of any kind...just mile after mile of flat fields of sunflowers or whatever other crop they were growing in that sweltering heat.  It was no wonder that one evening as we drove the twenty mile trip back home from the nearest city where we did our grocery shopping that I looked to our left as we drove and it appeared that there was a range of mountains in the distance.  Of course I knew it had to just be the clouds, but it looked so real to me that all the way home I could imagine that we were back in our beloved mountains of NH and not 1500 miles away in the desert of Kansas.  I literally cried all the way home.  Our move there was a mistake and we were extremely homesick.  Needless to say, when we realized things were not all that we had been promised in our place of employment, it did not take much convincing to decide to move back "home" to the mountains where we had left behind family and friends.  Of course, eventually we would make our "final" big move back to Florida, where our elderly parents were in need of our attention, but by then we had gotten the mountains out of our system a little better, and at least Florida was not quite as flat as Kansas.  But whenever I see these "mountains" in the clouds, I think about that time in Kansas, and I thank the Lord for taking care of us even when things were difficult...and also for making a way of "escape" for us when we needed it most.

Do you ever find yourself dreaming of a better place, better times, happier memories? It isn't always easy to just pack up and move when things get difficult or disappointing.  But God sends us reminders that He is always with us no matter where we are.  It may be a vision of mountains in the clouds, or it may be something more tangible...a visit from a friend or a phone call that gives you such joy to hear the voice of someone you love.  It may be a promise of His love and care found in His Word...

Isaiah 49:13-16

"13  Sing, O heavens!

Be joyful, O earth!

And break out in singing, O mountains!

For the Lord has comforted His people,

And will have mercy on His afflicted.

14 But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,

And my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,

Yet I will not forget you.

16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;

Your walls are continually before Me." 

Surely God will never forget His children, no matter how much into the wilderness or desert they may have wandered.  He tells us He has "inscribed you on the palms of My hands..."   I like to think of that as the nail prints in the hands of Jesus...those holes are in His hands because of His love for us...He died for us, so how could He ever forget those He gave His life for?  Never could He ever.  So no matter where you may find yourself, no matter how disappointed or lost you may feel...God has not forgotten nor forsaken you. He will make a way out of no way and will comfort and care for you.  He may even provide those lovely mountains for you to enjoy once again...whatever it takes to show you His everlasting love.  

Isaiah 49:23b says:

"For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me."

Rejoice in this hope.