Friday Foto Friends - Close Encounters

This will be a departure from my usual Advent posts these past couple of weeks.  Today is Friday Foto Friends (Click HERE for link to other friends),  where we post our favorite pictures of the week or from wherever we've been lately.  So, these are a few of my favorite nature posts from the past week. If you are one of my Facebook friends you may have already seen some of these photos...so "bear" with me...(no pun intended...or maybe it was intended...read on)

Some things are not always what they seem...

At first I thought this big green spider was protecting her catch in her very intricate web...but on closer look I discovered that the huge sack behind the spider is actually a sack of baby spiders!!! Yikes! I almost walked right into this very disturbing web!!!  Shew! That was a close one!!!

NEXT:

As I walked down the road I noticed that there were two sets of footprints in the sand...

kind of reminiscent of the poem about the Footprints....where the Lord was walking with the man...

Well, in THIS case, it would appear that something was walking with the man...but it definitely wasn't the Lord!  (Or perhaps the Lord was there...carrying the man...)

Look closely...you will see that on the left are the footprints of a BEAR, and on the right

are the footprints of a human...Hmmmm....were they walking together??

Well....after seeing this fella outside my kitchen window later, I can assure you, it wasn't ME walking next to that bear!  

Please don't fear, I was definitely inside my house when I had this close encounter...safe and sound behind concrete block walls.  When the bear saw me, he took off into the woods quite rapidly: (hence the blurriness of this photo)

Okay, enough disturbing photos.  Here are a couple of cute ones to finish off the day:

This cute little squirrel was nosing around the fountain in our memorial garden, when he had a close encounter with the resident "Froggy" statue.  Then he jumped on the bench and started moving forward...and had a close encounter with ME:

Hello!  Or perhaps it is time for me to say "Good-Bye"....until next week!

I hope you have enjoyed these close encounters and little nature break from whatever busyness you are doing right now...most likely Christmas shopping, decorating, baking, working, all the "stuff" that goes along with the Merry Christmas season.  Whatever you do, take time to enjoy the close encounters with God's world around you! There's always something (or someone!) out there to take your breath away, if you just take a moment to notice!

Have a blessed and happy week!

"Tiny Treasures" along the way... UPDATED

Going back through previous posts from a few years ago I discovered this one from 11/23/13. Since this is a busy week preparing for a house full of guests for Thanksgiving, I most likely won't have much time for blogging...or even for watching for those "tiny treasures strategically placed along the way."...But it is still such good advice...and perhaps there is someone out there who needs this message today.  In the midst of your hectic preparations for family gatherings and travels, take a moment to recognize those special treasures that God has placed in your path. It could truly brighten your day and help you relax and enjoy the "ride".   Happy Thanksgiving!!

These were the "tiny treasures" I found today...holly berries have turned red and look so pretty outside my bedroom window.

This was originally posted on 11/23/2013:

First thing this morning I read the following thoughts in the little devotional book , Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young, on the page for today's date, November 23:

"As you go through this day, look for tiny treasures strategically placed along the way.

I (Jesus) lovingly go before you and plant little pleasures to brighten your day.

Look carefully for them, and pluck them one by one.

When you reach the end of the day, you will have gathered a lovely bouquet.

Offer it up to Me with a grateful heart.

Receive My Peace as you lie down to sleep,

with thankful thoughts playing a lullaby in your mind."

 Shortly after reading this passage, we took an early morning walk in the woods.  I almost forgot to take along my camera, but quickly ran back into the house to get it before we had gotten very far. I'm so glad I did, because otherwise I would have missed the first "tiny treasure strategically placed along the way."  This perfect Golden Silk Orb Spider web, "strategically placed" directly in my path.  There was no way to get under it or around it, so we just had to turn around and go back a different way.  I wasn't about to destroy it!

 Can you imagine how difficult it must be to get all those silken strands so perfectly lined up in complete circle? Such amazing creatures!  You have to admire the skill of these spiders even if you don't particularly appreciate the spider itself!

The next treasure (not quite as tiny) that I discovered today was this sink! You may not think much of this old well used sink...but it has been in my sights actually for awhile...left over from a local church yard sale sitting rather forlornly under their "van-port" (where the church van sits), and it kept beckoning me to look a little closer.  I am sure you are wondering why I would want this old (very heavy cast iron!) sink...well,

I have my reasons...thinking of an outdoor sink for my son the carpenter to wash up brushes, hands, equipment...and also a place for doing some flower potting, washing up after working in the yard...LOTS of uses!  So I contacted the Pastor's Wife and asked how much they wanted for it...and she said, "It's yours! Come get it!"  And so I did...rather my son and I did. Thank goodness! I had NO idea how heavy that little cast iron sink would be!  Now to get him to build a potting bench/workbench to place it on...

But don't you agree this is a treasure?

As I walked around our back yard I noticed the next tiny treasures..These two sweet little blossoms on my Louis-Philippe Rose bushes, which were a gift from a dear friend who has since moved away and they are here to remind me of her kindness!  The Louis-Philippe Rose is also known as the "Florida Cracker Rose".  They are finally starting to bloom a little more freely, and their sweet delicate little faces make me smile.

 It smells so nice too!

Especially I am happy to see  this one blooming, because I recently transplanted this plant to a new location so that I could plant my new "Don Juan" rosebush birthday gift from my sister in its former spot so I could see it from the window.  I was afraid it wouldn't bloom again after transplanting it, but here it is!!!

The day is not done yet...and I may add more "tiny treasures" before the day is through.  But I wanted to take the time now to offer these up to the Lord with a grateful heart!  He knows how to bring joy to us in the simplest of ways.

What "tiny treasures strategically placed along the way" have YOU discovered today? Why not share them with others and be a part of the lovely bouquet being offered up to Jesus with a grateful heart full of Thanksgiving?

Contemplations on Dust, Spiders, and other stuff...

"I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works..." Psalms 145:5

Ha ha ha...I'll bet you are wondering what on earth I could say good about dust, spiders, and other "stuff"...Well, at least it got your attention!  Actually, one of my facebook friends had put out the idea for us to name something that was brought into our house without the benefit of one molecule of oil.  I said, "dust"... So, my friend had to change the question to "something useful"  that entered my house without the benefit of oil...Of course I rose to the challenge saying "Dust isn't useful? I probably could find enough to insulate something against the cold/or heat. It gives me something to sneeze at...it gives me something to work up a sweat removing from my furniture...which in turn burns calories...it causes me to purchase products to remove it...where would Johnson & Johnson's be without Pledge? Or Endust? True, it takes oil to manufacture those products...but the dust just blew in from who knows where...."   

So the challenge continued...no one else seemed to get it...but I thought of another..."Spiders, I replied"....My friend said...."Are they useful?"...."Hey!!! Spiders are good, I responded, "they eat the other bugs...and when you are looking up at the lovely spider webs, you forget about the dust!"

It is good to think of happy thoughts and silly thoughts...helps to chase the blues away...and I think that is exactly what the Psalmist had in mind when he wrote the Psalms... Psalm 145 in particular is full of praise and worship of our Creator God...

"I will extol You, my God, O King; and I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.  I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on Your wondrous works.  Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts, and I will declare Your greatness.  They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness.  The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy.  The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.  All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, and Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, and talk of Your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts."  Psalm 145: 1-12

This psalm continues on and on...I love reading it...and it helps me to appreciate all of God's creation...yes, even the dust and spiders....they all have a purpose whether we like them or not. 

Have you thought about God's wonderful creation and majesty lately?  Take a few moments to think about all that He had created and done for you...you might be surprised...and you might even find yourself declaring His greatness and singing of His righteousness...Try it...it really does help chase the blues away....

Good night friends.  And thank you for being just that...friends.