Friday Foto Friends: Good Friday and a couple of surprises!

 It's Good Friday, the day we remember the great sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us for our salvation. There's more about that further down in this post, but right now I want to share with you a couple of nice surprises from yesterday!

Last evening our "kids" came over and we had an impromptu supper of chicken quesadillas with black beans, refried beans, salsa, sour cream...you know..."the works".  It was spontaneous and fun...they popped in and said "what's for supper?", and one thing led to another, and we had such a good time. And yes, the grandpups came along for the fun too.  After supper Rose was taking the pups out for a walk and she called me outside to see something that I had not ever seen before in my yard:

Way over beside the fence that separates our property from our neighbor was this gorgeous red flower blooming!  We have lived here almost 5 years, and this is the first time I've ever seen this flower in this yard!  I did not plant it. It has never popped up before!  

At first I thought Rose was playing a trick on me and that she had snuck this flower in and set it over there when I wasn't looking, but she said no, she did not do that.  Then I wondered if my neighbor had planted it at sometime when I wasn't looking, but then I thought, no, she wouldn't have done that, as there is a fence there between us.

I really was at a loss for words, because when we moved to this house there were NO flowering plants or shrubs growing anywhere in the yard.  The former owners used this home as a vacation home and did not do any kind of gardening or yard improvements in all the years they had owned it.

But there this beautiful red flower was blooming, just in time for Easter!  At first glance we thought it was an Amaryllis, but on closer look I realized it was different from the Amaryllis.  So I looked it up on my handy dandy "Google Lens" on my cell phone.  And here is what it says it is: 

Hippeastrum "Hippeastrum (/ˌhɪpiːˈæstrəm/)^[17] is a genus of about 90 species, and over 600 hybrids and cultivars, of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants, native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, from Mexico south to Argentina and on some islands in the Caribbean.  Hippeastrum is a genus in the family Amaryllidaceae (subfamily Amaryllidoideae, tribe Hippeastreae, and subtribe Hippeastrinae).^[18] For many years, there has been confusion among botanists, as well as collectors and the general public, over the generic names Amaryllis and Hippeastrum; the former is a South African genus of plants, while the latter is a new world genus. However, the common name "amaryllis" has been used for Hippeastrum for years, especially for the ornamental cultivars (sold as indoor flowering bulbs around November and December, for Christmas, in the Northern Hemisphere). Within the genus Hippeastrum exist many epiphytic species, as well, which may be found living in natural debris and leaf litter on the crooks of tree branches; by comparison, Amaryllis is a primarily terrestrial, southern African genus of perennial bulbs."

So there you have probably more information than you ever wanted about this flower! But isn't it amazing how it could suddenly just appear in my yard after living here for almost 5 years with no sign of it?  I'm still scratching my head over that one, but I will accept it as an Easter gift from God.  I especially appreciate it because my own Amaryllis plants did not bloom this year. They are some that I have planted and they are way over on the other side of the yard, far away from this plant, so they could not have spread over there.  'Tis a mystery, but I love this kind of mystery and surprise, don't you?

The next surprise was that Lily Grace (see link for more about her story) received a surprise package in the mail from her "Auntie Debbi and cousins Tracie and Amybelle" up in South Carolina. And along with some sweet pictures and an Easter card was this sweet little yellow umbrella (or "parasol"?) for Lily!

Her Auntie Debbi is always full of fun surprises and this was certainly one of them!

If you don't know the story, "Auntie Debbi" is the sweet friend who sent Lily Grace to me in the first place, and we've had so much fun together ever since.  And "Auntie Debbi" has become a very dear and friend, who is also a blogging friend, btw.  You can read more about her at her blog HERE, at Debbi's Front Porch". We also have met in person and had the greatest time together.  Blogging friends are the best!!!

So now on to the real story of this solemn day. This next part is a repost of what I wrote back for Good Friday in 2017.  The story is still the same throughout all the ages...so please come back with me as we remember what Jesus did for us over 2000 years ago at Calvary:

Original Post from Good Friday, 2017:

It's Good Friday...and all day I've struggled with what to write.  

The cross of Christ is where my mind and heart have been.  

This is the day that we remember Christ's crucifixion upon the cross...how He suffered and died to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.

These pictures are of the floating cross at the 

Warren W. Willis Youth Camp in Fruitland Park, Florida.

It was at this very cross that I fully surrendered my heart and life to the Lord as a teenager,

and committed myself to serve Him all the rest of the days of my life.

The hymn, "At The Cross", by Isaac Watts says it best.  

1. Alas! and did my Savior bleed
   And did my Sov’reign die?
   Would He devote that sacred head
   For such a worm as I?
2. 
   

Refrain :

At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,

And the burden of my heart rolled away,

It was there by faith I received my sight,

And now I am happy all the day!

1. Was it for crimes that I had done
   He groaned upon the tree?
   Amazing pity! grace unknown!
   And love beyond degree!
2. 
   

1. Well might the sun in darkness hide
   And shut his glories in,
   When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
   For man the creature’s sin.
2. 
   
   
3. Thus might I hide my blushing face
   While His dear cross appears,
   Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
   And melt my eyes to tears.

4. 

   Photo via https://www.facebook.com/pg/warrenwilliscmp/photos/?ref=page_internal

   
   
5. But drops of grief can ne’er repay
   The debt of love I owe:
   Here, Lord, I give myself away,
   ’Tis all that I can do.

   • 

     Photo via https://www.facebook.com/pg/warrenwilliscmp/photos/?ref=page_internal

     
     
   • Refrain :
     At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light,
     And the burden of my heart rolled away,
     It was there by faith I received my sight,
     And now I am happy all the day!

Remember friends, It may be Good Friday today...but rejoice! Easter's coming!!!   Praise God!!  May your Easter be filled with joy and  many blessings.  

Update: I added this video below on 4/3/18, which is a video of this same cross, with the sun rising behind it on Easter Morning, 4/1/18.  Since this link comes from Facebook, I'm not sure if everyone can open it...but it is worth a try. I wanted to preserve it here with these other pictures of the same cross.  I did not take this video...it came from the camp website.

https://www.facebook.com/warrenwilliscmp/videos/10155449541667405/

Friday Foto Friends - Surprise Photos

Today's photos are kind of surprise photos, because I didn't expect to see them exactly the way they happened...

 Esperanza plant growing in my yard...  This bumblebee almost got in my face while I was trying to take this picture. He came out of the inside of one of the flowers...I did not notice him when I started taking the picture, so it was a bit of a surprise

We took a little ride down a forest road in the evening to see what interesting sights we could see. I noticed these unusual "pea pods" growing on this wildflower plant...

  Click on this link for more information:  Crotalaria Retusa...yellow wildflower seed pods and flower seen in the woods alongside the road   I guess they are poisonous...so I'm glad I didn't try to eat them. LOL...It is a lovely yellow wildflower, however!  I've noticed that the October wildflowers are yellow, whereas the September wildflowers were mostly purple! Interesting!

It was a surprise to find this turtle egg floating in the water at our neighborhood pond one evening...Not sure what kind of turtle, and I understand that if it is in the water, it most likely won't live. I am sorry for the turtle.

After our evening ride to try and see some wildlife, (which we didn't find), we came back home and as we turned onto our road we had this surprise in front of our house!

 There were three adults, and they went into the woods, but I kept hearing one of them making noise from inside the bushes, like she was calling someone.

So I went around the corner and saw the two "fawns" running back and forth in this yard, trying to find a way to get out and get back with the parents.  This picture is not very clear as it was dusk, and low light, far away...but I thought it made an interesting surprise picture anyway.  There were two of them, but the other was still hiding  when I took this.  I soon left the area so they could be reunited with their parents.

I am digressing here... back to our ride in the woods...actually we took a ride to this spot earlier in the day and I was surprised to see a large fox squirrel run up this tree.  It became well hidden in the branches before I could get a picture, so that is why we decided to try again in the evening to see if we could see him.  Of course there was no sign of him anywhere, so I took a picture of the tree instead.  Perhaps he is still up there, laughing at me because I can't see him.

This is a little road that goes back into the woods, but we didn't venture any further with our car. It is meant for ATV's or 4 wheel drive vehicles, and we didn't want to get stuck. We may come back another day and take a nice walk on this road. However, we need to be prepared for other kinds of surprises, because while we were out there in the morning we did see a bear run across the road...
(before I could get my camera focused, of course)

Okay, I will leave you pondering that thought for a while as we gaze back up into this beautiful long needle pine tree.  I think I will name the fox squirrel "Waldo"...and we can play that game..."Where's Waldo"...LOL.

After all of the destruction from Hurricane Michael this week it is good to rest our eyes on some natural beauty surrounding us. Our hearts and prayers go out to those who have been uprooted from their homes due to this horrific storm. May God speed aide to them quickly and may they soon be able to be restored to their homes.....however, for many, that is going to be a very long, difficult process.

Matthew 8:19-20

19.  "Then a certain scribe came and said to Him,

'Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.'

20.  And Jesus said to him,

'Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, 

but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.'"

Sometimes the cost of being a follower of Christ is very great, but even in the midst of the storms of life, Jesus is able to calm the storm, restore our lives to peace, and give us great hope.

We just need to keep the faith.

Matthew 8:23-27

"Now when He (Jesus) got into a boat, His disciples followed Him, and suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.

Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"

But He said to them, 

"Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"

Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

So the men marveled, saying,

"Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

Now let us journey over to Deb's place at Breathing in Grace and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have been doing this week. Hope that you and yours will have a blessed and peaceful week, and that your surprises will only be good ones.

Friday Foto Friends - Moving Right Along...

Greetings to our Friday Foto Friends!

I "pray" you have had a good week:

This Praying Mantis spent a day "praying"  (or "preying?") on our window, watching me as I took his picture, and also "praying" for a tasty catch of bugs who happened to venture into his territory...

Not a lot of pictures to show this week, but this was an interesting little purple wildflower I noticed as we took a walk one evening with our "newlywed kids" in their neighborhood...

We took a walk down the road from their home and enjoyed the view of the very smooth glassy Lake Ida nearby their home...

This "Cooper's Hawk" kept a sharp eye on us as we walked their two doggies down the road...(I forgot to take pictures of the doggies!)  Thankfully the doggies are too big for Mr. Cooper to tackle now...

Here's our sweet "newlyweds"...it will be one year of married bliss the middle of November. We visited the scene of where they first met...at sweet daughter-in-law's place of work...I guess I'll have to stop calling them "newlyweds" soon...but they still seem newly-wed to me!

We love these two and enjoy being near them...so much so that we have made some BIG decisions this week...

I invite you to come and visit and sit on our porch and have a cup of tea while we chat, but better do it soon because...

This is what happened this week....

 Yes, we have listed our wonderful home in the woods for sale.  I can hear the gasps out there right now...but hear me out....

This decision comes after many months of prayer and thought and discussion on the subject...ever since we started visiting the little community where our "kids", the newlyweds, live, and since we started attending church in that same community and found much joy, fellowship and a place of sincere worship and love of the Lord...our hearts have been drawn to wanting to become more actively involved there.  This community is about 30 miles north of where we currently live, and as time goes by, we would prefer to live closer rather than have to travel so far through the woods to get there!

In addition, we believe it is time for us to "downsize" and try to live more "simply"...at least that is our intention. We don't know yet what size or kind of house we will find, but most likely it will be smaller than our current 2300 sq. ft....so I know I've got my work cut out for me.

But rest assured, wherever we live, I will be looking for that special spot to set up a "secret garden", and also a place suitable to have friends over for tea parties and a guest room ready to receive guests...as well as we expect there will still be plenty of wildlife to enjoy nearby.  The town we are moving to is very rural, with lots of woods and lakes and dirt roads to walk on...so not much different than where we are currently, except they don't seem to have too many bears. They do have some...but not like here. And they do have plenty of deer!  It is also a bit closer to shopping, doctors, etc., which will be a help in the future...

So time will tell what kind of adventures we will experience in our new "neck of the woods". It may be a while before we actually make this move, as we cannot move until we sell this house...and only God knows how long that may take. Please pray for us in the meantime as we seek our new home and prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for the BIG move...  Those of you who know how much "stuff" we have will be sympathizing with me.

I didn't write the usual "Sermon Notes" post this week as I've been preoccupied with this event above, but here are the scripture verses we studied in our lesson...and you will perhaps see that the message was speaking to our hearts as we contemplated this big move:

Matthew 13:44-46

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid;

and for joy over it he goes 

and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again the kingdom of heaven is like 

a merchant seeking beautiful pearls,

who, when he had found one pearl of great price, 

went and sold all that he had and bought it."

Simply put,

we feel much like the man in the verses above who found a treasure hidden in a field...or who found one pearl of great price...and we believe that God is leading us to "sell all that we have" and go and "buy that field" or "that pearl of great price" and live where we believe we are being led by God to go.  And that is why we are doing what we are doing.

Thank you for your prayers for us as we "move ahead."

Now let us "move right along" over to Deb's place at "Breathing in Grace" and see what our other Friday Foto Friends have been up to...God bless you all and have a wonderful weekend!

Do You See What I See?

Guess who I discovered in my rambling through the neighborhood early yesterday morning?

Yep, "Bambi" !!  

But not just ONE Bambi, but I believe I counted a total of FOUR Bambi's!!!  It was hard to keep track, they were running and scampering about so much...obviously excited to see the crazy lady with the camera that they've probably been warned to watch out for! 

Here are the pictures I was able to capture as they gambolled about, running up to their mothers for reassurance, and then frolicking back and forth as only carefree little fawns can do:  ( I apologize that some of the pictures are not very clear, but you must understand my excitement as I tried to capture every single movement I could...my poor old camera just couldn't quite keep up with them! And I didn't want to use my cell phone camera as it doesn't do as well at a distance...so just enjoy these beautiful babes in the woods with me...

 These are blurry, but they certainly blend in with their surroundings well, don't they? God knows how to protect His "babies".... (and that goes for us human babies as well...sometimes He has to camouflage us with His wings to protect us from the world...)

Psalm 91:4 (NKJV)

4 

"He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler."

Even though this last one is blurry, it is my favorite...one last look before he had to run away with his family...

Who doesn't remember this beloved "Little Golden Book", as well as the animated Walt Disney movie from our childhood?  I never knew I would grow up some day to live where Bambi dwells...It just makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over to see these little fawns.  You can bet I will be watching for them every day now...

By the way, as I was reluctantly walking away from watching these happy little deer running about, I came across "Thumper" sitting nearby.  Thankfully I didn't run into "Flower" the little skunk...

But just across the road from where the deer family was gathered was this other special family of our woods: The Sand Hill Crane Family...busily pecking away for their breakfast.  Look how grown up the young "colts" are now! 

Yes, life in my neck of the woods is full of surprises and joy every day...one just has to watch for it!!

I hope your day has been filled with pleasant surprises and joy today as well.  Keep your eyes open...and see the beauty God has placed before you wherever you are!!!  It's there...just keep looking!!