"Floods of Joy o'er My Soul..."

Happy Sunday everyone!! I hope that you have been having a beautifully blessed day so far! It is a lovely day here in our neck of the woods...sun shining, nice breeze, only 84 degrees, but it's going down to 66 tonight and the rest of the week looks like it will continue in a cooler trend, so that makes me happy!

I know most of you have your own churches that you attend either in person or online, but I do hope you don't mind me sharing our pastor's weekly message and our praise team's song with you. Certainly if you aren't interested you are free to skip over this, but I continue to share it because it may just be what someone out there needs to hear today. We never know what others may be going through and that they just may need a special message or a song to lift their spirits.  So thank you for allowing me to share this with you each week.  I think you will enjoy the song especially at the beginning.  I've included the lyrics for you below so you can sing along:

 Since Jesus Came Into My Heart

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought

Since Jesus came into my heart!

I have light in my soul for which long I had sought

Since Jesus came into my heart!

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

I’m possessed of a hope that is steadfast and sure

Since Jesus came into my heart

And no dark clouds of doubt now my pathway obscure

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

There’s a light in the valley of death now for me

Since Jesus came into my heart

And the gates of the city beyond I can see,

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

I shall go there to dwell in that city, I know

Since Jesus came into my heart

And I’m happy, so happy, as onward I go

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Since Jesus came into my heart

Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,

Since Jesus came into my heart.

This little chickadee in the holly tree doesn't really have anything to do with what I've written above, but it just made me smile as I was sitting out in the Secret Memorial Garden yesterday afternoon, and so I thought you'd enjoy seeing him too. He was scolding me for sitting a little too close to the bird feeder, but eventually he overcame his timidity and decided I wasn't posing any threat to him and so he quickly grabbed a few bird seeds and flew away, to come back time and again for a little while. I love watching God's little birdies fly to and fro, gathering food for their families. We really aren't all that different, are we? Sometimes we have to get over our fears so we can move forward and put our family's needs ahead of our own uncertainties. That takes faith...faith that God is bigger than any perceived threat or enemy out there, and faith that God is with me and will never lead me to places where He has not already gone before me.   This goes along with our key verse for the Ladies' Bible Study we are doing in the book of Joshua:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9 ESV

I am looking forward to going through this study with the women from our church. Perhaps I will be able to share a few things with you from time to time as we go through it. The first week was about 

"On the edge of uncertainty: facing our fears". 

One subtitle was "Be a warrior, not a worrier."

These are some things for me to work on. 

You know, we are never too old to learn something new from God!

How about you? Perhaps you can share something new you are learning!

Have a blessed day and week my friends. Let us try to be "strong and courageous" no matter what this old world may throw in our paths this week.