More Music From the Heart...

 Happy Sunday!  I hope you are having a glorious day of rest and worship and thanksgiving.  It has been a beautiful day here in our part of the country, albeit a bit warm for so early in the spring, but it is Florida, and we are thankful not to be snowed in or ice-bound.  My prayers go out to those who have experienced severe weather in the past week. I know it has been hard for many of you, and I pray you and yours have come through it all safely.

All week long I had this particular song in my head.  It is the anthem that our choir was scheduled to sing today in church.  I had searched in vain on the internet to find it so I could share it with you...but discovered this morning that I had the title wrong, so that is why I couldn't find it.   I guess it was meant to be that it would be found today so I could share it with you on the day we actually sang it.   Our little country church choir may not have sounded quite as grand as this particular choir, but there again, I know no one sang it with more heart and soul than we did, and our pianist did a remarkable job of playing it, and our choir director also led us with such joy and spirit that we couldn't help but sing it with depth of meaning and our whole hearts.  I hope you will listen to this and enjoy the message contained in the lyrics.  "To Be Your Song", by Joseph M. Martin

When you have finished listening to that song, you might also enjoy hearing and watching our real choir sing a beloved hymn, "Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine".  You can sing along with this one, as I am sure many of you know it.

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!

O what a foretaste of glory divine!

Heir of salvation, purchase of God

Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

Perfect submission, perfect delight!

Visions of rapture now burst on my sight.

Angels descending bring from above

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

Perfect submission, all is at rest.

I in my Savior am happy and blest

Watching and waiting, looking above

Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

This is my story, this is my song

Praising my Savior all the day long

Then, if you wish, you can listen to our Pastor's message from Deuteronomy 5:1-21, "The Ten Suggestions Or a Way of Salvation?"...a wonderful sermon about the Ten Commandments and their true meaning for us.

I hope you enjoyed this time of worship and praise and study in God's Word today. I know many of you have your own churches, but perhaps there is someone out there today who really needed to hear all of these messages in song and the Word.

Okay, that's all for now I guess. It's going to be a busy week this week, with Bible Studies tomorrow afternoon, Physical Therapy for me on Tuesday and Wednesday, Choir Practice on Tuesday night,  working at Dixie Cottage throughout the week and some other things happening too...I hope I can visit with you throughout the week, but it might be kind of hit and miss.  Also, I said in my post last night that we were wondering if the Sand Hill Crane babies had hatched. I don't think so from what I can see today.  Mama is still sitting on the nest, so I think they still have some more incubation to complete. Trust me, I will make a big announcement when the "blessed event" does take place. There are two eggs as far as I can tell, so it should really be interesting once they do hatch.  Until then, I will try not to overload you with too many pictures.

I will just leave you with a bit of whimsy.  I love these little wildflowers that crop up in our yard this time of year. Some people might think they are "weeds", but I consider wildflowers to be "God's Garden", because He planted it and I didn't have to do a thing to make it grow.

So I picked a bouquet of what I call "Fairy Flowers" and brought them inside to enjoy. I also had some cut flowers that were given to us at the local Dollar General one day.  They had a lot left over and they were starting to wilt, so they told me to just take a bouquet home with me. Thank you, Dollar General! I enjoyed them until they could no longer hold their smiling faces up.

I also enjoyed this little "Fairy Garden" until the flowers drooped and dropped their petals.

Sometimes you just have to enjoy the little things in life, and listen to the fairies sing...

I hope you will listen to the song not just of the fairies singing, but that your heart will sing a song for God each day...like the song  above said, 

"I long to be Your song! Lord, breathe in me Your music.

Make me Your instrument, Your heart-song, clear and strong.

Lord, tune my heart for peace,

Lord, send Your healing to my silence.

Teach me Your harmony, and I will find my place.

Fill me with joyful praise,

Thrill me with notes of grace,

I will serve for all my days,

I long to be Your song.

I yearn to sing Your Word, Lord, lead, and I will follow.

Teach me a noble theme, and let my soul be stirred.

Lord, speak, and I will hear,

Conduct me with Your wisdom.

Robe me in humbleness, and clothe me in Your grace...

Led by Your holy Light,

I will serve with all my might,

till faith gives way to sight,

I yearn to sing Your Word!

Take my life, and let it be, dedicated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my hand, and let them move at the impulse of Your love!

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only for my King.

I long to be Your song!

Lord, breathe in me Your music.

Make me Your instrument,

Your heart-song clear and strong.

Fill me with joyful praise.  

Thrill me with notes of grace.

I will serve for all my days.

I long to be Your song.

I long to be Your song!"

(To Be Your Song, words and music by Joseph M. Martin)

Have a song filled day and week!!

Are You Listening to the Music?

The Great Blue Heron was enjoying the day here at Still Waters Pond...

Yesterday I put on this "Life is Good" T-Shirt for the first time this year. I'm just getting out all of my short-sleeved shirts to wear now that it seems the weather is going to be staying more on the warm side from here on out.  I first told you about this particular T-shirt HERE last year, when I received it unexpectedly as a gift from my cousin Becky.

Remember? It says "The earth has music for those who listen".  There is a picture of a Great Blue Heron on a pond...much like what you see here on our Still Waters Pond.

And when I put this shirt on yesterday I had to chuckle!  If you recall, my "One Word" for 2023 is "LISTEN".    How appropriate that this shirt is a reminder to me again of that word, "Listen".

Well, today I was definitely listening for the sound of raindrops on the rooftop.  We haven't had any significant rain in a very long time, and Still Waters Pond is starting to dry up more than it should. That heron is standing way out in the pond where it should be much deeper than that.

We've been praying for rain, and it was predicted for today.

Mrs. Sand Hill Crane is also waiting for the rain...or is that Mr. Sand Hill Crane? I recently learned that they actually take turns sitting on the nest, and because they look so much alike it is really difficult to tell which one is which unless they are standing next to each other, and then the female tends to be a little bit smaller than the male.

Uh-oh...there goes one of our neighborhood cats, out on the prowl for whatever it is that cats like to prey upon around the pond...tadpoles, lizards, small fish?  Just so they stay away from our birds!!!!

Finally! The Sound of the Abundance of Rain!

I Kings 18:41

 "Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.”

Mrs. Sand Hill Crane continues to sit on her nest, probably enjoying the wonderful fresh rain falling down around her and refreshing her weary body.

If you look below at the dark rim around the edge of the pond, that is where there is usually water, but the pond has receded that much because of the lack of rain.

Rejoice! The Rain has come!

Rejoice!  "Oh sing to the Lord and new song!  Sing to the Lord, all the earth."  

Psalm 96:1

I knew if I waited out there on the porch long enough the Bluebirds would come back to check on the babies in the nest.

However, when they saw me there on the porch, they pretended they couldn't see me.

They were waiting for me to leave, I guess, because they still consider me a threat to the babies.

But oh my goodness! When there was a lull in the rain, all the little birdies started flying back to the trees and singing their hearts out!

These yellow birds look like Goldfinches, but I believe they are really Pine Warblers.

Isn't this one so sweet?

Hello Mr. Sparrow!  God's eye may be on the Sparrow, but I think this one is watching me! LOL.

"Why should I feel discouraged

Why should the shadows come

Why should my heart feel lonely

And long for heaven and home

When Jesus is my portion

A constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches over me

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me"

(Refrain)

"I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me (He watches me)

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches

I know He watches

I know He watches me"

2 “Let not your heart be troubled,”

His tender word I hear,

And resting on his goodness,

I lose my doubts and fears;

Though by the path he leadeth,

But one step I may see;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me. 

[Refrain]

3 Whenever I am tempted,

Whenever clouds arise;

When songs give place to sighing,

When hope within me dies,

I draw the closer to him,

From care he sets me free;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me;

His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know he watches me. 

[Refrain]

"I sing because I'm happy

I sing because I'm free

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches me (He watches me)

His eye is on the sparrow

And I know He watches

I know He watches

I know He watches me"

Are you listening to the music?  All of God's creation is singing to us, if we just tune our ears to hear. 

Finally I decided to go back inside and let the Bluebirds get back to their nest.  It rained off and on for a little while, but stopped after a while.

Just before sundown, my hubby called me to the window and said to look a little closer at the Sand Hill Crane nest through the binoculars.

We can't tell if those eggs are hatching and the young "colts" are being born, or if she is just turning the eggs.  She later sat back down on them. It seems a bit early for them to hatch. We first noticed the nest and the eggs on February 14th, and they normally incubate for about 30 days, so they still have about 10 days to go, unless the eggs had been laid earlier than we noticed...

Stay "tuned" for further developments!

Psalm 5:11 NIV

But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

Amen.

 

Time "Marches" On!

 Welcome to the month of March! Not sure where February went...I guess it blew out with the wind! It has been rather windy here lately, but also very dry. We need rain really badly. I know some of you have had plenty of rain and snow to spare.  I pray you are all safe and warm and dry by now, wherever you are. 

As per my usual habit at the first of the month, here's a few pictures of my calendars. They always bring a smile to my face when I turn the page to the new month!  I hope the new month will also put a smile on my face (and yours) as we live day by day.

What a lovely place to be!! This Thomas Kinkade painting is entitled "A New Day Dawning".

How many of you still hang out your clothes on the line?  I wish I could. I don't have a clothesline currently, but I do love the fresh clean scent of clean laundry dried outdoors.

Here's a few links to previous posts I've written regarding clotheslines:

https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2016/04/some-things-are-simply-irresistible.html

https://pamelasopenwindow.blogspot.com/2012/01/whats-my-line.html

Painting by John Sloane on the March 2023 Country Seasons Calendar, "Catching the Breeze"

I love the creative ideas on this "Heart of the Home" Calendar by Susan Branch. Do you see any of these that you already do or would like to do? 

And then this is from my Tea Pot Calendar:

This teapot would make me clasp my hands, but I'm not so sure about the "delight" part...LOL. It's unique, that's for certain!

Ah, now, this is more my style:

Such a beautiful setting under a rose covered arbor.  

This is what I had in mind when we built the arbor in our Memorial Garden back at our previous house....this picture you may have already seen in my last post, which was just taken the other day.

This is how it looks now, with no one living there and maintaining it:

I do like that the new owners after us painted it white. I wish we had done that!

Click HERE for a post from that garden BEFORE we moved away from it.

This (below) is how it used to look when every thing was in bloom:

You can tell that the azaleas have really grown since we left there. I planted them a couple of years before we moved away almost 4 years ago.

This is our "new Memorial Garden", here at our current home:

These azaleas were planted within the last couple of years, so they are still developing, but doing well.

This is the view from the Garden Bench as the sun was beginning to set in the west across Still Waters Pond:

We chose this spot for our new "Memorial Garden" because we knew our son would have loved the pond so much. It's a perfect spot to sit and meditate on God's Word and be at peace.

The late afternoon sun is glowing in the trees...

Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird seem to be spending a lot of time going in and out of the nest now. I believe we may have some new babies that they are feeding already!

Mr. Bluebird stands guard while Mama is inside feeding the babies.

Isn't he beautiful?

I love the faithfulness of the bird couples we see around us. God has certainly created them to be good parents!

Meanwhile Mrs. Sand Hill Crane continues to sit on her nest faithfully day after day. Mr. Crane comes and goes. When he shows up she takes a little break and walks around and stretches her legs and gets a bite to eat. They are also very faithful to their duties as parents. I expect we may see some action around the middle of the month. I hope there will be two babies this year. I am pretty sure there are two eggs in the nest. Time will tell.

Back to the bird feeder in the garden; "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me!"...

It was quite breezy this afternoon, and this wind spinner was very busy spinning around and round. This was a gift to us from my sister as a memorial gift when our son passed away.  You may have already read about this in a previous post HERE.   Her idea for giving us this particular gift was based on THIS STORY.  It was a very meaningful gift to us. I love to watch it spin. It's very calming.

Oh, the little Ring Necked Ducks were out there still, bobbing up and down and swimming around and round. I don't know when they will head back up north, but we are enjoying watching them as long as we can!

Soon the sun began to slip down behind the trees and it was time to leave the garden.

And thus ends another gorgeous day, filled with God's love and promise.

Here is a passage of Scripture that is comforting and full of hope, so appropriate for today, the first day of a new month:

2 Corinthians 4:14-18 says:

"14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, 

and will present us with you. 

15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. 

Even though our outward man is perishing, 

yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, 

is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 

18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, 

but the things which are not seen are eternal."

I hope you have enjoyed this peaceful time in the garden with me today.  

May March be a month of joy and beauty for you, wherever you may be.

God bless you all!

Oh, I wanted to thank you all for your very kind comments on my last post HERE.  I found your words to be very comforting and I appreciate each and every one of you.  Thank you for taking the time to visit and share your kindness and love. You are a blessing to me!