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black-eyed susans...

One day this week, I sat outside admiring my Black-eyed Susans.  My mind wandered and I was taken back to some special childhood memories...

Every summer of my childhood, I spent two weeks at my Tennessee grandparents' farm.  It took FOREVER to get there.  My sister and I prayed for safety because my Dad spent way too much time looking at the beautiful views we passed along the way.  After riding FOREVER, we turned off a paved road onto a 26 mile long dirt road.  

At this point, I could hardly contain my excitement!  We drove and drove and drove. We passed by the one room school house my mom, aunt, and two uncles had to walk nine miles in sun, rain, snow, and ice to get there and get educated.  Along this dirt road, Black-eyed Susans grew among the trees and vines and plants.  They are one of my all time favorite flowers, but they never distracted me very long.  This place had creeks and creeks and rocks and wooden bridges and dust.  I really could hardly contain my excitement!

When we passed by one family’s farm, I absolutely loved seeing the creek and wooden bridge and peacocks and a bunch of other animals.  I knew it wasn’t too much longer before I could get out of that car and run up to the door and see my grandparents!  I seriously could hardly contain my excitement! 

Finally, we got to a point where the road curved and we came down a hill and I COULD SEE THE HOUSE!  I could no longer contain my excitement!  But first, we crossed an old wooden bridge across the best creek ever.  Then we turned onto the long dirt and rock driveway.  My excitement burst like fireworks!  This was the old home place where we visited with my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, and (especially!) my cousins.  This was the place of special childhood memories...

Memories of swimming in the creek and playing with crawdads and hiking and playing and coloring and eating meals on the front porch and smelling my grandmother’s biscuits and bacon every morning and drinking spring water and playing with salamanders and walking seven miles to the old country store that doubled as a library and exploring and skipping rocks and dangling our legs off the bridge and watching the cows and collecting rocks and riding into town with my granddaddy and playing tag and... 

I am not responsible for any exaggerations above.  I was just a kid...

~

always & forever

You’re Always There for Me

When the world comes crashing in

And chaos rules my mind,

I turn my heart to you, Lord,

And pure, sweet peace I find.

You lift me out of trouble

You comfort me in pain;

You nourish, heal and cleanse me,

Like cool, refreshing rain.

In times of joy and bliss,

When things are going right,

You lift me even higher,

And fill me with delight.

You listen to my prayers;

You hear my every plea;

I’m safe because I know

You’re always there for me.

Author Unknown

one beautiful place

Hebron Rock Colony.  A beautiful gem hidden in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina between Boone and Blowing rock...

we are blessed indeed...

inside looking outside

Carolina Wren juvenile

Carolina Wren juvenile

It’s a beautiful day!  I wish I could be outside enjoying nature.  But, I’m supposed to take it easy because I had my 13^th and 14^th spinal injections this morning.  Believe me, if these don’t work, I’ll scream.  Very loudly.

Anyway, I’m watching many birds that have just left the nest.  They are stink’n adorable.  A little Carolina Wren actually took a sand bath to fluff up its wings.  Then he flew to the deck rail, tucked in his feet, sat down, and rested for awhile.  Made me smile! 

Northern Cardinal juvenile

The Northern Cardinals are doing their paternal instinct thing. They get seeds in their beak, go to their not so patient fledglings, and let the babies pluck the seeds from their beaks.  So cute!

I’ve so enjoyed the hummingbirds.  It amazes me how they can beat those wings quickly and suspend in mid air.  They are nimble, they are quick, and their chirping is dainty.  Love them! 

Hummingbird

There have been a few Bluebird and Mockingbirds fledglings still sporting their spotted feathers.  I’ve seen a few juveniles looking nothing like the adult they soon will become.  I have no clue who they are.  One Carolina Chickadee still had some fuzzy feathers.  Could be he made an early exit.  Too sweet!

Eastern Tiger Swallow Tail

A yellow and a blue butterfly have made their way around and around and around the butterfly bush.  I love the little dancing thing they do.  Beautiful!

I could go on and on about the world outside my door.  But I’ll end this for now.  Our Creator is awesome!

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

Genesis 1:31 NLT

quick quotes

John Piper on William Cowper

This past Sunday, our preacher shared a glimpse into the life of William Cowper (1731–1800).  He suffered from depression (know then as 'insanity') and attempted suicide three times.  Yet, God still used him. 

I was intrigued with the reference to Cowper, and did a little research.  I found ‘Insanity and Spiritual Songs in the Soul of a Saint:  Reflections on the Life of William Cowper’ by John Piper. (http://www.desiringgod.org/biographies/insanity-and-spiritual-songs-in-the-soul-of-a-saint)  There are three reasons he choose to tell the story of Cowper.  This is an excerpt of Piper’s story,
including a beautiful hymn Cowper wrote:

The second reason I am drawn to William Cowper is that I want to know the man behind the hymn, "God Moves In a Mysterious Way." Over the years it has become very precious to me and to many in our church.  (This hymn hangs over our mantle at home. It expresses the foundation of my theology and my life so well that I long to know the man who wrote it.)

"God Moves In a Mysterious Way."

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purpose will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
the bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain:
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

pause 'n ponder

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

faith and endurance

James is one of my favorite books in the Bible.  Right at the beginning, the first chapter, verse 2 - troubles = joy.  Huh? It's really not that simple...

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  James 1:2 NLT

Trials produce testing, testing increases faith, faith builds endurance, endurance expands trust, trust leads to joy!  A bit simplistic, but, it would take pages to fully dissect this chapter.  

I found one 'formula' that is more on target than my 'interpretation':

TRIAL => TESTING => PERSEVERANCE => MATURITY

unfailing love...

While reading the verses below, once again, I pondered the facts of how greatly and how completely and how deeply my God loves me.  I know my human mind can never understand the whys and the reasons of my Creator.  Just to know He loves me, He lives within me, He guides me, He forgives me, and He blesses me...just to know these things fills my heart and soul with overflowing love.

Looking back over the last few years, I am amazed at what God has done for me and how He has blessed me and how He has strengthened me and how He has comforted me.  It doesn’t matter what I do or what I don’t do, I will never deserve anything from God.  It’s just an impossible thing.  It humbling that He cares for me, one of 7 billion people living on His earth.

Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.

You care for people and animals alike, O LORD.

How precious is your unfailing love, O God!

All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your rivers of delight.

For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.

Psalm 36:5-9 NLT

*(The paraphrase of the verses from ‘The Message’ is worth a read:

God's love is meteoric, his loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, his verdicts oceanic.

Yet in his largeness nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks.

How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings,

To eat our fill at the banquet you spread as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.

You're a fountain of cascading light, and you open our eyes to light.

Psalm 36:5-11 The Message)

tapestries...

I love tapestries and I’m fascinated with how they’re made.  The colors, the threads, the patterns, and the beauty of the finished, unique work of art.  One of my Pinterest boards is titled ‘Christian / threads woven into the tapestry of a Christian life...’  This board is a conglomeration of quotes, songs, bits of wisdom, expressions of love, praises, prayers, thoughts, promises...’

There are innumerable threads in the life of a Christian.  At the beginning point, I was a teenager.  I accepted Jesus as my Savior and was baptized.  I had always been in church, but then I saw things in a different light.  I had read and studied my Bible, I had read and studied my Sunday School lessons, I had been involved in a girl’s mission group, and I had participated in youth activities, but, it felt different.

Between then and now, a lot of life has happened.  In the last 36 years or so, I’ve learned, I’ve grown, I’ve obeyed, I’ve backslidden, I’ve drifted, and I’ve sinned.  The first threads of my tapestry were new and bright and strong.  Now, many sections are one huge ugly mess.  With God’s gift of grace, with His guidance, and with His forgiveness, I have hope and faith and trust that more new and bright and strong threads will be woven into my tapestry.

The quote below is a beautiful depiction of the tapestry of life.

The tapestry of life continues to be woven.  Occasionally a chance arises to repair an older, tattered piece of the weave.  Something happens to jolt our awareness back in time to an event that resulted in tears and rips.  With new, more mature vision, we see the circumstances in present time and have compassion for the unclear events of the past.  While the new experience is being woven into the design, the old rip is simultaneously being repaired.  All is well.
~Bessie Senette