Along with the red wing blackbirds, chickadees, robins, cardinals, and sparrows usually hanging out in my yard, these three newcomers paid me a visit within the last few days. It made me very happy to see the rose breasted grosbeak, a bluebird and a junco vying for a place on the feeder and even gracing my deck with a short visit. All these feathered friends add to my happiness. Happy Saturday.
There are so many things that get in the way of our complete happiness: disrespect, hypocrites, rudeness, thoughtlessness…things that really bother us to bits.
Try not to let any of this bug you today and have a Happy Saturday.
Have you ever been so tired that you thought you could sleep anywhere, even in a tree? I know someone with insomnia who said this to me once, and when I spotted today’s picture on Pinterest it immediately caught my attention. It looks like this guy was just hanging around when he got tired and decided to have a nap. Sweet dreams.
Today I discovered this rare and beautiful bird on Pinterest. This yellow cardinal was seen on an Alabama bird feeder and said to be one in a million.
We should not always expect the ordinary when the extraordinary can be within our range of vision. Have an extraordinary day.
If the sun is shining brightly in your part of the world enjoy and absorb its energy. If your day is dull and drizzly there is always some brightness and color to be enjoyed somewhere.
This picture from Pinterest was in my Inbox this morning, and where I live the day is dull and drizzly. Behold the beauty!
I am not a fan of fashion simply because shopping for clothes is one of my least favorite pastimes. Mind you, seeing someone else dressed to the nines in the latest trends tends to inspire me to at least scout out a mannequin or two in a couple of “tailored to oldies” windows in a nearby plaza or mall.
However, finding the perfect tailor like the One who outfitted this charming creature would be an answer to my aversion to clothes shopping.
Again, scripture says it beautifully: Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Matthew 6:29 NIV
(The scripture actually refers to lilies of the fields but I’m leaning on poetic license here.)
It is evening time on August 13th and I am looking at a beautiful rainbow as I write this. It reminds me of a time when I gave a book of children’s Bible stories to a little girl many years ago.
The child saw the story of Noah’s Ark and the accompanying picture of people, including children, drowning in the great flood of Genesis 7. This story had a devastating effect on the little girl and I’m sure turned her mind totally away from anything to do with God.
Unfortunately, the story was never satisfactorily explained to her nor the meaning of the rainbow that followed in Genesis 9:13, I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
This was God’s promise to Noah, and all of us, that He would never again do such a destructive thing to His people.
I’ve never been sure whether the flood story is allegory or not, but one thing I am sure of is that it’s effect on one little girl has haunted me since the day I was made aware of her great fear and apprehension.
Just as the rainbow of thousands of years ago was meant to be an apology from God to His people, this evening’s rainbow reminds me that because of a cruelly depicted story, a young child may have grown up to be an unbeliever…and for this I am truly sorry.
I pray that there has been enough evidence over the years of a God who loves her unconditionally and will continue to do so for the rest of her life.
This is my rainbow apology to that little girl.
“Why, then the world is mine oyster,” are the words Shakespeare put into the mouth of his character, Pistol, in The Merry Wives of Windsor. And so came the saying, The World is an Oyster.
For some reason the words popped into my head one day along with “and you are its pearl.”
The world is an oyster, and you are it’s pearl. Doesn’t that make you feel on top of the world? Well maybe it shouldn’t. Read on.
Oysters are a great delicacy to some but the pearl oyster is an oddity in itself because it’s ability to form a pearl comes from an irritation.
If you think of the pearl as a precious gem born of an irritation it may not make you feel on top of the world. But, when you think of how hard the oyster had to work to rid itself of the irritation and form the pearl…and then there is this:
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45,46 NKJV
Whether spending the day indoors, on the road, at the cottage, walking in nature, preparing a sermon….whatever…branch out and have a happy Saturday.
On Wednesday I acquired a new wall hanging. It was displayed on the doorstep of a lovely shop in Bowmanville, On. and I was drawn to it immediately. It made me smile.
In the room where I hung it are photos of me with each of my daughters and sons. There is also a musical angel figurine which my youngest daughter gave me for Christmas many years ago. Along with these favorite items is an angel clock, (there is a different angel at every hour).
This newest acquisition is already a favorite and I have named it The Painted Pony. It will be my new focus for meditation.
This room is my favorite in the whole house as it’s where all my writing occurs, where keepsakes are kept, where nature beckons just outside sliding doors and where my daily quiet time with God takes place. In other words it’s my smile room. Do you have one?
My Precious Life 