Scenes In A Country Garden

God gives us His creations to make our own creations.

Scenes like these make me smile for the beauty in them!

I can hear this tree stump talking, can't you?

                                     Was there ever a prettier cabbage patch?

Flowers like this would make ANY ol' gray picket fence beautiful!

                        Stark beauty which needs nothing else. But it doesn't stand alone...

It has friends nearby!

"...whatsoever things are lovely, think on these things."

(Philippians 4: 8)

The Excellence Of The Devoted Life

I love to read biographies. Not only do I simply find PEOPLE interesting but I can learn so much from their lives! I just finished a biography about the life of Robert Jaffray, a missionary to China of several decades ago.  The author of this book is one of my favorites. He writes in a way that flows smoothly, looks at things from a different angle and holds the reader's attention. Here is an excerpt from this book:

"The life of a consecrated man is never his own. To sit back in selfish composure and plan his future is never given to him once he has made the great committal. He is at the call of Another, and at any time he may receive orders to pick up and move on. This is one of the penalties he must pay for the high privilege of serving God, and if seen from a low point of view it looks like a hard and unsatisfatory way to live.
But the truest appraisal of a way of life is always made from the end of our days. Who that has placed himself at the disposal of God and the human race has ever been sorry at the end of his life that he did so? Not one, and that is the best argument for the excellence of the devoted life."

(A. W. Tozer-"Let My People Go")

"What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

(I Corinthians 6: 19, 20)

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

I have heard this expression of "here today, gone tomorrow" more than once recently. Friends or family members of friends pass away.  Tragedies around the world suddenly and unexpectedly snatch people away from their loved ones. These things leave us shaking our heads as we attempt to cope with such sadness...either for ourselves or for our fellow human beings.  It really does seem like "here today, gone tomorrow" sums up most of human life, does it not? One never knows when they are going to breathe their final breath!

So how is this a blessing? you may be asking. Can death be a blessing, a gift from God? Ah, my friend, it all depends on whether one is personally acquainted with Him, the One who gives life and determines when each life shall end. If we have believed in God's Son, Jesus Christ, and have placed our lives into His care for safe-keeping then, yes, death is a gift from Him! For then we will be absent from this sad and sinful world and present with Him in the glorious home He has prepared for us in heaven. Is not this a blessing?!

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
(I Corinthians 15: 55-57)

Look Around

                                                   Look around and thou shalt see

Many beauties meant for thee.

Thy Creator shows His power

                                 

                                                                       ...in every

                                                                      ...single

...little

...flower.

"O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches." (Psalm 104:24)

My Faith Has Found A Resting Place

My faith has found a resting place,

Not in device nor creed;

I trust the Ever-living One,

His wounds for me shall plead.

I need no other argument,

I need no other plea;

It is enough that Jesus died,

And that He died for me.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,

This ends my fear and doubt;

A sinful soul I come to Him,

He'll never cast me out.

                                                                                                                                                                       

My heart is leaning on the Word,

The written Word of God,

Salvation by my Savior's name,

Salvation through His blood.

My great Physician heals the sick,

The lost He came to save;

For me His precious blood He shed,

For me His life He gave.

                          -Eliza Hewitt

      

                        

"For we which have believed do enter into rest." (Hebrews 4:3)

(As I finished writing this post, this very song began to play on my online radio, Abiding Radio. Talk about emotion! I believe the Lord was giving not only His approval but also reinforcing the truth of His Word in which I have rested my faith.)

Extra Special Blessings

The Lord delights in sending us sudden, unexpected blessings into our lives, perhaps for no other reason than that He loves us and wants us to enjoy the life that He has given to us.

Yesterday we were riding out into the country and suddenly came across some patches of pink flowers, perhaps some sort of day lily, a bit unlike the surrounding vegetation. We could NOT resist stopping to take some pictures! 

  

A closer look...Beautiful, no?

  

"Delight thyself also in the Lord and He shall give thee 

the desires of thine heart."

(Psalm 37:5)

Perfect!

It was beautiful today...

blue sky, clear air, sunshine,

and a perfect temperature of 72.

It just has that look and feel of Fall coming around the corner,

which it certainly is, in just four more days!

I might be a tad prejudiced,

but some of my plants are perfect, too.

Like this one in a hanging basket...

Look at the little purple flowers at the end of some of the vines

(click on the photo if you're past 40, ha).

"Perfeito!" 
Do you want to see another

perfect little hanging basket?

I know you do...

Well, not everything in my world is perfect.

There are certain burdens, problems and challenges around me.

And, for sure, there are many people in distant

and not so distant places that would not consider

their lives to be perfect right now in any sense of the word.

But one day the world of those who believe,

  love and obey Him will be completely perfect,

 for we will be with the One who is perfection Himself.

He has prepared a perfect place for us

and I am perfectly sure that it will one day be my heavenly home.

"But the path of the just is as the shining light,

that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

(Proverbs 4:18)

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect..."

(Deuteronomy 32:3)

A Prayer For Japan

In light of the current tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan, I would like to share this touching and powerful prayer by John Piper that I read today...                                                                                                                     

 A Prayer For Japan

Father in heaven, you are the absolute Sovereign over the shaking of the earth, the rising of the sea, and the raging of the waves. We tremble at your power and bow before your unsearchable judgments and inscrutable ways. We cover our faces and kiss your omnipotent hand. We fall helpless to the floor in prayer and feel how fragile the very ground is beneath our knees.

O God, we humble ourselves under your holy majesty and repent. In a moment—in the twinkling of an eye—we too could be swept away. We are not more deserving of firm ground than our fellowmen in Japan. We too are flesh. We have bodies and homes and cars and family and precious places. We know that if we were treated according to our sins, who could stand? All of it would be gone in a moment. So in this dark hour we turn against our sins, not against you.

And we cry for mercy for Japan. Mercy, Father. Not for what they or we deserve. But mercy.

Have you not encouraged us in this? Have we not heard a hundred times in your Word the riches of your kindness, forbearance, and patience? Do you not a thousand times withhold your judgments, leading your rebellious world toward repentance? Yes, Lord. For your ways are not our ways, and your thoughts are not our thoughts.

Grant, O God, that the wicked will forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Grant us, your sinful creatures, to return to you, that you may have compassion. For surely you will abundantly pardon. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus, your beloved Son, will be saved.

May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.

In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.

Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.

And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.

O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.

In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen.

(John Piper)

Flower In A Vase

I love to stare at this picture

and laugh at the way the water magnified my fingers.

Do you like my little flower vase? I do.

I found it in the trash...

one of those not-needed things

 my husband was throwing away.

*smile*

Observing The Weather

To give you a break from flowers...

Some of you know that I like to observe the weather. Nothing compared to how a certain brother of mine is, I'll have you know, but the temperature, precipitation, clouds, wind, storms...wow, what a fantastic demonstration of God's creative power!

My Dad used to go outside during storms and just admire the wind and lightning and rain...and we were right there by his side, learning to do the same. Only many years later did I discover that my mother had a certain fear of storms but she somehow managed to hide that fact from us. She said she didn't want us to develop that fear, too. What a wonderful Mom!

For those of you who also enjoy weather, here is a little "thingie" that shows our current weather as well as the forecast for the next few days...for what it's worth.

Curitiba, Brazil Weather Forecast

"Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He

 in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.

He causeth the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;

He maketh lightnings for the rain;

He bringeth the wind out of His treasuries."

(Psalm 135: 6,7)

Growth

I love taking pictures that show growth. Remember my post about my white, orange and red roses? I was kept busy for several days, taking picture after picture of these beauties. I think my husband raised his eyebrows a tad at how much of my time was consumed with SO many photo shoots and working with photos on the computer. Oh well. But instead of posting several, I made this one collage of the three roses.
(Don't forget that you can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

If these were running for beauty queen I would never be able to decide which one should win! Each one is beautiful for its own reasons.

Growth is important for all living things. Physical and spiritual growth is important in the young AND the old. Growth is a sign of life! I can not think of growth without remembering a verse that I memorized as a child:

"But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen." (II Peter 3:18)

A New Song

Having the privilege to sing and hear beautiful, God-pleasing and God-glorifying music is a blessing beyond description. That privilege was ours this week as we met for 4 days with our missionary colleagues. The song "His Robes For Mine" was one of the songs we sang.  Here are some of the lyrics, such a rich and beautiful message:

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!

Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered 'neath God's rage.

Draped in his righteousness, I'm justified.

In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:

Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.

Bought by such love, my life is not my own:

My praise, my all shall be for Christ alone.

                                -Chris Anderson

(You can listen to this song by going to this link and then "click to listen".)

 

 "And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord." (Psalm 40:3)

A Spurgeon Quote

"Some of your graces would never be discovered if it were not for your trials. Do you not know that your faith never looks so grand in summer weather as it does in winter? Love is often like a glow-worm, showing but little light unless it is in the midst of surrounding darkness. Hope itself is like a star-not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity and only to be discovered in the night of adversity." (Charles H. Spurgeon)

Favorite Foto Friday #7



I love waterdrops...



FRIENDS For Life

This will complete my posts about friends (click here for the first and here for the second) and I'm sure you aren't surprised to see the title. Without going into detailed explanations of this level of friendship, I believe I can safely say that, while everyone probably has many friends of the road, they may not have any or many friends for life. They are a rare find, a pure joy and worthy of being treasured.

The story of David and Jonathan is perhaps the most well-known Biblical example of this level of friendship. This beautiful story is found in I Samuel, beginning with chapter 18. Indeed, it is possible to have our soul "knit" with the soul of another and to love that person as we do our own soul (I Sam. 18:1).  A husband and wife can (or should!) experience this and so may two people who are blessed to have a "David and Jonathan" quality of friendship.

Sometimes it may appear to others that two such friends are just "friends for the road" but time will prove otherwise. Distance, lack of the means of communication, or some other factor are never a hindrance to keeping these two souls knit together.

Is there a higher level of friendship than this? Humanly speaking...no. But there is a "Friend For Eternity" and that is Jesus Christ. No one loves like Him, no one is as loyal, faithful and true. He is THE Friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24)!


"A friend loves at all times..." (Proverbs 17:17)
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you..." (John 15: 13-14)

Watching Little Miracles

(I hope you're not tired of seeing or reading about roses since there WILL be more of these on this blog...guaranteed!)

Having said that...I am SO excited about the babies about to be born in my front yard! These photos aren't very clear, I had a difficult time getting close-ups of these still-wrapped-up bundles of potential beauty but I just wanted to announce that they're on their way.

This week a friend, who has suffered with problem pregnancies for several years, had her first baby. She considers her a miracle...and rightly so! Babies are miracles and so are these  roses...since only God can bring about the creation of either one!.

The red rose was a Christmas gift to me from a friend and colleague  (aka "the other Granna" of two of our grandkids) and this is the first bud it has produced since then. The orange rose seems to put out only one or two roses every two or three months, at least during these warmer months and the white rose has not produced any in over a year so I am REALLY excited about that one!

Stay tuned to see photos of these three babies in the near future when they are born!

I can't ignore my two lovely pink rose buses, they faithfully produce almost year-round and I almost always feel like I should take pictures of every single rose that blooms. But I don't, I promise. However, they are also my babies so I have to show them off, too.

Do you know of anything more beautiful than roses? There, see? I knew you didn't. And since you've read this far, I know you like roses, too. You are my friend.

"...whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8)

FRIENDS For The Road

To continue my last post about friends...

I first saw this phrase, friends for the road, in a Reader's Digest article a few years ago and it has come to mind many times since then. Indeed, most of our friends are of this quality, from childhood to adulthood. They come into our lives-perhaps for just an hour or maybe for several years. Some leave our side for awhile and later on down the road they may join us again on life's journey. Others leave, never to be seen or heard from again. It's just one of those sad facts of life. Or should I say bittersweet?...for they contributed to our life and we are better for it.

They do that in various ways. Some bring us joy, others teach us lessons, still others just keep us company in times of need. All of them together make our lives complete in one way or another. We need to cultivate these friendships for they make our journey easier and more enjoyable and we do the same for them! 

The beautiful thing is that "one or two" of these may end up becoming friends of the highest level. I will talk about those at a later date.

"A man that hath friends must show himself friendly..." (Proverbs 18:24)

"Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labor, for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth for he hath not another to help him up." (Ecclesiastes 4: 9-10)

FRIENDS For The Moment

As we go through life God sends us friends...friends of different qualities, on different levels, for different reasons, for different lengths of time...
The first one I will call "friends for the moment". These are the people that we normally would not even give the title of friend, but friends they are nonetheless, for they give of themselves to us, even though it be for just a moment in time.

How much more pleasant is our life because of those many friends-for-the-moment! The courtesy of a salesperson, the smile of a passer-by, the handshake of someone as you visit a new place, the helping hand of another as you are loaded down with pain or grief...or just a heavy armload of books (!)...These are the things that put joy in our hearts and make us think "life is beautiful, after all!"

We may have never seen that person before or ever see them again or ever know their name. But without them we would not survive as well. They are gifts from His loving hands!

And who knows if that friend for the moment may not develop into being more than just that...?!

"A man that hath friends must show himself friendly..." (Proverbs 18:24)

"Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)

Favorite Foto Friday #6

A granddaughter with her Granddad...

(Grand)"Children are an heritage of the Lord..." (Psalm 127:3)

Raindrops On Roses

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
 Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
 Brown paper packages tied up with strings
 These are a few of my favorite things..."

I was reminded of this song when I saw my roses this morning, deliciously drenched after last night's heavy rain. For sure, this is one of my favorite things! I've taken many photos of raindrops on roses but I just had to take yet another one...

"I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvelous works." (Psalm 9:1)

New and Clean and Beautiful

 

      

One of the gifts I received for Christmas last week was a beautiful little notebook...just the motivation I needed to try and have a daily journal as I have done off and on during my life. 

    

  

I've mentioned before that I love new things...especially a new notebook. The unused, clean, empty, white pages are just an irresistible temptation to WRITE...write anything! Whether it's a journal of the day's happenings, a to-do list (umm, that's not me), a poem or just a record of my grandkids' names and birthdates, these beautiful pages are like a magnet to my pen.

    

I like to compare new notebooks to my life. "This day is the first day of the rest of your life" is like this first new page that I wrote on this morning. 

What the page or completed notebook looks like will all depend on what I write. What each day or the rest of my life looks like will depend on what I do and am.

My life is like this rosebud, it has the potential to be beautiful and a blessing to those who see it.

"Lord, give us the courage, wisdom, strength, dedication and love to You so that we may fulfill the potential that You desire for our lives."

                                                                

"...but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3: 13,14)