Dashed Hopes Rise Again

All that hooplah, excitement and happy hopes about the expectant bird...fell to the ground, literally, a few days after I wrote about it. 

On the 12th day (Sunday) I checked the nest. This is what I saw...

Only one egg! What happened??

  I looked around on the ground and finally saw this...

which really made me sad.

The next day I checked the nest...

Where did the other egg go?? I have no idea. Someone suggested that sparrows may have done some of this but I think it was something a little bit bigger to be able to haul it out of the nest, don't you?

 

And then...

...a few days later I noticed that a sabiá was flying in and out of a tree just outside my bedroom window. I checked and, sure enough, she had made a nest. This might in fact be the same one that made the first nest. One reason I think so is that this one also lets me get pretty near the nest, like she's used to "the lady with the camera". 

She makes a hiding "wall" with her tail. Beautiful detail (no pun intended)!

Ever the watchful eye.

As soon as she gave me a chance, I took a picture to see how many eggs there were.

Once again, there were two. So beautiful. So perfect.

 

 About 3 days later I checked again and....

...there were three eggs! Hey, that momma means business.

And so do does this one. I plan to do all I can to help protect these beautiful creations of His.

That includes shooing away the sparrows...hawks...whatever and whoever is her enemy.

 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

(Proverbs 13:12)

 

He Sees, Knows And Cares

On a recent trip I saw these little beauties hidden in the thick and lush foliage nearby...Just simple, wild impatiens (Maria-sem-vergonha here in Brazil) but, oh, so lovely!

Some were already getting old and wilted but in my opinion they still added a unique beauty to the whole scene. The colors of different shades of green, white and pink were...well, too beautiful for words.

 

 The closer I got to them, the more light was cast on them and the more detail I could see. It was a special time as I enjoyed my photo "session" with them.

 

 

Posting these photos reminds me of some verses, verses that remind us that no matter who we are, where we are or what we're doing, saying or thinking, God sees, hears and knows all. More importantly, in spite of all that...HE CARES!

 

The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

beholding the evil and the good. (Proverbs 15:3)

 

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)

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)

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)

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)

In Kings' Palaces

Proberbs 30:28 is probably referring to the spider's web but I thought of this verse when I saw the "palaces" that these two spiders chose for their abode. This spider chose my light pink, smell-like-a-baby rose. Indeed, a good choice! This other one opted for the darker pink one. Here she is on a soon-to-open bud..
And here she still is about two days later as the rose is quickly opening. Do you see her?...down towards the bottom of the rose. And yes, this is the same spider. The sun was glaring on it in the above photo.
Oh, we can hardly see her! Let's zoom in a bit more...
We can hardly blame them for choosing such lovely palaces, made by God Himself. The Proverb says that she is one of the "four little wise things on earth"!

"There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise... The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces." (Proverbs 30:24,28)

Pineapple On The Ceiling

The other day as I cut a pineapple, I was reminded of an incident from the past... One day several years ago when our children were still at home, we were all talking and laughing about something at mealtime when, suddenly, one of them threw a little piece of pineapple up onto the ceiling. There it stuck and there it remained...to our delight, for it gave us something to laugh about, even now-about 20 years later! On the day that we left that house I know I must have glanced at that piece of pineapple one more time and wonder if I should try to clean it off...or let the new occupants wonder what happened. I chose the latter. Laughter and a merry heart is a wonderful medicine and those who are able to see the humorous side of things are certainly blessed. Just the memory of certain moments in our lives are capable of bringing a smile to our face and joy to our hearts and make life worth living. Take time to enjoy the memories...or to make wonderful new ones that you can look back on without regret and give praise to the Lord who gives us those moments.

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." (Proverbs 17:22)

Heritage

On this Father's Day I would like to remember my Dad by sharing a little bit about heritage. Having recently received an old document about my family has made me think more about my family history, roots and heritage during the past few days. Much could be said here but I am just SO amazed and grateful for this blessing from the Lord. I'm sure there are skeletons in the closet and, in fact, that sort of thing never seems to stop happening but the past several decades have given our family something about which to be proud and for which to be thankful. My parents were Baptist missionaries and they left to each of "us 7" a super-rich, Biblical, Christian heritage. Not only their making sure that we learned and understood Biblical doctrines and practices, but also their godly and inspiring examples, will forever be remembered by us. To top it off, Dad and Mom left us 6 books which they wrote! As I paged through "Our Family Missionary History" once again, I was smiling because I knew that our rich heritage would be known by generations to come of their offspring. Whether each of us choose to embrace that heritage, believe their Biblical teachings and live similar godly lives is certainly up to each one, but the knowledge of it is there and we are without excuse. Daddy, I miss you so much but am happy that you are there with your Lord and Saviour...and Mom and Bonnie and Hannah. We'll see you in the near future!

"The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him." (Proverbs 23:24)