





School Days by Maltbie Davenport Babcock Lord, let me make this rule, To think of life as school, And try my best To stand each test, And do my work, And nothing shirk. Should someone else outshine This dullard head of mine, Should I be sad? I will be glad. To do my best, Is Thy behest. If weary with my book, I cast a wistful look Where posies grow, O let me know That flowers within Are best to win. Dost take my book away Anon to let me play, And let me out To run about? I grateful bless Thee for recess.
Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world... ~ Philippians 2:14-15So if you catch me complaining (that means you, too, Emily) about the weather or anything, you have my permission to correct me. I mean it.
Before I went to sleep last night, I determined I was not going outside today - with or without my camera. July on Pollywog Creek is hot and sticky, and if I stand still for a second, the mosquitoes hiding in the thick wet grass ruthlessly attack my feet and ankles. Not so with Louis. He's outside by dawn on Saturday mornings in the summer, and today was no exception. Before I could finish my first cup of coffee, he was tapping on the window to get my attention. "You ought to come look at the interesting fungus growing out from under the pots of gardenia cuttings by the oak tree," he beckoned. I couldn't ignore interesting fungus, could I? And because it is just the way I am, one thing led to another. By the time I returned to my mosquito-free air-conditioned study - more than an hour later - I'd stalked a pair of pilated woodpeckers, paused to delight in the mockingbird that serenades from the top of the dead eucalyptus tree, admired the blue dayflowers and tarflowers and the tickseed the grows in bunches along the fence line. I marveled at the way the dew sparkles on the grassy flowerheads in the early morning sunlight, watched lizards crawl to the tops of cypress knees and tried to sneak up on the bullfrogs by the pond.
So much for determination.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14
Thanks so much to TNChick, for her faithful and gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt each week. For "rock" photos from other participants just click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is "utensils".
The bird feeders have been cleaned and stored for the summer. It's the rainy season, and the fields and thickets are producing a bountiful supply of insects, berries, grasses and seeds for every little creature that inhabits our little plot of green earth here on Pollywog Creek.
With six and half inches of rainfall in just one day last week, the brackish creek rose above the banks in places, so I wandered about cautiously - ever mindful that rising creek waters can encourage gators and water moccasins to move much too close for comfort. In fact, I'm not inclined to wander about at all unless Louis is home to "slay any dragons" I might encounter.
It's just as well. These are the days when the heat and humidity are stifling, the mosquitoes are plentiful and hungry, and if I weren't so driven to take photographs of insects and weeds, I'd probably only leave the house to get in the car.
It was from the car window that I took the photo of the Caloosahatchee River. We drive across that bridge every Sunday morning on our way to church, and every Sunday morning I wonder why I keep forgetting to bring my camera. This week I remembered.
One Sunday morning I'm hoping we won't be in so much of a hurry that we can slow down on the bridge long enough for me to get the camera in focus. There is something about the reflections of a big blue sky on the still waters of a summer morning that are lovely and peaceful and perfectly delightful and causes me to forget about all the things I dislike about summer here. If I lived in one of those houses on the river, you'd probably find me sitting quietly in a screen room at the end of a dock on mornings like this.
"Why is it that we heap scorn on "deadbeat" parents who fail to take care of underage children, but excuse adult children who don't take care of their feeble parents?"Molly goes on to suggest that one of the reasons we neglect the needs of our aging parents is...
"Maybe it has something to do with our unwillingness to confront death."Molly also offers several very helpful suggestions for overcoming this emotional stumbling block (read more...), but I believe that our difficulty in facing death is just one of the reasons we fail to look at caring for our elderly parents with a Christian worldview. This is my hot-button (and one of my wips), and I suspect that I am going to step on toes here. Believe me when I tell you that I'm not throwing stones - I'm stepping on my toes, too, but I think it has more to do with our unwillingness to live sacrificially - not just in little moments but in all of life - in order to meet the needs of others. I'm not naive. I know that there are, sadly, many family relationships that have been severely damaged by dysfunction and abuse that is beyond my comprehension, and the complexity of those situations is way outside of the situations I am addressing. Most of us grew up in more stable - though far from perfect - homes, and I dare say that our own comfort and selfish ambitions are more often the reasons we ignore or relinquish the care of our elderly parents to others. I'd love to know what y'all think... (HT - JT at Between Two Worlds)
"...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." ~ Philippians 4:8
Thanks so much to TNChick, for her faithful and gracious hosting of the Saturday Photo Hunt each week. And pray for her husband. He was hospitalized earlier this week and there's been no further word regarding his condition. For "pink" photos from other Photo Hunt participants just click on the Photo Hunter Banner or the Technorati PhotoHunt tag below. The theme for next week's Photo Hunt is "garbage".
"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." ~ Luke 12:32My Dear Little Flock, Last week Mason was busy with his daddy and celebrating a birthday while Gavin was having fun in Georgia, so I waited two whole weeks to write to you again. It wasn't easy, either, because Auntie Em and I did something that I could hardly wait to tell you about.
Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world
Red and yellow black and white,
they are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world
Mason Thomas Jackson, too,
he is precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.
or...
Jesus loves the little children,
all the children of the world
Gavin Nicholas, too,
he is precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world.