Week{ending}...

It's my first quiet Saturday at home in at least three weeks, and though I'm once again at the edge of deadlines that require my attention, I'm anxious to first be outside in the cool morning sunshine with my basket of books and cameras....and a large cup of coffee, of course.

And you? In this new day the Lord has made?  What delights do you anticipate? 

{Photos: mockingbird in a scrub oak and bottle brush tree - dawn to dusk on Pollywog Creek}

Linking with sweet Sandra's "Still Saturday"...

Full of thanksgiving...

If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades.~ Oswald Chambers

I tweak the timing of my pain meds and when my Nikon - the one that froze, stopped working, wouldn't focus, open, recognize a lens - {miraculously} comes to life, I wander through the pasture to capture His reaching out.

And in this lenten wandering I'm overwhelmed with how He blesses - how He speaks to me in these common graces - these treasures in nature outside my front door.

And I'm full of thanksgiving and gripped by His love.

"We can stand before{the cross} only with a bowed head and a broken spirit. And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts his word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by his love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in his service." John Stott 

{Photos - in the pasture, around the pond, wandering}

Do you hear what these children are saying?

It's been a glorious, exhausting week of all four grandlittles, and I have just a few {dozen} photos to prove it.  

But when Emily takes two of them out for milkshakes and Mason is served the wrong drink, he says without complaint, "Whatever God gives you, you drink it."  

So in the midst of these blessings and my attempts to capture the joy and laughter and chaos that little ones bring, the via delorosa is spoken through a five year old and I am once again humbled. 

"Do I hear what he is saying?" 

Because here we are at Easter and it's only because whatever God gave Jesus, He drank it, and where is the drink I've been given so bitter that I should ever complain?

{Photos: Two year old Austin in the pasture, "Here, mimi, a flower for you."}   

I {LOVE} Sunday::to be faithful in the very little...

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much... 
Luke 16:10a ESV

Joining Deidra's Sunday community...


{Photo - very little wildflowers in Friday's pasture

You really are amazing...

"If you want to understand yourself just so that you can do whatever you'd like for your personal gain, then it's self-centered. If your intent is to love God, others, and yourself more, then knowing who you are is one of the most unselfish things you can do." 

~ Holley Gerth,  You're Already Amazing

If you are like me and have ever doubted who you are, your worth and ability to make a difference in the world around you, I want to encourage you to read Holley Gerth's You're Already Amazing. 

From the beginning Holley makes it clear that it's not self-centeredness to pursue this understanding, but because we are image bearers - fearfully and wonderfully made to fulfill God's purposes for our individual lives.

In her easy to read, conversational style, Holley helps us identify our strengths and  weaknesses and the lies that have shaped our insecurities, fears and tendency toward perfectionism  - that we might embrace our unique giftedness and more fully live the confident and victorious life God intended.

Holley's delightful poetic prose graces each chapter, but it's her authenticity - her transparency - that connects with her readers. With her gift of encouragement and the support of scripture, she reaches through the pages to lovingly speak into the hearts of women of all ages and in all of life's seasons.

Drawing from her own feelings of inadequacy, as well as from her experiences as a licensed counselor, life coach and friend, Holley makes a variety of tools and inventories available to assist us in our understanding of who we are and how we can best fulfill our unique purposes with confidence.

With a "Go Deeper" guide for each of the 11 chapters at the end of the book, "You're Already Amazing" is a valuable resource for individual or group study.

Beginning this coming Monday {March 26}, I hope you will join me in watching the videos with Holley and following the discussion over at Bloom - the book club at (in)courage - where "You're Already Amazing" will be featured.  

{Be sure to check out the coupon in Bloom's sidebar to receive free shipping on 2 copies of "You're Already Amazing".} 

Holley Gerth is a cofounder of (in)courage, a writer for DaySpring, an author, and licensed counselor. Please visit her inspiring blog, Heart to Heart with Holley.

{Disclaimer: A free review copy of "You're Already Amazing" was kindly provided to me from Baker Publishing at the Revell Publishing Group, but the opinions expressed on Pollywog Creek are my own.}

In all kinds of weather...

...we'll all stick together.

There are no strangers in Gator Nation.

Rain or shine. Win or lose. We wrap arms around those near us, sway and sing - declaring our unity through thick and thin.

And I think of the Body of Christ - the family of God - and how there should be no strangers.

That we wrap our arms around those near us and "in all kinds of weather we'll all stick together."

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14 ESV

{Photos - Gator Baseball March 2012}

I {LOVE} Sunday::to celebrate...

Behold, {daughters} are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3 ESV 
Joining Deidra and her Sunday community...


{Happy 21st Birthday to my beeeeeeeeeeeautiful, amazing, God-honoring daughter Emily - who humbles me with her maturity and love for Jesus.}

Week{ending}...

I don't know about the feathery friends who call Pollywog Creek home {or maybe we're just the local aviary diner}, but the rest of us have left the nest for a weekend of celebrating Emily's 21st birthday.

I have no idea how that happened. Except, of course, that there's one birthday after another until there are 21.

All that to say, I'd love to know what YOU are doing this weekend, my posts are scheduled today and tomorrow, and it will be at least Tuesday {or whenever I recover} before I can respond.

Have a great week{end} y'all!

{Photos - this past week on Pollywog Creek from my backyard swing}

Linking with sweet Sandra's "Still Saturday"...

Who and what we are...

Earlier this week, Emily and I stopped at a convenience store on our way home from the city. Emily was wearing one of her many Gator t-shirts that night, and as she walked in the store's front door, a man coming out said, "Go Gators."  A few minutes later, as she was leaving the store, the cashier said, "Go Gators."

Getting in the car, Emily laughed,  "I love it when my life is a commercial."

Watch this {it will only take a minute}...

It identifies who and what we are. 


And it makes me think, what do people see when they look at me that tells them who and what I am?

And I read this - and my heart is broken. 

And I wonder if the world knows who and what we are by how well we love each other. {thank you, Ann}

{Photos - Emily at the 2007 UF/FSU Game, a fence near the UF campus 2011}

Wordless Wednesday::I sing because I'm free...

{Photos: His eye is on the sparrow in my sweetgum tree, and I know He watches me}