I {LOVE} Sunday::to look upon the LORD's goodness and wait...

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
Psalm 27:13-14
With the Sunday Community at Lisha's #GiveMeGrace

Still Saturday::to hear your life sing...

You can only hear your life sing --- when you still.

Father God, You tell me to still. For the very best of reasons. So today --- I will.

I've been missing the songs far too long.

Ann Voskamp One Thousand Gifts Devotional, p.48

Still Saturday::in a season of uncertainty...

...uncertain seasons are often some of the most powerful moments we experience with God in this age. More than seasons of security and prosperity, they demonstrate that God exists and rewards those who seek him {Hebrews 11.6} 

So if you are in one of those seasons, take heart. God is graciously allowing you to experience the reality that he "acts for those who wait for him." {Isaiah 64:4}

~ Jon Bloom, Not By Sight, p. 57

I {LOVE} Sunday::to call to mind and have hope in this...

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.  Lamentation 3:22-23

I {LOVE} Sunday::to remember once again - I'm alive and forgiven...

And you, who were dead in your trespasses...
God made alive together with him,
having forgiven us all our trespasses,
by canceling the record of debt that stood
against us with its legal demands.
This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2.13-14

Between February 12th and April 16th (the Wednesday before Easter), I am reading and discussing John Piper's The Passion of Jesus Christ - Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die with a group of friends. From now through Easter, my Still Saturday quotes and I {LOVE} Sunday scriptures will come from my readings in this book by Piper, and the photos* might simply be a few favorites from those I've taken during the week.

*Last Sunday's photo was a sunset at the beach. Today's photo I captured as I drove over a foggy Caloosahatchee River on the Ft. Denaud Bridge just as the sun was rising earlier this week. 

Still Saturday::to shout for joy...

{Sunset on the Caloosahatchee River 1-17-14}

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 

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
Psalm 24.1

...those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
Psalm 65.8

Wordless Wednesday::to the moon and back...

{Photos::God's faithfulness revealed in His creation from the banks of the Caloosahatchee River on a Tuesday at dawn}

To know it's summer...

When morning light rises on the horizon north of the misty river...



and black-eyed susans raise their faces to the sun


and 'skeeters in the wet grass nibble at our ankles  while lacey-winged dragonflies cling to twigs and branches  and along the barb-wire fence  and skip across the pond in search of a meal... ...you know it's summer.   
As soon as they come out in leaf,
you see for yourselves
and know that the summer is already near.
Luke 21.30

What about you? How do you know it's summer where you live?

No matter what...

It's not quite 7:00 when I stop at the top of the bridge long enough to capture the sun rising over the misty river.

It's not the first time I've done that - foot on the brake, grab the camera and shoot. Five seconds, tops.

My friend insists that there are signs forbidding it - stopping on the bridge, but I've yet to see one. Fishing and swimming? Clearly prohibited, but not one word about stopping, and so far, I've escaped the bridge tender's attention.  

* * *

I crossed the bridge and headed west for a full day of appointments in the city. I'm still recovering. A normal day of activity for most people can feel like a marathon for me. There were moments in the day when I wasn't sure I could take one more step.

By my last stop of the day in the late afternoon, when the radiology tech called me out of the waiting room for a thyroid ultrasound and dexa scan, I'd already had x-rays of my knees, seen an orthopedic surgeon and his excellent nurse practitioner Lizzie (who gives the best knee injections and is overall awesome), spent the rest of the morning at church working on the soon-to-be-released church blog, and shopped for clothes and birthday gifts. I was grateful to lie down on the exam table, get off my feet and close my eyes during the tests.

***

With appointments with my rheumatologist, another knee injection from Lizzie, and the removal of a cyst at the plastic surgeon's office on the calender, next week's schedule appears equally daunting - and, technically, I'll be a whole year older.

I won't tell you how old I was when I woke up this morning, but let you figure it out. Born smack dab in the middle of the last century, on May 18, 1950 and having lived through the turn of the century makes it easy - 50 + the year it is. The older I get, the harder it is to remember or care how old I am and the more I appreciate easy math problems.

God has been good to me these 50 + 13 years, and I know He always will be. Ann Voskamp's God is Always Good and You are Always Loved is written on my blackboard this week as a reminder, and the book Robbi and I have been working on - No Matter What It's a Good Day When - is in the hands of a publisher.

I woke up to fresh coffee and a lovely gift from Louis. A beautiful bouquet of white and dark pink peonies from Emily is on the counter and my daughter-in-love Kristin is cooking dinner for me tonight. The day has just begun and it's already very good.

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100.5

Still Saturday and I {LOVE} Sunday - As long as I live...

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the LORD.  Psalm 104:31-34 ESV


In community this weekend with Sandra and Deidra



{Photos: sunset over the Caloosahatchee River at the Ft. Denaud bridge on Friday}

Sweet Shot Tuesday::Morning silhouettes...

I'm already running late for my appointment in the city when I discover that Emily has left her wallet in my car. I have no choice but to take the time to go into town where Emily works and give her the wallet before I head to the city in the opposite direction.

Instead of driving west along the river, I head east and into the rising sun, and though I know I'm running behind schedule, this scene along the river begs to be captured, and I am weak for such a wonder as this. 

I park the car at the loading dock before crossing the bridge, get out and shoot a few photos, take the wallet to Emily in town, and arrive at my appointment in the city with time to spare. 

God is so, so good to me.