I {LOVE} Sunday::to shout and sing together for joy...

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
You visit the earth and water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.
Psalm 65:8-13
{With the Sunday Community at Lisha's #GiveMeGrace }

Still Saturday::to be reminded...

On this day lift your hands high, for the Lord of Hosts loves you. 

This heavenly love echoes in our daily reality. 

 

It is in the dance of the trees, the cool of the breeze, the hope of calmer seas. 

How kind of God, the creator, to throw shards of himself all over the landscape and in our relationships.

"Here," he calls. "Here I am in the blasting morning sun! I am giving it to you today, and tomorrow, and the next day, so that you will be reminded of my loving-kindness." 

Willard, Timothy (2014-10-14). Longing for More: Daily Reflections on Finding God in the Rhythms of Life (p. 30). Baker Publishing Group. 

 

There is none like you...

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8.1

While my recovery and rehab have excelled expectations, I'm still forced, for the most part, to be content with photos from my archives, but if I did wander about with my camera today, the photos would likely look much the same as they did last October. The grass under the tall pines is bright green, the cypress trees around the pond are turning yellow, and the palmetto thickets along the creek remain tangled with wild vines and their flowers. 

As I watch the early morning light cut through layers of fog to paint amber streaks down the trunks of trees and sparkle like diamonds on dew-soaked leaves, I'm reminded of the many evidences of God's faithfulness and majesty revealed in nature - from the orderly cycle of seasons, to the daily rising and setting of the sun in blazing glory. 

I'm humbled by God's sovereignty and power over His creation. As we read through the creation story in lifegroup on Sunday, I thought about the foolishness of thinking that we have any control over the environment outside of our ability to practice good stewardship of the resources God has given us dominion over and entrusted to our care.  

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,

Psalm 8.3-6

This ever faithful, sovereign and powerful God of all creation pours more love and kindness and goodness into my life than my heart and mind can begin to grasp. Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?...there is none like you.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8.9

Still Saturday::the wondrous plan...

Silent
by Edgar Guest

I did not argue with the man,
It seemed a waste of words.
He gave to chance the wondrous plan
That gave sweet song to birds.

He gave to force the wisdom wise
That shaped the honeybee,
And made the useful butterflies
So beautiful to see.

And as we walked 'neath splendid trees
Which cast a friendly shade,
He said: "Such miracles as these
By accident were made."

Too well I know what accident
And chance and force disclose
To think blind fury could invent
The beauty of a rose.

I let him talk and answered not.
I merely thought it odd
That he could view a garden plot
And not believe in God.



{Photo - a male painted bunting, March 2013. One of my photos that will be on display in the Hendry County Courthouse}

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 run the course with joy...

A thin layer of fog floats misty over the river as the rising sun paints peach across the south. 

I steer the car across the narrow bridge and continue toward the highway and my appointment in the city an hour from home - a weekly routine for over a month.

I must hurry. Once dawn gives way, there's no holding back the fiery orb's rise over the pasture just around the bend.

As I stop the car on the side of the road, my soul swells hallelujahs, and I remove my camera's lens cap - hoping to capture a glimpse of glory in the foggy horizon's blaze.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
Psalm 19:1-6 ESV

Nothing can hold back the sun or my praise - to run the course with joy.


God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,
but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.
Martin Luther

You are amazing...

Gypsy Mama Lisa-Jo challenged her readers Friday to write about "wonder"  - for 5 minutes without editing or tweaking.

I didn't participate, but was inspired to reflect on the meaning of wonder as I read Jenny's lovely response (at Rainmakers and Storm Chasers) to Lisa-Jo's 5-minute challenge.




Wonder is my response to things magical and mysterious - to the majestic and miraculous and beyond my understanding. Wonder causes me to pause and be still and to reflect more deeply on what my eyes have seen and my ears have heard.

Wonder sometimes takes me on a journey for answers, but more often I'm simply satisfied to be in awe.

Wonder is uploading a photo, and as an image fills the screen, it takes my breath away, and praise wells up in my spirit, and the only thing I can say is "Wow. God. You are amazing!"




As I consider adding to my list of One Thousand Gifts on this Monday to count multitudes, I am grateful for all that inspires wonder - that leads me to worship the Creator of all that is wonderful and good...

...flowers from Gavin's Easter garden - transplanted and flourishing under sweetgum trees
...steady, soaking rains
...generous and cheerfully-given support for Emily's trip to Burundi (*how can I ever thank each of you enough*)
...our small lifegroup friends
...our pastors and elders and worship team
...unhurried hours with a grandlittle to put chores and deadlines aside and build with legos and play with toy cars and eat homemade ice cream and make absolutely certain he knows he is loved
...phone calls from grown sons
...chocolate birthday cake
...Marilyn's "week three"
...Joyce's time in France
...Sunday afternoon naps
...hazelnut coffee and real cream
...peace - when the security we've known is threatened
...love - that covers a multitude of my sins

Won't you join Ann and other grateful hearts counting thanks together?

Engaging with Creation...

"In order to glimpse the glory of God
where he hides himself in creation
we actually have to engage with creation."
Bill Walsh

Outside the front door...









Under the live oak trees...










Leaning against a tall pine...










Through the pasture...












Out in the open fields...











Into the backyard...

Straightening the welcome mat and pouring tall glasses of sweet iced tea—with special greetings to those finding their way here thanks to Women of Faith and Patsy's Porch.

Grateful for an unseasonably cool June morning, I slipped on old ballet shoes (quiet shoes, remember), grabbed my camera, and wandered about our few Pollywog Creek acres.

Visitors to our property must wonder what I see worthy of a camera. The colorful glories of spring faded long ago in summer's harsh rays, and the landscaping around our modest home is in great need of attention.

Wildflowers in the fields and pasture struggle to break through the drought-dry topsoil only to wilt lifeless—thirsty and parched.

Rusty fencing needs repair, the creek is barely a trickle, and the neighbor's shed—one side supported by an old toilet—spoils the view across the nearly dried-up pond to the south.

No, it's not the place I'd choose to visit for photographs these days, but it's what God has given me. It's a slice of the world that He has created, and everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

So I receive this brittle-dry ground and the unsightly views beyond its fences with much thanksgiving; and I grab my camera, and I ask God to show me glimpses of His glory, the work of His hands, and He never fails to do so.

And as these photos prove, not every photo is stunning or even noteworthy, but that's not the point. The camera is both the brush with which I paint and the tool God uses to open my eyes to the beauty at my feet. It's like Patsy said, "educate your eye". It's how I am cultivating an eye for life's mercies while I wander through the thorns and weeds of life.

What about you? How and where are you seeing the hidden glimpses of God's glory in Creation?

Squirrel training...

Clearly these are Pollywog Creek days to embrace - before sultry summer all too soon presses in - stifling and oppressive.

February days - when spring unfolds under a canopy of cerulean, and a palette of painted buntings hides in the tangle of brush and vine along the creek and flocks two-by-two to the feeders.

Days of leisure on the backyard swing with lattes, books, music and sunlight - as a pesky fox squirrel - not content with the peanuts I leave him - raids the bird feeders when I look away. Squirrel training is not my gift.

In a multitude of ways, these embraceable days are predictable - comforting and reassuring. Painted buntings arrive in winter and azalea blooms herald spring. Creation testifies - to the faithfulness of the One Who painted the bunting's rainbow plumage and the tulip's velvet petals.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." ~ Psalm 19:1