Monday, April 23, 2012

Spring at Wits' End

Since I didn't get around to the photos for last week's list and I'm running low on words this evening after an appointment downtown, let's keep this simple. However your week has begun, I pray the Lord stills and rests your heart for these next moments as you scroll down.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.
Selah
Psalm 62:5-8, NIV1984












Thank You, Lord, for
Your kind gift of a beautiful creation,
mallards and finches and sparrows,
hollyhocks and larkspur,
edible plants,
butterflies drinking in nectar and soaring free
a moth as big as a hummingbird
the heavens declaring Your glory

a bruised foot healing slowly
good lab results from annual check-up
no bone loss from last year
my Father using my body to tell me to still
good sinus report today!
good job news for brother-in-law
answered prayer

praying with kind women after Bible study
talking over Numbers
the beauty of watching a young man worship his way off a television talent show
("He is everything" to me too)
(Gratitude journal # 5606-5618)


28 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos. I especially like the one of the chigger weed. We used to put those in colored water, when we we kids, and watch them turn blue and red.

    Thankful along with you for the items on your list!

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  2. Dear Christina,
    So BEAUTIFUL! What lovely, lovely flowers and butterflies and I LOVE that Psalm! Your heart is so filled with gratitude, it's beauty spills out through all of your words. Love you, dear. :)

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  3. What a joy your photos are! They are gorgeous. I LOVE that psalm.
    I'm trying to picture a moth as big as a hummingbird. What lovely scenes and observations of spring in full bloom.

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  4. Oh my! What beautiful flowers! And the birds... how did you get so close?! I love these.

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  5. What beautiful photos! I see you enjoy gardening and bird watching as I do. Many a day when I have felt bad, sitting by my window and looking out into God's creation and watching His creatures fly and scurry about has brought comfort to my soul and often a smile to my face. If anyone can look at God's creation and deny that He exists, I question whether they need glasses :)

    P.S. Thanks for joining my blog: http://fionab-lessonslearnedfromlife.blogspot.com. I hope that you find much inspiration as you read it. Please feel free to comment on anything you read as I love interacting with others and hearing their comments!

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  6. Adorable!! Nice pics!! Everything in the pic is clear and beautiful!!! But some of them I can't recognize !!!
    If you are a chic fans, you can also go on a journey in here: ray bans

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  7. Yes. Your photos are beautiful. But your words speak. To me. To this one heart here. You are dear, and I am thankful.
    Bernadette

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  8. Beautiful pictures. (What gorgeous butterflies!) And beautiful words, too. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. Lovely! Simple is good. (I must often remind myself of this truth.) Thank you.

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  10. Thank you! Which one is chigger weed? That's a new term for us. We used to put white carnations in colored water sometimes in my childhood, to make green ones for St. Patrick's Day and I suppose at other times too. Grace, hope, and courage to you today.

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  11. Thank you, Prasanta. The large moth appears in the third photo, just above the center of the frame. I have enlarged that one now, so perhaps he's easier to see. I'm thankful you enjoyed the glimpses of our little world.

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  12. Hello, Fiona. (What a lovely name, by the way!) Actually, my husband enjoys gardening. I just enjoy the flowers. His family has long watched birds, but I'm just learning. The camera makes it more fun for me. Thank you for following here first so I could find you. I haven't looked around your blog much yet, but it appears you have a good bit to teach me from your struggle with chronic pain and illness. May the Lord rest, strengthen, and comfort you today in whatever you face.

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  13. Oh, thank you, Bernadette. What kind words. May the Lord bless you and give you peace today.

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  14. Thank you, Lori, for coming by! Your words bless and encourage.

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  15. Ditto. Thank you, Sylvia, for the affirmation.

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  16. Just below the first, real butterfly. If you've never had chiggers, you should add that to your list of gifts next week. For reals.

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  17. Sadly, I am well acquainted with chiggers and have at least one scar to prove it. :) Just didn't know the plant nickname. That photo represents our dill weed, which we grow for the monarch and swallowtail caterpillars (none yet this year).

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  18. I'm wrong, then, b/c chigger weed is not the same as dill weed. Chigger weed is Queen Anne's Lace (like, it truly is a weed). Sorry about that.

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  19. What beautiful pictures of God's creation! I especially love the birds at the feeder. So lovely! Praise God for these many mercies He's poured out on you!

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  20. ah. I don't think we have Queen Anne's lace in our garden.

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  21. Thank you, Trisha. Yes, praise Him.

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  22. Oh, Friend! These pictures? They have brought me sweet refreshment this morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you. As I was scrolling down, I found myself a bit giddy with excitement, not knowing what to expect next. What a gift to catch a glimpse of the world through your eyes! Love all the butterflies because, well, we don't see those much here--but I think my favorite is the allium head unfolding (at least I think it's allium? between the dill weed and the rose?). The angle and background light of that photo combined with that head full of unborn blooms simply shouts "Hope!" to me. Love you, Dear.

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  23. Love the poetic gratitude! And smiling at your photos:) Bruised foot? I'm so out of the loop. Praying now. Glad God works in as well as out of time as we know it.

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  24. Thanks. It's better but not well yet, so I may still end up at the orthopedist. Thankfully, the dentist went well today! Their preferred brand of electric toothbrush apparently really does what it advertises.

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  25. So glad you found refreshment here! That's a gift for me also. We have an elephant garlic and some sort of onion growing right next to each other, but I'm not certain which this is. They look similar. Very thankful this proclaimed hope to you, dear heart.

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  26. Well, it turns out allium is the genus for most of the onions and garlics so I guess I covered them both! (Purely by accident, though, considering I was only thinking of onions at the time!)

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  27. Well, there you go. Funny thing about that onion: Allen just found it growing in the yard, out of the blue. We've never grown onions and don't use them much. Allen being Allen, he dug it up and put it with the other vegetables, and it seems to be quite happy. The garlic is also a volunteer, but he did grow that last year, so that's less surprising. The flowers are quite similar, so it makes sense they'd be related. Thanks for the clarification.

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Thank you for sharing your day with me! Your presence here is a gift. *You* are a gift. Right now I am unable to reply to every comment, but please know I read and pray for each and every commenter. Grace and peace to you in Christ.