deep breath time

Sitting on my deck, my favorite place, just taking a deep breath accomplishes more than 'doing' anything does right now.

One of my friends called me 'Martha' this week.  In case any of you don't know, that's not a compliment!  I LOVE to do.




Sitting here watching God's beautiful birds eat their fill and fly away again, hearing the rustling of the leaves and listening to the crickets begin their evening song- evokes praise for my Father that will never come from accomplishments - even a job well done.  It's just me and Him out here under breathtaking skies that He created just for us.

The bidding me goodbye as it prepares to set

What ever jobs I have yet to do can wait - while my soul drinks deeply from His precious gift of creation.

My God is an awesome God…

What fills your soul?

what I saw today

I saw the road in ways I haven't seen it since the days we once rode motorcycles - up close!  My hubby got his old Willy jeep running so we took a ride.  I could see every crack, hole and bump on the asphalt just a couple of feet below us due to the fact it has no doors. I saw beautiful trees and horses and people walking and heard talking and laughing.  I wasn't closed inside a vehicle - I was moving yet outside.  It was a blast, but, seriously I didn't think I'd ever get my hair combed out!

A little later I was sitting at a store waiting for my hubby to come out and noticed this tree that was absolutely swarming with at least 40 birds.  They constantly moved from branch to branch as if they were playing a game of tag.  It was fascinating to watch.

I try to pay attention to what is going on around me but I wonder how many things I missed today - will I every get a second chance to see them? 

little taking on big

Today I saw the most interesting thing in front of my house. I saw a bird that was hysterically happy! He was working as diligently as he could on a very large snake that had been killed on the road.

Now think of this from his perspective...giant worm! It surely was the happiest day of this little birds life!

I feel this way often, as if I'm little taking on big.

With God's help I have had the opportunity to try some things that are impossible in my own strength and ability. And every once in a while He grants me the David vs Goliath victory. It's then that I feel the same happiness that the little bird felt!

PS ...that was one ugly snake - although it was thought provoking!

ugly space

For all the joking we do about how bad our weather is, this area of Ohio is absolutely beautiful. A couple of my friends were saying today they could not live somewhere that stayed hot most of the year and I completely agree. I love our seasons. With all of our wooded areas, beautiful hills and valleys there is an abundance of wildlife and plenty of room for all the creatures to live.

This leads me to ask, why would any bird choose to live in this empty, ugly space in my wall when they could live in a gorgeous tree or bush? They had to tear through the covered area to even gain access...I have no idea how they even knew it was there. The mess they made below their new home was evidence of how hard they had been working.

AGAIN I ask, how could anyone not believe in intelligent design by an imaginative, creative, meticulous, perfect creator? The detail of God's nature is so magnificent I will never stop watching in awe of Him as I see all of His creatures preparing for spring. Very cool!

my day off

I woke up this morning right at that time of the day when it moves from silence outside to one bird, then two, then hundreds.

Why does God care about this kind of detail? How did He program into the birds the exact time each day to utter their first chirp of praise? Why is it important that they chirp at all, they could all just sit there and not utter a sound?

I guess He cares because He knew we would be listening. He made available to us the ability to use His birds as our alarm clock if we are listening.

Listening...God cares very much about listening. Just as He gave us the birds and all of nature to speak to us of His creativity, His love of variety and the power of His love for us, He is speaking still...I am trying to listen, to pay attention. This week it is important to listen to what God said long ago.

God spoke and the earth was created - In the beginning ... He also spoke... It is finished - through the lips of His precious son.