A Morning of Delight

 "God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures."

Francis Bacon

The other weekend I had a post pop up on my Facebook feed from the Gateway Lodge in Cook's Forest, just up the road from us. I'm not friends with them, but somehow, they were there.

The post was about a lady who brings them flowers for their customer rooms and dining room each week. Her name is Lynne from the Meadow and Twilight Flower Farm in Corsica, PA.

Corsica is just down the road, about 20 minutes from our place. I'd never heard of this flower farm but was intrigued. I looked it up and sent an email off to see if I could come by and take pictures of her garden.

Last Tuesday morning I went there and had a most delightful and joyful time! I'm thinking her garden is about an acre and a quarter in size and there were rows and rows of blooming flowers. Beautiful flowers. 

I took my time walking through, capturing the beauty I saw. When I finished, I had 289 pictures. Lynne talked with us for a time and cut a bouquet for us to bring home.

She told us about her dogs, one being a Newf, and asked us to go around to the front of her home and she'd bring him out. We both love Newfs, Jerry having raised one, and me being a friend with someone who had one. It was the cherry on top of the sundae as we petted and talked with a new friend.

Lynne has gatherings occasionally at the farm. People can come and pick their own bouquets, enjoy sitting in the swings and just relaxing in a beautiful place.

I managed to get through the pictures I took, keeping 92 to remember the day I walked with the bees and butterflies in God's creation. 

They specialize in a wide variety of pollinator friendly flowers that are perfect for bouquets. Their intent is to provide fresh cut blooms that reflect the season.

It was a beautiful morning for me. Strolling in a garden, delighting in the beauty and thanking God for His magnificent creation. I'm thankful God has given me the gift to take pictures and share His creation with others. He is masterful in His work!

By His Grace . . .

The Grand Finale

Not the clearest of pictures but it was a thrill to see six buck with large antlers! 

The season has ended. My early morning fawn spotting drives are now over. When the sun doesn't rise until 6:30 and school busses hit the road, that's when I stop my early morning drives.

Last week as I drove around for the last time, God decided to give me a grand finale and I saw many buck, doe and fawn. There was always something for me to take a picture of. It was a dream ride.

Fawn are a good size now. Doe and fawn aren't running as quickly now when I stop to take a picture.

I hate to see it end. Hopefully, when next year's fawn spotting begins, I'll be ready and able to do it.

This doe was hardly 8 feet away and let me talk to her a few minutes.

The other week I found a small book that fits right in with the extensive work I've done recently with my hymn studies. Hymn Lines is written by R.G. Huff, a relatively unknown man who has been active in church ministry for 40 years. On his blog site: hymnlines.blogspot.com he posted 75 thoughts and musings from one line in verses of hymns.

I thought this was right up my liking and ordered the book. There are 75 devotions from lines in hymn verses. I read from a hymnal every morning and have highlighted many lines in hymns that speak to me. I'm enjoying reading through this book. 

Of course, I looked through the blog's archives to see if he'd chosen one of my favorite lines from Be Thou My Vision: "Thou my best thought by day and by night." He did! I enjoyed reading his devotion on it.

I like the last line of his devotion: "Today let the best things about Christ be the center of your thinking. All day long and into the night until you sleep in peace, kept safe by the One on whom you have thought."

I saw many doe and twin fawn this last week.

I'm still writing hymn studies. I find them interesting, inspiring and encouraging. It another way for me to learn and grow in my faith. I'm happy to share studies with you. Some are already on this blog, to the right of the main column. I can also send copies through email or messenger.

I enjoyed watching these triplets last week. Watching them play, running around, darting here and there, is always a delight.

Summer also comes to a close. The next season of God's creation, with color and beauty, will soon arrive. 

Driving by a field with deer peacefully eating is soothing.

By His Grace . . .

My Herd of Buck

These big guys had just finished eating at our back gate. 

With the buck I've been seeing the last few weeks it got me thinking about my own little miracle. I've shared it here before, but it never fails to remind me that God listens to every one of our prayers.

It was back in 2013 and I'd been taking pictures of deer for a number of years. I'd gotten a few snaps of buck, but they don't stick around long enough for you to take a picture, when you do see them.

It was always a thrill as I watched them walk up.

It was November 2012. I asked God if he would provide opportunities for me to take pictures of buck. Soon the year was over, and I was looking forward to fawn season the next spring. 

Our neighbor had been putting out corn over her back gate for several years, and we'd enjoy sitting in our backyard watching the deer come up and eat. Jerry suggested we put corn out at our back gate, so we did. The doe and fawn would even come up when we were sitting in the backyard.

Three of our beauties.

One morning in July I looked out the back window and saw buck at our back gate. There were eight of them. A few with large antlers, a few with medium antlers and a few small ones. That began a summer I'll never forget.

Every morning and every evening buck came up and ate. Sometimes there would be 10 or 12 buck walking around out back. There were some woods behind us, but we weren't in an area surrounded by a lot of woods.

Two young buck enjoying a drink oat our neighbor's bird bath.

It was in August that I remembered my prayer from the previous November. You can imagine the chills I got as I realized God was answering my prayer right at my back door.

It wasn't until October that they stopped coming. We never saw them again.

God always listens. He always hears what we pray, and He always answers. This time He gave me my own little miracle. Let me rephrase that. He gave me a BIG miracle.

A favorite snap!

By His Grace . . .

The Words of Spurgeon

 

Just last weel I decided to follow Charles H. Spurgeon - Devotionals, Gems and Other Writings on Facebook. I've been a fan of Charles Spurgeon for many years now.

His devotional "Look Unto Me: The Devotions of Charles Spurgeon" by Jim Reimann has been an excellent study book for me through the years. 

When I worked, a coworker had a book of quotes by Spurgeon. I am a quote person and enjoyed him letting me read it.

I have used his quotes in many of my writings, and his words have given me much food for thought in living the Christian life and understanding my faith. He's remembered as the "Prince of Preachers."

There are many good devotion books out there by many different authors. I have a number that I go through periodically. I've always felt confident and sure after reading Spurgeon's words. 

Spurgeon was an English Baptist preacher. He born in Essex, England. His conversion from nominal Congregationalism came in 1850, at age 15. On his way to a scheduled appointment, a snowstorm forced him to cut short his intended journey and to turn into a Primitive Methodist chapel in Colchester where he believed God opened his heart to the salvation message. The text that moved him was Isaiah 45:22: "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else."

en.wikipedia.org/

If you're looking for a deeper study that is understandable and interesting, I'd recommend his devotional "Look Unto Me."

By His Grace . . .

Being Still

 "Be still and know that I am God." 

Psalm 46:10

A foggy, early morning sunrise on my way to work back in 2016.

A very familiar Scripture verse is Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God." We hear it often and we read it often. The other morning, I read the following by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, in her devotion book: Streams in the Desert.

"I heard about a Quaker lady who had to spend half an hour every day sitting quiet and doing nothing calling it her 'still' lesson. I wish we could enjoy such a half-hour daily in God's presence. Our 'still' lesson would be one of the most useful lessons of the day." 

When I was a new Christian, the lady I sat next to in the choir loft gave me a copy of this devotion book. It was just what I needed as I learned to live as a Christian and handle all the ups and downs of life. I read it straight through for the first few years of my new Christian experience.

Peaceful Moments for Women Facebook page.

Occasionally I'll pick it up and read a devotion even now, 40 some years later. There are many readings that I've held on to that help me through each day. 

"Silence is a great peacemaker."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Are you able to sit for 30 minutes in quiet and be with God? We are either watching television, reading a book, listening to music or talking with someone when we sit down. It's very rare for me just to sit there and be quiet.

I sometimes go out to the front porch or back deck and sit quietly for a while enjoying nature. My early morning drives I'm usually singing my Melody of Hymns for a while, but always looking for an animal. 

Other than my devotion time, just sitting thinking about God doesn't happen very often.

I've read some of the great Christian saints of old spent an hour or two in the early morning with God. But, like the Quaker lady above, just sitting focusing on God is rare.

I think of Matthew 6:28 when I see a lovely flower, 

" . . . And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

When David wrote this verse it was a time of conflict of war. In the Hebrew "still" means to stop the frantic activity, to let go and put down your weapons. Why? Because God's in control. When we are still, we can remind ourselves that God's got us in His hands.

"In this place the word seems to be used as meaning that there was to be no anxiety; that there was to be a calm, confiding, trustful state of mind in view of the displays of the divine presence and power."

Albert Barnes

Being still, we are to be confident, calm and trustful in all circumstances because of our faithful God. We are to rest in our God who knows everything and is in control of all things.

That appears easier to do than to sit for 30 minutes being still. But, sitting and being still is relaxing and calming. So, whether you're like the Quaker women and practice being still for 30 minutes or focus your energy on being confident and calm in any situation because God is in control, being "still" is a great thing!

"One hour of real communion with God is worth more than a lifetime of everything else."

Waterbury

By His Grace . . .