a Thanksgiving Acrostic

 

Thankful for ...

a Thanksgiving Acrostic 

Time each day, with those I love 

Hugs from my family - that never gets old.  H could also stand for Husband - He is a Keeper!

All of life experience, the good, the bad, the ugly, the hard - it has all made me who I am today

New mercies every morning - Thank you LORD 

Kids (by birth) Joshua and Ashley, and their spouses, Leah and Michael.  Love these 4!

Story ~ God is writing mine!

Grandchildren ~ Jay (in Heaven), Everett, Roger, Matilda and Maverick.  My life is rich!!

Imagination! The sky is the limit and God gives some amazing ideas! 

Vacation memories from Cuba this past winter, 2 weeks with our kids - pre-Covid.

Impromptu fun - thankful for a couple friends that we enjoy impromptu outings and visits with

Nature that shows me the creativity of God around me!  He speaks to me through nature

God - because without Him, I would be nothing!  He is my Strength!

just a Friday afternoon confession

disclaimer:  I hesitate to write about this - it is personal and real - but I believe that maybe one person who may read this, may be touched knowing that her/his struggle is real - and other Christians struggle too.  I don't believe it is a lack of faith. I am not sure what exactly it is, but I hope that my sharing may impact you in some way.  

I have a feeling we have all been in a struggle at one time or another.  Or call it a wrestle.  Maybe that is a better way of putting it.  However, for me this wrestle is getting old, but none the less - a wrestle.  Because for some reason, I just can not let go, nor can I feel like I have won.  And maybe it isn't even something I can let go of, or win at.  Maybe this is just my life, and I need to acknowledge it - and let God move in it.  I always think that I am giving it to him - but then it seems like I have taken it back ~ over and over an over again. While I do not believe it is a lack of faith - maybe it is? What IS at the core of all this? Or  maybe it is just my enneagram type speaking LOL.

My wrestle is with self-worth. (and maybe this is tied up with self-esteem)  Yep, there it is - in black and white.  Joy wrestles with self-worth.  I don't just wrestle once in a while - it is a day in day out tangible awareness.

What is Self-Worth?  Well I looked it up and this is what I found:  Self-worth is an internal state of being that comes from self-understanding, self-love, and self-acceptance. It's a state that is somewhat timeless and unchanging because it's a direct measure of how you value and regard yourself in spite of what others may say or do.

How does that happen?  Is it something from growing up?  Is it something that has happened along my adult years?  Is it something that I have missed out on?   When did this become a wrestle? 

As a young child, I don't remember ever feeling like my self-worth was in jeopardy.  Maybe I experienced it a bit (that being my self-worth) as a young adult... but I remember still feeling pretty good about myself lol.   My adult years, as a wife, and a mom, and now a granny my wrestle with self-worth has been real!  Oh. So. Real.  Yes, I know  - YOU'D THINK I WOULD HAVE THIS FIGURED OUT .. but not at all.

Back in 2013 when I went back to Glen Eyrie Retreat and Conference Centre, for my attendance at NewWay Ministry Next Step (school of spiritual direction, part 2) I had an encounter with God, that literally had me come undone.  So many tears ... so many words to the Holy Spirit ... so many thoughts.  And let me share with you what I think was the "bottom line" on this encounter - the LORD said to me "you want women to come and encounter me, and see their worth in the eyes of the Living God, and yet you do not believe it for yourself."   Yep ... that is what He said.  And being God, you know that HE was accurate in his claim about me.   

Our ministry was full of that, of pointing women to the LORD for their worth, but I did not believe it for myself it seemed.  God met me as I turned the key into my room door that night, and completely brought me to this strong admittance.  And in my tears I came before Him acknowledging that this was my struggle.  

That was 7 years ago this November .  SEVEN YEARS.  I remember more of what Larry said when I shared in class.  He spoke specifically to us women.  He told us that "You have to go to the Father first - as His affirmation of you, and your self worth is ALL THAT MATTERS and IF  you get your self-worth affirmation from your work, or family, or from. your spouse - THAT is a bonus.  Dr. Crabb underscored for us that what we get from people is okay, but all we should really need is the Father's affirmation of us!

I knew this then ... and I know this now.  I know that I am a daughter of the most High, and that in this life, I need to live for HIM, and to get my worth from HIM.  But almost 7 years later, I gotta tell you, I am still struggling to believe it for myself.  What is that about?

Last week I had a sweet friend retreating here.  Our friendship began a year and a half ago when she came for a retreat - totally worn out by the demands in her life - but boy did I see God work in her.  It was amazing to host her again last week for a few days - and to be able to sit with her a couple times to hear what God was up to.  Again, I could hear myself telling her what I felt God needed me to say but it was in her sharing with me, that God used the words again to remind me - that oh He loved me so much, and I was so precious in His eyes, and so valued!  Later we texted and I thanked her and told her that what she said was "so timely" ...   love how God does that - uses her to speak into my life with exactly the reminders I needed to hear!! 

So I hear those reminders.  And I say YES LORD.  But then, I realize within a short time, that I am still caught in the wrestle. 

I realize that my self-worth is so intricately wrapped around body-image. Thing is, I have been told that I just need to love myself, but somehow I can not love myself "like this" (usually associated wtih # on a scale) I can not let go of that part of my self-worth because the thing is, I KNOW I want to live healthier, and I also know for me (diabetes in family history) that I feel better when I weigh less.  The thing also about my self-worth and body image is that I want to live longer for my family, and what I am doing borders at times on self destruction.  I hate to admit this, but yes, my weight is so tied to my self worth ...  working with the LORD on this part.  Because what I have found, as much as you can tell a person that their body image should not be tied into self-worth - it just is.  Speaking for myself anyhow. 

My self-worth is also so bound by lies that the enemy has me believing and I do believe it is the enemy/satan that is at the root of these.  Maybe you don't struggle with lies about yourself.  But I do.  Last night I laid in bed, Alvin's arm around me, darkness, and God was speaking to me in that quietness about these lies.  Believing I am not worth ....  believing I don't have things to offer ...  believing that I am not beautiful because of ...   Oh yes, those thoughts were all there in the quietness of the night.  He was bringing them to my attention.  There in the dark, the Father was showing me that they occupy my thought life, and become "truths" that are not at all true!!  ANd the most loving thing is that when the Father brings these to light - it exposes it and the verse from the gospel of John where Jesus tells his disciples that "the thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy ..." oh my goodness, I get it.  But refuting the lies of the enemy is not for the faint of heart!! 

My self worth (I want it to be) is about the last part of that verse ...  Jesus did not just tell them about the thief coming to kill steal and destroy and leave it there .... oh no - this is the best part!!  Jesus said, "but I have come to give life to the full!"  The exclamations are all mine!!  You see, whether or not the "thief" was the enemy satan, I like to think that this is what this verse means.  We are in the real world - none of us would deny that.  And I think that in this world we live in - there are many things that are stolen, or compromised, or destroyed - and for me, believing in these lies are like that because it robs me of the fullest life that Jesus says I can have because of him. 

I also love The Passion Translation and it says it like this:

John 10:9-10

I am the Gateway. To enter through me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction. A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!

So you may ask - Joy where are you going with this ... You don't like what the thief is doing - you acknowledge that you continue to wrestle with self-worth and with the lies that the enemy keeps using, and you know that you want to live the fullness of the life Jesus has for you!  So how are you going to give this struggle over to the LORD once and for all and really truly believe YOU ARE SO WORTH IT?  When can you surrender it all once and for all and move on with this? 

And in the quietness of this room, as I am writing this blog on my computer, I am hearing my LORD speak to me, so I am going to go about just typing what I am hearing Him say, and letting you in on our intimate conversation as it unfolds over the next half hour or so,  I don't always share my God-conversations, but today, at this time, as it seems okay for me to do this:

"Joy, it is not because of your looks, your talents or abilities....

Not because of your weight, or your gifts or your service...

It is not because of anything you do in ministry for me 

Or in service for others.

NO!!  

Joy, you are so worth it because before you were knit in your mother's womb, I knew you Daughter.  You were fearfully and wonderfully made, and I knew everything about you from before, and to now, and beyond.  I hear your words, your cries, and feel your pain.  I know that you have a hard time believeing it when other people tell you something.  I hear you answer, "ya, sure" to them, while inside feeling like what they just said is nice but that they are just saying that.  

Joy I know you are not sure where this comes from and sometimes that is the thing that causes you to stop in your tracks, as if knowing 'WHY" would make you feel different. Sometimes you wonder if other people struggle with self-worth as much, and how you can move past it and just believe who I am saying you are to me!  

I want you to know Daughter of mine, that I love you with a love beyond description.  Your value, and your worth can not be put into words, but the picture I want to give you child, is the picture of my son on the cross.  That is how much worth you have!!  My son died for you and rose again.  This is the love that we have for you because you are worth his death!  

I see you.  I can feel your resistance to let me take this once and for all, but Joy, you need to surrender these lies and let me bury them at the foot of the cross for you.  The cross where my Son paid for your sin.  Let me take that burden.

Come Daughter, give the struggle to me.  Lay it down and rest.  Then believe the truths I am about to tell you.  That you are precious in my sight, and that I call you by name.  That you are my Beloved.  That there is nothing that you can DO to earn your worth - I give it to you, because of my great love.  The truth that I am around you, before, behind, above, beneath - and hem you in.  You know, those are the verses you love to recite.  I have heard you doing that.  

Come Daughter.  Rest.  Listen.  Believe.  Recall.

You are more precious to me than gold or silver, rubies or diamonds.  Human words can not describe my words of love and worth for you.  So trust me on it Joy.  

Trust Me.

I love you Beloved.  Love yourself too!  And know that you are mine - completely mine.  I've got this - and lean into me for your assurance, affirmation and self-worth.

Joy, I love you.  I've got this."

So ... He has spoken.  

LORD GOD give me the strength to keep surrendering the lies satan wants to feed me, at the foot of the cross and to carry YOUR truth hidden in my heart, ready to speak out loud when those times come!  

Friend, if this was for YOU today - if that is why I was supposed to bare my soul, so that you could also be spoken to - then I am glad.   In HIM we have freedom - and so let us walk in that!!

written with love,

j

ps:  I came across this sketch - and it speaks to my heart - I don't know who the artist is, but it was on a blog by The Sabbath Recorder.  

Autumn Melancholy

 

Autumn Dances ...

The leaves blow in the wind

Dry ... Brown

Crunchy under my feet

Wind blown

And like a carpet covering the garden paths

A bit too early for my liking however

As if that matters as autumn does its thing no matter whether we want it or not

With the wind, the leaves disapear off the trees

And all of a sudden the brilliant color

Turns into greys and browns

The starkness of barren trees

Reminds me that the cold I feel on these mornings

Is just a little foretaste of what is to come 

That is is just going to get colder ... and colder

And the garden's flourishing summer green will be just a memory

As it is heading towards its long winters nap

And once the snow falls (hopefully not for a while yet)

But with the first snow covering the garden

We know that it is then that 

It feels like we can take a breath 

Geese are flying overhead

At times they are so high, and you know they are headed for the south

However we watch other geese flying

First of all south and then back north, in circles

(In patterns that seem to resemble the way my heart feels at times these days)

A bit haphazard

Scattered

Anxious

They know that the loud booms in the early morning ...

are gunshots

Reminding them that their life and death is a mere bullet shot away

If the hunter is successful in his shot

Do these geese flying in what looks like circles

actually know that their life is in danger

That they can be flying one moment

And then not?

I wonder …

The Blue Jays are at the feeders 

And these days I can not keep the peanuts on the plate

Sometimes they land on the feeder and their crest is standing up

As they dominate the peanut plate

I always smile as they come one after the other

It reminds me of sitting and watching the planes coming into the Chicago airport - 

one barely lands when you see the lights of the next, and the next and the next

This feathered line up of Jays

Lined up on the porch banister, 

Or Sitting in the eaves waiting

Usually patiently

Pickup and shake

Trying to get more than one into their beaks

Sometimes returning with the peanut only to drop it

And pic up another one

Sometimes they sit at the empty plate, facing the window

and do their cawing

Do they know they are my favorite bird, 

and that their call catches my attention and brings a smile to my face

(do they know that - when I go out and fill the plate, and call to them?)

Inside my warm house

I have rearranged some seating so that now

I have a favorite chair situated in the corner

and turned so that the view of the outside is before me

This is where I breathe deeply and exhale even deeper!

Sit

Rest

Talk with he Lord

Journal

Pray

Watch

Think

This has become my place to have my quiet time with my LORD.

This is where we talk.  

Father to Daughter

This is where I imagine crawling up on to His lap

and just laying my head on his chest, and feeling the beat of his heart for me.

He calls me Beloved

And I know how loved I am!

The sun shines in

And God reminds me with his creation

Of his goodness

And his mercy towards me

Mercies new and fresh every single morning

Sometimes I take that for granted

Sunsets are brilliant from this vantage point

Always different

And as the darkness comes and the stars and planets shine

Once again God shows off through his creation

I sit in this place

In this quiet corner

With Him

And in the quietness inside

And the beauty outside

He speaks and lets me know again and again

What an amazing Father He is.

In this place I come often

My heart sometimes feels a type of sadness

Which at times I can not quite put my finger on

And yet I know that this melancholy is okay for me

The “happy-sad-pensiveness” …

I sit aware of my fragile being

Physical - mental - emotional - spiritual

I sit knowing that HE, the creator, looks at me, his created and smiles

He knows me so well ..

He reminds me of my favourite psalm 139

That it doesn’t matter where I go - whether I sit, or stand, or lay down ..

He is there

My heart sighs as I think of the words “he hems me in”

And realize I am never ever outside of his arms.

The melancholy never gives me warning

And sometimes it covers me like a big wet quilt

And if I am honest, I sometimes wonder if the old “black dog” is back in my yard

But the thing that is different is that I recognize it quickly

And am able to sit and talk with the LORD about it

And the Holy Spirit helps to discern and to guide me through the melancholy

And I realize it isn’t always a bad thing

But it is real, and I believe helps me to be able to walk alongside of another

When needed

And it seems like lately, in the ministry I am involved in - God is using this in my life

To help me minister to others

These days especially it seems

that there are many people needing someone to sit with, someone to listen, 

someone who will care enough to pray for them...

And for that Holy Spirit, I am thankful for your presence, your wisdom and guidance

It seems that this season

Carries with it a type of melancholy that is characteristic of fall

Beauty along with ashes

Joy along with sorrow

Life along with death

So here I sit

In the cozy corner

Writing these words while being conscious of the birds at the feeder, 

The gentle sway of stark grey branches

The look of trees still with green foliage, as if tempting fall to come and change them

I sit warm and protected

Knowing that I am also loved, held close, and kept warm

By the embrace of the FATHER

Leaves continue to blow

Branches sway

Dead leaves swirl and gather into piles

Sparrows and nuthatches share the seed

Bluejays collect peanuts

(hopefully the mice are not foraging seed that is falling below the deck, and stuffing the vents in my car with it)

Music plays in the background

And my soul … thank you LORD ..

My soul 

It is well

*breathe ~ hammock thoughts on a Tuesday afternoon

blue skies

white wisps of cloud

and endless sunshine

*breathe 

the yard is surrounded by brilliant colours

each day more yellow

more orange

and more red

oh Autumn

you have a way of coming quickly once you decide the time is right

and somehow

we are never quite ready

to embrace you with both arms are we?

*breathe

honking of geese

twittering of birds 

as they feast at the bird feeders

airplanes passing overhead

(where are people off to these days anyhow?)

the sound of motorcycles on the highway

people enjoying a "sunday drive" on a Tuesday

*breathe

today's temperature

reminiscient of many days not too long ago

and it feels so good on our skin 

and the thoughts of having to get our winter clothes out of storage

seems to fade to the background of our minds again

*breathe

with the soft sound of wind chimes

the song of the crickets

the rustle of the leaves

the hammock becomes a good place to be

a place to retreat to

to curl up in

*breathe

there is a gentle breeze 

and the hammock swings in a gentle lulling

while a sermon plays on youtube

for these moments

cares and anxieties disappear

and it feels like nothing matters

except for this time

on this Tuesday

*breathe

God .. you are here

in this place, which is made sacred by your Presence

it's you and me LORD

you

&

me

*breathe

have I told you how much I love you?

love,

j

Simple things ...

The line from a song just entered my mind -  "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy ..."

I will be honest, I am not a person who has really been into identifying songs and artists etc.  Growing up I knew which songs I liked on the radio - which songs I hear now that characterized a period of my life (like the early 70's) and when this line came across my thoughts, I could hear John Denver's mellow voice singing it.  

It makes sense that today I hear this line from the old melody - as I am sitting in my corner chair, facing the outside.  The sound of the lawnmower in the cemetery just beside us.  The green of the grass, the gentle swaying of the bullrushes.  The call of the birds who currently are taking a break from the feeding frenzy that is so characteristic of the birds this time of year.  The day is beautiful and sunny.  The trees are only beginning to turn colours and are still predominately green around our house.  But we know that isn't going to last long as the hues of yellow have begun ...

This season we all know can bring anything. It can be everything from summer like temperatures to the bone chilling cold that comes before winter.   It can bring the heavy frost that we have already experienced (the creeping vine displays the affects) and it can bring the sight of geese and the sound of gun shots along with them.  And we know that the rain of autumn can quickly turn into the ice of winter.  

This season is one where life comes to an end and everything goes into hibernation mode.  Even we feel like just hunkering down for a long winters nap at times!!

The brilliant colours that are beginning, and bring such joy and wonder to our eyes - results in piles of leaves that become crisp under our feet when we walk.  This season has always been a mixture of happy-sad for me.  It was the season that I took off on my stress leave when I was a daycare director and found myself in depression.  It was also the season that I spent with my dad in meaningful time together and conversation during the two months before God suddenly took him home.  I will never forget the last time we sat together in my car as I drove him back from our house in Anola, to his house in Winnipeg.  Or the very last time he sat around my table at Thanksgiving, and then, just over two weeks later, my dad was in heaven. Somehow just writing that down, floods my heart with memories.  It feels like yesterday, but it was almost 23 years ago.  How can that be.

As I love the season of new life and bright greens in Spring - I also love the season of fall with its sights and smells and sounds.  September is a wonderful season for weddings - both Alvin and I, and our daughter and son-in-law felt September was a good month to get married.  HOWEVER the season is not without some melancholy on my part.  (apparently as I am learning, melancholy is a part of my type on the enneagram).   My memory bank also holds some hard things that happened within this season we are almost officially in.  And I have come to see that our internal clocks do not forget things that happened in our lives.  

These days seems to be going by too quickly ... days to weeks and to months - we pass through the seasons one after another and next thing we know we are into another year.  I am not trying to rush this, I am just speaking the obvious.  We all know that we can not slow down time - but we need to make the most out of each and every moment we are given.  

For me, the passing of time seems to be measured in how my grandchildren are growing.  It seems week to week they change.  And while their parents may sometimes dream about when the kids will grow up, I - on the other side of the timeline, know that at some point they too will say where did the time go.  

How is it that at one time I thought 62 was so old, and yet now I am feeling that it is not old at all!  Did my mom and dad seem old because of their life style?  My mom would have never been caught dead in leggings ... but then again, leggings were not even a thing then.  I feel like I am different than my mom in many ways and yet very similar.  I am coming to understand my mom more and more and more with the passing of each year.  I think we are a lot alike.  I just wish I could sit and talk with her over a cup of coffee one afternoon.  She loved coffee <3

Sometimes I wonder how it is that my parents have passed away, there is so much I wish I had asked them - I wish I had asked them which season they loved the most.  Sometimes I wonder if my mom used to sit outside with her face tilted up like I sometimes do, soaking in the sunshine on it.  Sometimes I wonder if my mom felt the passing of time as strong as I do.   Sometimes I wonder if my mom had lines from songs cross her mind, and if she hummed along with them, in agreement. Did she experience sunshine on her shoulders?

What is it about experiencing that?  Feeling sunshine on our faces, or our shoulders as Denver wrote? Why is it that everything seems right with the world when the sun is shining?  

When I looked it up to see what Denver was thinking, I found this from the above link:  "Denver wrote this song on an early spring day in Minnesota when the rain was gently falling.  He found himself looking forward to spending more time outdoors and enjoying the sunshine.  He said of the song, "On one level it was about the virtues of love.  On another, more deeply felt level, it reach for something the whole world could embrace."  It went on to say that" the song first appeared on his 1971 album called Poems, Prayers and Promises and that he found an audience with his heartwarming, spiritual songs that dealt with finding pleasure in the simple things."  https://www.songfacts.com/facts/john-denver/sunshine-on-my-shoulders

Hmmm.... finding pleasure in the simple things.  Hey John, I think I can relate. 

 In this time of change that we have experienced over the past six months, I believe it has been the simple things that have been part of the sustaining of this gal!  Simple things like family meals on Wednesdays and Sundays, where there is noise, and laughter, and each person at times trying to be heard over the din of it all. For a small tribe of 10, we can make alot of noise.  Simple things like the hugs of my grandchildren, and children.  The prayers said at meal times especially when they are said by one of the grandchildren.  The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the conversation that follows.  

Simple things like camp fires and bicycle rides and memories of the latest beach day.  Simple things like leaves flying in the wind and geese flying in v's.  Simple things like seeing the kids running and playing, shouting and laughing.  Simple things like pumpkins on doorsteps and autumn wreaths on doors.  Simple things like smelling burning stubble and seeing dust from combines as they work in the fields.  Simple things like car rides, good conversation, quiet reflection and journal entries , hearing good sermons and fellowshipping with friends. 

Simple things like sunshine on my shoulders!

God has been speaking about some things to me during these last few months.  He has been talking to me about his fullness ... and what that means for me.  One of my favorite verses is where Jesus says that he has come to bring life to the full ...

Often I have sat and thought of that - Jesus - I want to experience the full life you have for me... every day - every season.  To experience not only the love of the Father, and the gift of everlasting life Jesus gave me, and the presence of the Holy Spirit - but to experience all of that TO THE FULL!.  And in my thinking and asking and listening, I believe he has said over and over that it is not about any striving on my part, but of just living with Him as the centre of my life, from which all aspects flow.  I believe that it is not complicated - but it is actually quite simple.  To love him with all my heart and soul, mind and strength and to love my neighbour as myself.  I believe it is about enjoying the simple things in life that He gives to me, and to live with a grateful heart.   In this season of Autumn, we can be tempted to be so worried about the cold bleak season that will come after autumn, and to miss the beauty, the wonder and the fullness that He blesses us with in this season of our lives.  

I for one, do not want to miss out on any moment of this time.  Because the thing is, we will never get this time back.  I want to live in recognition of the ONE who gives me life and breath and eternal life when this life is done here on earth.  I want to savour this time ... to not hurry to the next thing but to just b-r-e-a-t-h-e in and thank God for the simple things in life He has given me as gifts for each day.

I am so thankful!

Enjoy life my friends!  Savour it! 

With a thankful heart to my LORD and Saviour Jesus,

j

She sighs ...

She stares as the sun rises

Brilliant in all its glory

Waking up the earth with its radiance

She knows that people take myriads of pictures

Trying to capture the rays, the colours, the splendour of the morning

Knowing the sun is rising later with each new morning

And setting earlier with each evening

Although also brilliant, and with a splendour all of its own

The sun shows off the Creator’s creation

Neither sunrise or sunset is better than the other

But equally breathtaking and awe-inspiring

She sighs …

She looks around

At creation doing its thing around her

Geese flying in v formations

Taking turns at leading

Take offs and landings are all equally noisy

The honking never gets old to those who watch …

With awe in the spring as they arrive

And with a sense of foreboding when they are leaving this province for the promise of warmer weather

She sighs ..

She shuts her eyes and breathes in the smell of autumn

Overturned fields ready for their rest during the long cold spells of winter

She smells stubble burning and remembers the time the burn got a little too close for comfort

And yet the smell brings a nostalgia all of its own.

She shuts her eyes and hears the croaking of frogs and crickets

Knowing that they too will look for places as the weather gets colder.

Where do grasshoppers and crickets live for the freeze of the prairies

She sighs…

She keeps her eyes shut

And lets the sun shine on her

Warming up the places that were cold after the early frost of September 

Remembering days when she was young and the sun felt like it was helping her grow

Strong and sturdy

She sighs…

She looks up at the clouds that have gathered on the west and are blowing closer to home

Knowing that perhaps some rain will fall

But the rain drops feel good as they fall on her

Just a few that quickly turn into an autumn downpour

She nods,

Knowing that the rain is good for all of nature as it anticipates its hibernation

She smiles at the day 

Wondering what it will hold during the hours that are bookended by sunrise and sunset

Watching creation around her gathering and storing pinecones, and acorns

And laughs as they climb the feeders on the deck and empty the peanuts the Jays have not yet taken

Surprise on them!

Raucous bad boy of the bird world

You make so much noise but still,  you are simply lovely

Beautiful in all your splendour

Blues whites and black intermixed in all your glory

Do you really know where you are taking those peanuts?

Will you find them when the snow falls and the days are cold?

She feels laughter coming up from the bottom of her, to the top and it billows out in sounds that only the Creator hears

She sighs…

With a sigh that is not one of sadness or despair, 

But a sigh acknowledging what is to come

“For every thing there is a season”

That is how the creator has designed our life to be

Goodness, even the grass knows that it has its time - 

It is here and then withered..

Flowers are here today and gone ..

And all the seeds of the garden are now either dead or dying

Knowing that the season is upon them, and unless they die, they can not live again

All of Creation is an object lesson for the world to see

All of creation is in a season of continual praise to the LORD GOD 

To whom all praise is given, and from whom all blessings flow!

She takes a long look at herself, after studying creation around her

She stands tall and sturdy  and acknowledges her roots

Deep roots

Sturdy roots

Nourished by the water that they drink up

She has often taken her roots for granted 

But knows without them, she would not be standing

After the many storms and winds she has weathered in her lifetime.

She knows she is admired by many

Through each season of her life she shows off without even thinking

And she too becomes the object of many pictures taken and posted on instagram and facebook

She has a different splendour than the sunrise and sun set

But none the less - she is a prime example of the Creator’s workmanship

And she is captured in photos -  differently with every single season.

She catches her breath, as she hears it

(Even the girl walking in the yard stops,

Turns her face heavenward, eyes shut, and takes it all in)

And quickly joins in the symphony of praise .

She hears the sound of creation praising

Let all that has breath praise the LORD!!

Everything has joined in 

Even the trees are clapping their hands around her

The rustling is overwhelming as leaves blow in a song

She looks

And lets the wind blow her arms

Imagining the dance she is doing for the Creator

And the rustle that accompanies the dance is like praise

She looks and sees that seemingly overnight, she has gone from brilliant green to hues of orange and red and rust and yellow

She sighs knowing that the colours are a necessary part of her season too

And while she will be aflame in colour

It will be short lived, especially if a wind comes and shakes the life out of her

Shaking the colours off of her and onto the ground below

She sighs because she knows this season is the last hurrah before a season of rest …

It is necessary

It is part of her life

Living and dying 

Colour turns to a dull brown and grey that becomes bleak in its appearance

And as she hunkers down for a long winter’s nap

You can hear her sighing quietly …

But it sounds like a prayer ~ 

Of thanksgiving

and a prayer of acknowledging that life without seasons of rest ~ Is exhausting

Even to a mighty Oak.

And as the rain turns to ice and snow

As the squirrels have burrowed

And the geese have flown south

She shuts her eyes and thanks her Creator for the gift of this season, 

Knowing it is just for a time 

…. And her sighing stops as she rests.

Happy Autumn,

love 

j