Window Wonders ...and Happiness!

Mail is scattered across my kitchen bar.

Laundry is ready to be folded.

Several more loads are ready to be washed...

And what am I doing?

For one thing, I was enjoying watching my bluebirds.

...Well, they aren't mine to possess,

...but they are building a nest in my birdhouse! Yay!

If you read my earlier post about the Nuthatches,

you'll recall that I wondered which birds were residents in the birdhouse last year,

and who might have used a snake skin for nest filler?!!!

(Click on the highlighted letters above if you wish to see that post.)

As the momma bird flew out, it was plain to see the bluebirds had moved in.

Daddy bluebird was close by, keeping watch, and helping build the nest.

I think I agree with the title "Blue Bird of Happiness" for this little bird.

Just to watch them working together,

and to see that bright flash of blue makes me happy!

What makes you happy?

The pastor of the church I have been attending is starting

a study on happiness based on the book of Philippians.

He suggested we read this little book each week in a different translation.

An easy way to do this is by reading on-line with either

Blue Letter Bible or Bible Gateway.

Well, speaking of happiness,

it will make both me and my husband happy

if I get that laundry done,

and get the mail mess taken care of!

To see my most recent Name of God on Rocks, click HERE!

To see my daughter's take on happiness, 

click HERE, and go to the back pages on the "Look Inside".

Oh, yeah, did I tell you why I had such a "mail mess"?
I was looking for some lost Silver Dollar City season ticket passes.
...And I could say, happiness is finding them!

If you'd like to see many interesting bird posts,
visit Stewart's link by clicking on his name!

Delight!

The on-line dictionary I consulted for the meaning of DELIGHT says:

"a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture"

as its first definition. 

I found "DELIGHT" in seeing the early morning sunlight on the fog, and the interesting affect of the shadows from the tree by the neighborhood duck pond.

The loud honking of the Canada geese drew my attention away from the fog to the brilliantly blue sky overhead.

Looking farther down the pond, I saw the reason for the commotion.  

In an earlier post I shared how the swans protect their turf,

and get very aggressive in their defensiveness.
(Click HERE if you missed that post.)

Seeing the beauty of God in nature delights me.

But what is so amazing to me is that God looks at me with delight!

The Psalmist said "For the LORD takes delight in his people..."

Psalm 149:4 

I guess that's kind of an echo of Genesis 1:31 which says,

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

Someone else paraphrased it like this:

"God didn't make any junk!"

...And that includes you and me!

So if you're discouraged or beating yourself up,

I hope this encourages you today.

The Maker of the Universe thought He did a good job when He made us,

and He DELIGHTS in us!

Hop on over to Rock4Today to check out Names of God on Rocks!

Thanks for your visit!

Is it really possible to have JOY in the Mourning?

(This is really a follow up on an article on JOY from my Names of God on Rocks blog posted yesterday in  Rock4Today.)

At the time I wrote the book Joy in the Mourning, I was often struggling to find that JOY!  There would be moments of JOY which would sometimes come bursting in at the most unexpected times.  I wouldn't know whether to enjoy the moment or to feel guilty for having this JOY in the midst of my grief, because it almost seemed inappropriate!




I think my little sister Phyllis spoke with much wisdom when during one of these times of JOY she said to me, "I don't think you can really appreciate JOY until you have known the depths of sorrow!"

Possibly that's what David was thinking when he wrote in the Psalms, "Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY comes in the morning."

To me, that unexpected joy may be triggered by a small thing, like a call from a friend, a smile from a child, a beautiful sun rise, the song of a bird, ...or just a good cup of coffee!

At other times, like my daughter Sarah wrote in Choosing Your Feelings, you have to pursue joy, chase it down and make it your own.  (Click on above link and scroll to end to read Sarah's brief book.)

My counsellor friends from Ozark Family Ministry say it this way, "You can't choose your feelings, but you can change your thoughts, and your thoughts can change your feelings."

If you are needing a little JOY in your life today, "May God, the source of hope, fill you with JOY and peace through your faith in Him.  Then you will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  (Romans 15;13 from Names of God Bible)


Linking with Winsome Wednesdays, Brag on God Fridays, and Spiritual Sundays!

How can JOY be a sacrifice?!!

"I will offer sacrifices of joy..."

Psalm 27:6

This morning as I went downstairs to spend some time with the Lord,

the "Not About Me" challenge that was given to us by Laura of

Brag on God Friday was on my mind.

I didn't have to wonder long about what God wanted to show me.

My Bible opened up to Psalm 27,

and my eyes immediately fell on verse 6 as quoted above.

God had spoken to me before about the

"sacrifices of praise" mentioned in Hebrews 13:6 that says,

"...Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God,

that is, the fruit of our lips,

giving thanks to His Name."

And now here it was again.  Was it the same thing?

 God had previously shown me that when my life with its situations

and challenges seemed out of control, they would come under His control

when I would praise and worship Him.

He would give me His peace as I placed my thoughts on Him,

and He would work out all things for my good.

Looking at notes in my study Bible, I read that although we

no longer have a need to bring the thanksgiving sacrifices to God described

in the book of Leviticus, we are to offer spiritual sacrifices.

According to Hosea 14:2, we do this by "taking words with us",

and using our lips to speak His praise outloud to Him.

So, to me it looks like the "sacrifice of joy"

and the "sacrifice of praise" are really the New Testament version

of the "sacrifice of Thanksgiving".

How appropriate is that for this season?!!!

As we praise Him for WHO HE IS

and celebrate the blessings He has given us,

He fills us with His JOY and STRENGTH!

In giving up my rights to pout, be discouraged,

or nourish negative feelings, it is a sacrifice.

I have a right to feel that way if I want to dwell on it.

But what a trade-off if I let go of it and praise God instead!

When I praise Him, I take my hands off my problems

and give Him room to work.

JOY instead of self-pity!

JOY instead of gloom and doom!

I don't know about you, but today I choose JOY!

And that's my JOY4TODAY!

To see Names of God on rocks,
hop on over to my ROCK4TODAY blog!


Linking with Women Living Well Wednesdays,
Brag on God Fridays,
and
Spiritual Sundays.

Zinnias and Butterflies

I've not been having very good luck at having a vegetable garden lately.

Last summer I tried a "Bag Garden" after reading about the idea in the newspaper.

It sounded like a good idea...

Use double brown paper bags like you get from the grocery store,

fill them with enhanced soil,

plant your seeds or seedlings,

surround them with mulch,

water occasionally,

and PRESTO - supposedly enjoy your harvest!

Well, that didn't work out too good.

Peaking through my lattice,

you can see this year's garden.

This was supposed to be a tomato patch

with a border of zinnias.

Well, I guess the zinnias must have loved the Miracle Grow,

because as you can see,

they took over the garden spot.

But along with the zinnias came an unexpected blessing -

BUTTERFLIES!

Unusual ones,

Beautiful ones,

...Many varieties and colors just like the zinnias!

I think I won't worry about the vegetable garden.

I'll just enjoy the crop of zinnias and butterflies that God has blessed me with!

The farmer's market will have the veggies I need!

And that's my JOY4TODAY!

Linking with:Alphabe-Thursday, Brag on God Friday, and

Spiritual Sundays.