FREE!!!



 

 

Yes, this is a picture of me "breaking free"!

I'm glad this was just a fake jail cell,

but I really have been set free in a spiritual sense.

 

God has a lot to say about setting people free.

Here's a sampling of a few of those verses:

 

"In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and He answered by setting me free."

Psalm 118:5

 

"He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

The LORD sets prisoners free"

Psalm 146:7

 

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free...

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

John 8:32&36

 

 

That "Son" that sets us free and mentioned in the verse above,

is

JESUS!

 

 

 

Thanks for your visit!

To check out my unusual name for God this week,

click on Names of God on Rocks!

 



YOU have been ELECTED!

 

 

 

 

I love the Christmas Season!

I am usually one of the first in the neighborhood to put up my decorations!

This year was no exception.

 



Since angels were the first to announce the birth of our Savior,
they outnumber the other types of ornaments on my tree.

I have quite a variety of them.

Most are small, and reflect light well.

But then there's the unusual,
like this one made out of shells,
brought to me by my granddaughter
after a trip to Hawaii.

Then there's this one that sits on the top of my tree.

 

 

 

But this is the one that stays up year round
and reminds me of Jesus' words from Matthew 24:31:
"And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other."
 

The wonderful thing about this is,

the invitation is open to EVERY PERSON who will RSVP!
The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.
 He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish,
but EVERYONE to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 



So, how do you become part of this "Elect group"?

Billy Graham has helped many thousands of people take this step.

Click HERE for information on how to have peace with God.

 

 

Click on Rock4Today for my companion blog of

"Names of God on Rocks!"

 

 

 



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!

Chosen!

Last year I got so excited when a pair of bluebirds looked at my little birdhouse

that my husband had lovingly installed on a tree trunk on our farmland.

I was afraid we had frightened them off by being too observant,

but was delighted when they CHOSE to stay and raise a family!

This past week at our residence in town we've had a pair of bluebirds
scouting out the bird house that we put up last year,
...but unfortunately it went without any tenants all summer!

It will delight me if they come back

and make this their CHOSEN home!

To be CHOSEN is such a wonderful thing!

And that's exactly what God has done -

He CHOSE  us to be His own,

to be a part of His family.

"...The LORD your God has chosen you 

to be a people for Himself, a special treasure"

Deuteronomy 7:6 

"But you are a chosen generation, 

a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 

 His own special people, 

that you may proclaim the praises of Him 

who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..."

1 Peter 2:9 

To see my Name of God for this week,

click on Rock4Today!

Thanks for your visit!

Beloved!

In my most recent Rock4Today post featuring the

Names of God on Rocks,

I posted the name "Beloved".

It's interesting to me that not only does that name apply to Jesus,

but it's also a name that He has for us!



"The Beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him,
Who shelters him all the day long;
And he shall dwell between His shoulders."
Deuteronomy 33:12

I was not surprised that "The Beloved Disciple" John often used the word

"Beloved"

when referring to those in the family of God,

but it did surprise me how much Peter used the word in his epistle.

...I guess I always thought of Peter as a brash guy

who would have had trouble expressing words of love,

but these words (along with others from him) prove me wrong on that:

"Beloved,

do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,

as though some strange thing happened to you;

but rejoice..."

1 Peter 4:12

It is often easier for me to see that God loves others,
than it is for me to see how much He loves ME!
I guess that's why God tells us in 1 John 4:11-12
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another,"
because often the way we feel His love
is through another person!



Awesome Annual Marathon

The White River Marathon for Kenya
            A fund-raiser for the "Kids of Katito"
                       

If you live around the North Central Ozarks,
you might have seen the banner announcing
the annual White River Marathon for Kenya.

 

Since I was the courier to bring some of the food

that was served to the marathon participants,

I was lucky to get there just as the winners

of the half marathon race were being announced .

 



The food was served at the Cotter School Cafeteria.

After finishing their race, participants went through the food line...

...then sat around tables recuperating,
and cheering as winners were announced from each age category.

Some may have been too young to run,
but didn't let their age deter them from
helping to support World Vision's outreach
to the needy kids of Katito, Kenya!



I was able to catch my friend
M'Lisa and her husband as they were leaving.



When I asked M'Lisa how she did,
I felt her reply was worth publishing.
"Well, I didn't win the race," she said,
"but I finished!"

Her words remind me of a Scripture verse from 2 Timothy 4:7-8

"I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race,

and I have remained faithful.  

And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness,

which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return.

And the prize is not just for me

but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing."   

 

If you are interested in sponsoring a World Vision child

or giving a gift to a needy child this Christmas,

 check out their site by clicking HERE. 

 

 

To see my most recent Names of God on Rocks post,

click HERE!

Thanks for your visit!

 

 

If you were a participant, you might like to check out the professional photos

 at "SEE YOUR EVENT PHOTOS".
They have some awesome shots of  crossing the finish line!

Zig-Zag... and back track!

This weekend my husband and I made a return trip to David's Trail.
This time we took a different path -
one that went zig-zagging up and down the hills surrounding the lake.
 

This time we took our granddaughter with us.

As we walked along we enjoyed
the remaining wonderful splashes of color.

 

 

 

Then it happened!
There it was right in the middle of the trail -
some "scat",
more commonly known as bear poop.
The persimmon seeds gave away the animal's identity.
Gary said it looked like "cub size" scat.
Poking it with a stick, we found it was still VERY soft,
which meant the cub might not be far away.

 

 

Living up to his reputation as a protector of his family,
my husband quickly urged us to quit following the zig-zag trail,
and make a U-turn back to our vehicle ---
just in case the cub AND ITS MOTHER were still nearby.

 

As I was discussing what happened with our youngest daughter,

she said the way her daddy always tried to protect us from danger

reminded her of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, and our Guide.

(Click on colored links above to see corresponding posts on Rock4Today.)



In case you're wondering,

no - I haven't got my camera fixed yet.

I had to resort to my little "click and shoot" Nikon.

Yesterday...

 

 

Yesterday, my husband took me for a beautiful fall walk

on David's Trail which runs along the shores of Norfork Lake.



It was a perfect day to check it out.

Gary led the way,

and I followed with the camera.
The fall foliage was exquisite.

At times the lake was in sight.
...And most of the time,
so was my husband.

He discovered the labeling posted on various trees.

One of my favorites was the black jack oak,
so brilliant in its fall foliage. 
My husband agreed with the statement on the label
which stated the tree had very hard wood,
and told me that he had dulled many chain saws
while cutting this kind of tree.
 

Evidence of claw and scratch marks
seemed to indicate that a squirrel had enlarged this hole
to store his winter stash of food.
I think this was a white oak tree.

It was while I was attempting to get a good capture
of these dogwood leaves and berries that I had a little misfortune. 
 When I got off the trail to take the picture,
I failed to see a tree root or stump that was covered with leaves.
Before I knew it, I fell, and was face down on the ground!

Not injured badly, I quickly jumped up and hurried
to catch up with my husband.
Cleaning the dust off my camera,
and explaining about my sudden fall,
I then attempted to take a photo.
The auto adjustment wouldn't work...
 



The manual lens adjustment would allow me to
bring things into focus,
but was stiff and hard to turn.

I was glad we were near the end of our hike,
and thankful that I wasn't hurt badly by the fall.
My camera will have to be restored,
or a new lens purchased.

As I lay in bed thinking about this,
a verse from 1 Corinthians 10:12 came to my mind.
"So, if you think you are standing firm,
be careful that you don't fall!"


 

My mind was so intent on taking great photos,

that I got off the trail,

and lost sight of where my real focus should have been!

 

I think you get the picture.

 

May yesterday's mistakes keep me from falling today!

 

 

To hop on over to God's Names on Rocks, click on ROCK4TODAY!

 



Display of eXcellence!

 

 

My granddaughter and I watched in awe

as the trumpeter swans chased off the Canada geese

in a grand show of eXcellence.

My neighbor had told me it was a grand sight to see,
...and it certainly was!

 

Previously I had witnessed the after affects of a fight,
with feathers afloat following a conflict.
(To see this post, click on "TURF")

But to see the fighting in live action was eXciting and eXhilarating!

 

 

One by one the Canada Geese were absconded.

 

 

Sometimes the swans split up,
each chasing a goose.

They didn't stop till all the Canada geese were driven out of the water.
 

 

The amazing thing to me was,

they left the ducks alone.

 

Watching those swans separate and drive out the geese

reminds me of a time in the future

when it is the angels who will do some separating.

Curious?  ...Click HERE to read about it!

 

 

Linking with Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday for the letter X. 

 

To see my Name of God on Rocks post for this week, click HERE!



Wild Things!

As you can tell by the chain on this wolf's neck,
I did not catch this picture of him out in the wild!
He was part of a teaching seminar hosted recently
by the Old Independence Regional Museum
of Batesville, Arkansas.

It was my privilege not only to see a wolf up close,
but also to see several birds of prey.

This, and the picture above are of a grey hawk.

The man holding this horned owl is Rodney Paul
who works with "Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas".

The owl was rescued after it was kicked out of its nest by its mother
because it was blind. 

Mr. Paul explained to us that although the blindness was temporary,
the owl had already bonded to him, and could not survive in the wild.
 

This monkey-faced bird of prey is a barn owl, also known
as a farmer's best friend because of all the mice he devours!

If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see the restraints
that keep him from being able to fly away.

I think the most important thing I learned that day
was that it is illegal for you to keep a feather of any protected
bird of prey.  If you have a feather in your possession,
it could mean you are guilty of killing the protected bird,
and could involve prison time!  So BEWARE, if you, like me,
have a habit of picking up feathers when you're out on a walk!

Although this wolf acted pretty tame, I still wouldn't trust it to have overcome its wild instincts.  There is coming a time, though, when God says,

"The wolf will live with the lamb,
 the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
 their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
 as the waters cover the sea."
Isaiah 11:6-9

WOW!
Won't that be a wonderful time,
when the wild things are no longer wild!

 

Thanks for your visit!

Click HERE to see "Names of God on Rocks".