Love those Birds!

I am a birdwatcher!

But first let's get a few things straight...

Do I recognize all the birds in our area?

No, not all of them... but I work at it.

Can I tell which bird it is by listening to its song?

No again...  I'm not very good at it,

but neither of these keep me from enjoying their beauty or their song.

Would it surprise you to know that

God uses the birds to teach me about Himself?

This Baltimore Oriole is my latest bird lesson.
In the past I had bought oriole feeders,
and tried to entice them to come visit me but to no avail.
Then this week, SURPRISE!
One just showed up at my bird feeder,
 which by the way, only contained left over cornbread
and some fatty trimmings off a roast!

I had read that orioles liked oranges,
so decided to put some out..

 The results were amazing!

It was rather cold outside,

so I dawned my orange jacket

and stuck some orange slices in the crevices 

of a large old tree stump on our side yard.

 He boldly came out of the trees
and began enjoying the oranges!
I wondered if the ORANGE jacket had anything
to do with getting his attention!

               I watched him on and off all day,

and felt like his appearance was a special gift to me 

                   from my Heavenly Father.

This inspired a little Bible study on my part, 

and some of what I learned amazed me!

Did you know that after God created the birds,

He talked to them and blessed them?!!

"God blessed them and said, 

'Be fruitful and increase in number'..."

Genesis 1:21-23

Then God made a promise to give every green plant for food to

 "all the beasts of the earth

AND ALL THE BIRDS OF THE AIR

...Everything that has the breath of life in it"

Genesis 1:30

After the flood, God included the birds

when He promised not to flood the whole earth again.

Genesis 9:9-11

God says He provides food for the ravens

when its young cry out to Him.

Job 38:41

Interestingly, it was ravens that God used

to bring food to Elijah.

You can read about this in  1 Kings 17.

And the book of Luke says,

"Consider the ravens;

They do not sow or reap,

they have no storeroom or barn:

yet God feeds them.

And how much more valuable you are than birds!

Luke 12:24

Earlier in that same chapter,

Luke says that not one sparrow is forgotten by God.

He continues, "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

Luke 12:6-7

Matthew spends some time driving this point home

in his gospel.  He quotes Jesus saying that if our

Heavenly Father feeds the birds,

we should not worry,

because He certainly knows how to care for us!

Matthew 6:25-34 The Message 

I don't know about you,

but I had a few challenges this week,

and I needed this reminder that

if God loves the birds so much and cares for them,

He will surely take care of me.

And He used a beautiful Baltimore Oriole

to get His point across!

And then he even came back,
and brought his wife with him!

You might also like to check out
a previous post entitled
 "The Power of Orange"!
Or hop on over to
Rock4Today
to check out My Names for God on Rocks!

Joys of Springtime!

No words really necessary!

Joys of new life,

and the birth of another spring!

We have such a marvelous Creator! 

I love to make beautiful spring bouquets!
I'm so glad that God said:

"As long as the earth remains,

there will be planting and harvest,

cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night."

Genesis 8:22
God's guarantee there will always be seasons.
After a dreary winter,
we can always be certain 
SPRING WILL COME!

ADDED BLESSINGS!
The Joy of a spring visit from my younger sister tops it off!

Blood sisters by birth,

and sisters in Christ through second birth!

"God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family

by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

This is what he wanted to do,

and it gave him great pleasure."

Ephesians 1:5

".......He did good,

and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons,

filling our hearts with food and gladness."

Acts 14:17 KJV

Jeep trail ride before the spring rains hit!

My husband and I are "Jeep people"!

He had been without one too long,

and we were missing our Jeep adventures.

For months he looked at many, many vehicles,

whether it was on-line, car lots,

or making a fast turn around as he spotted a 

"FOR SALE" sign beside the highway.

Finally he found one that seemed to meet his expectations,
and just in time to be dubbed a Valentine's present!  LOL!

So, before the spring rains came and the Buffalo River
got to high to cross, we went on one of our favorite Jeep trails.

Local people will probably recognize this trail
that leads up to what is called,
"The Nars" by old timers,
or by its proper name -  "The Narrows."
(Click HERE or on above highlighted links to see some web photos)

Old trees...

An old barn...
all on Buffalo National River Park property.
(Click on the link above to see a great place to vacation!)
Buffalo River offers nature lovers so many beautiful places to see,
things to do, trails to hike, waters to canoe or kayak etc.

Then we came to Richland Creek.
My husband's family used to pick cotton in the
fields that lined this creek.

We couldn't tell the depth of the creek,
and decided not to take the Jeep across!
I imagine that creek is really roaring today,
because we have received several inches of rain.

I don't imagine you can spot the elk,
because I didn't have my Canon with me
and only had my smart phone to take the photos.
BUT there are three elk lying in the grass...
I was okay with there being a bit of distance
even if I couldn't get a good photo!

All this landscape will be changing drastically in the next weeks

as buds burst forth with fresh greenery.

I'm so thankful for the heavy rains we have had in the last couple of days,

even if it means we can't cross the river for awhile!

Speaking of "crossing the river",

my heart was saddened by the passing of

Rev. Billy Graham.

I have referred to him and his ministry several times on this blog.

No one made the way of knowing God any plainer.

Did you know that prisoners built the simple wooden coffin

in which he is to be buried?

(Click HERE if you're curious how that came to be.)

Well, I think that's about it for this time.

My latest post on Names of God on Rocks

can be found by clicking HERE.

This week I featured "The Rock of Israel".

Thanks for your visit!

For more Arkansas adventures,

check out my friend Tricia's blog -

Expeditions by Tricia!

Lentil chili, Ezekiel Bread - and SHAMMAH!

It's turned cold again here in the Ozarks,
and cold weather seems to scream
for hot soups, stews, ...or CHILI!

My husband bought some Progresso Lentil Soup,
I tried it...
but I thought it needed a little doctoring,
so I came up with a new recipe.

I'll see if I can remember what all I put in it
so that you can reproduce it if you would like to try it!

Brown 1 pound ground beef
 with chopped onion, peppers and celery.
(I tried dehydrated peppers, and they worked great also.)
Drain off meat fat, and add two 10 oz cans Lentil Soup.
Season to your taste with chili powder, cumin and garlic.
(I used a slightly heaping teaspoon of chili,
probably about 1/3 to 1/2 tsp of cumin,
 a dab of grated garlic, a little salt and red pepper.)
The second time I made it, I left off the red pepper,
and added 1/3 cup chopped canned jalapenos.
Simmer this all together for a half hour or more,
and then YUM, give it a try!
The jalapenos give it a nice zing!

Curiosity had me look up lentils in the Bible.
I knew Ezekiel had eaten lentils.
Maybe you have, too, if you have eaten Ezekiel Bread!

But I didn't know King David ate lentils.
His friend Barzillai brought him some when David
was running from mutiny at the hand of his own son!

King David also had a mighty man named Shammah,
who dared to fight the Philistines when everyone else fled.
It sounds to me like he was defending a field of lentils.
Read it HERE for yourself and see what you think!
It says that the LORD brought about a great victory.
The LORD was there with him 
as he took his stand in that field of lentils.
Everyone else ran out on him,
BUT THE LORD WAS THERE!

I find it very interesting that his name was SHAMMAH,
because that was one of the names for God that I posted
on Rock4Today awhile back.
Shammah means
"The LORD is there".
Surely, The LORD was there with him
in that field of lentils!

So think of that as you put a bite of lentil chili
or Ezekiel bread in your mouth,
and know that the LORD is there with you wherever you are!
He said He would never leave you or forsake you!
Deuteronomy 31:8

Creamy Cheesy Potato Soup

"Jesus Soup"

I call this recipe my "Jesus Soup",

because it seems to be well tolerated

by people that have had colds or flu,

and are ready to add food

back into their diet.

Another reason I call it "Jesus Soup"is

 because, like Jesus,

for me, it's one of those

"NEVER FAIL"

recipes!

It's a great recipe for cold winter days,

...and today is one of those days!

Start out with potatoes,
depending how large a batch you wish to make.
I usually use 6 -8 medium sized "spuds".

I cut mine up into quite small pieces
so that they'll get kind of mushy after cooking.

Along with the potatoes,
I add a couple of stalks of celery cut into small pieces,
a finely chopped medium size onion,
and 6-8 medium size carrots cut in small pieces.
I cover that generously with water,
add several cubes of chicken bouillon,
and boil the vegetables on medium heat until tender.

When the vegetables are fully cooked,
I add a couple of cans of Cream of Chicken Soup,
and stir until well blended.
The consistency of the soup will depend a lot
 on how well-done you've cooked the veggies.
I add Chicken Broth to bring it to the desired consistency.
I usually also add 6 or 8 ounces or so of creamy cheese,
(like Velveeta), turn down the heat,
and stir till it's all melted.

And there you have it!

Ready to eat!

It's great served with cheese and crackers
...or even better with hot grilled cheese sandwiches!

(In case you wondered about adding salt,

there's quite a lot of sodium in the bouillon,

the creamy chicken soup,

and the cheese,

so, for me it's quite unnecessary to add more.)

I must give credit to my "First-Born" daughter,

who introduced me to this recipe.

Thank you, Crystal!

If you have time,

come on over and check out my latest post on Rock4Today,

featuring the Names of God Painted on Rocks!

I Love Lilies!

Can I share some of my favorite lily photos with you?

I love lilies!

 "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;

 they neither toil nor spin;

 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field,

 which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,

 will He not much more clothe you,

 O you of little faith?"

 Matthew 6:28-30

 

Country Church Pig Roast and Vacation Bible School

In the latter part of the summer

we had a great time at 

the little Country Church on Woolum Road.

The children enjoyed
acting out the Bible stories.
(This was the story of Abigail being a peace-maker
and bringing donkeys loaded with food
to David before he became king.
Of course, probably as many snacks got eaten
as were placed in the donkey's saddle bags!)

Song time was fun,
whether singing with the DVD player,
or accompanied by our pianist, Miss Abby.
Many principles were taught through the lyrics.

Of course, snack time was always
a favorite time!

Mr. Chris and his wife Ms. Cindy have been instrumental
 in putting together the annual Pig Roast for years.

Although a timber man by trade,
this gentleman has been taking over
more and more of the cooking duties.

And we couldn't forget Mr. Tom...
He would definitely be the official bell ringer
to signal that the food was ready.

Two long tables of food verified
the message of the ringing bell!

Fellowship, food, fun, and music!
Community coming together.
What could be better than this?

If you live in the Searcy County area

feel welcome to join us at the little

Pine Bluff Community Church

on South Woolum Road

for Saturday night church at 7 pm,

or Sunday mornings at 10 am.

Hope to see you there!

Have you checked out my Names of God on Rocks lately?

Click on the highlighted letters to take you there!

Thanks for stopping by!