Good morning, Dear friends and Prayer Partners! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! The wind is blowing and the air is cool and the promise of rain is in the forecast. And, we had a good shower last night after dark.. I had seen a dark cloud hovering overhead, but really did not think it would rain. But it did not last long.
I was so impressed by the sky yesterday. In addition to the contrails, white puffy clouds were floating around , contrasting with the blue of the sky. Very beautiful!
After vacuuming and getting some things done, I went to the park, and saw one woodstork, and several ibises hanging around the weir. That is unusual, because I had not seen them there before. Then, further on, I saw the old gopher tortoise. As I was growing up, we just called them gophers, and they were everywhere in the vacant lots. Now, they are protected.
On my way back home, I took a detour to Wendy's and purchased a salad and baked potato with chili cheese topping for supper. Couldn't eat all of either one, so guess I will have reruns again for lunch. But God is good!
From the devotional book Quiet Moments with God:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 NKJV
In 1994, Jim Gleason underwent a life-saving heart transplant at age fifty-one. After he survived one of the most extreme surgeries imaginable, many asked how it felt to love with a new heart. His analogy was "like being born again, but with fifty years of memories and experiences built in."
He tells of coming home just ten days after his transplant. He wanted to go for a short walk around the yard. Accompanied by his daughter, he gazed in wonder at the green grass--so brilliant after weeks of drab hospital room walls. He recalls:
I stopped walking. "Look at that!" I exclaimed to Mary. I was pointing to our small maple tree, so vibrant with the colors of that crisp, clear fall day. Then I spied a grasshopper and, like the young child, exclaimed in glee, "Look at that! A grasshopper!"
Her response, in disbelief at my reaction, was an almost sarcastic, "Well, if that's exciting, look here-- a lady bug!"
After four years with his new heart. Jim still cherishes life's simple pleasures. And when is the danger of losing that gift greatest? " As friends and family wish you would return to being "Normal"". he reflects. "I struggle to never become "normal" in that sense again."
With God's help, we, too, can walk in newness of life--no surgery required. Give thanks that we don't have to be "normal".
Think not on what you lack
as much as on what you have.
Greek Proverb
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
