The Vine

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! Well! We Are having very unspring like weather today! The air is actually chilly since the "cold" front came through, and I got out one of my cool weather tops when I dressed. The humidity is low and the breeze is almost still, but the sun is bright, so the warm up is on the way.

My van is back and the air is all fixed! Ray said he spent about two hours online with an app that mechanics use when they have problems to get others opinions and find solutions. That is how he found out the problem with my A/C and was able to order the part to fix it. He said he had never come across this situation in all his years as a mechanic. It was a learning experience for him. I am blessed that he was persistent! Also blessed that it was not the compressor!

I had a nice surprise when a beautiful arrangement of roses, carnations and other flowers was delivered as a gift from Brian! It even had a balloon floating high above it! Love my sons!

As I had the garage door open yesterday, a feisty blue jay came hopping by and stopped and looked at me. So I told him I knew he wanted a peanut. So I took a hand full and threw some out under the oak tree. I am sure the squirrels did not get even one! Bluejays are greedy. But God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

John 15:5-8
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches.
Those who remain in me, and I in them will
produce much fruit. For apart from me, you
can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me
is thrown away like a useless branch and withers.
Such branches are gathered into a pile and burned.
But if you stay joined to me , and my words remain
in you, you may ask any request you like and it
will be granted! My true disciple produce much
fruit. This brings much glory to my Father.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

And a very Happy Mothers' Day to all the Moms!

Psoaring thru Psalms

Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! Happy Cinco de Mayo Day! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! After the rainy, dark day yesterday, today we have cooler, dryer, temps and lots of sunshine. Beautiful dry weather! I had to walk out to the end of the driveway to retrieve my paper this morning and saw a large branch that had broken off the oak tree and lots of smaller leaves, twigs and stuff all over the yard and porch. I am very blessed though, because some people had trees topple on cars and the wind took off some roofs!

Well, it looks like I will be without a car for awhile. Another problem with the electric system has turned up, so Ray has to find a solution to that. I feel like my wings are clipped.

But my cleaning ladies came yesterday in the rain and so the house is all spiffy. They said they did not get too wet going in and out of houses with all their equipment. It was just a steady, light rain when they arrived here..

Well, yay! I just got a call from the auto shop and the repairs to the A/C won't be nearly as much as I thought! Thank you, Jesus! He a;ways provides! God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Psalm 145:13-21
The Lord is faithful in all he says,
he is gracious in all he does.
The Lord helps the fallen and lifts up those
bent beneath their loads.
All eyes look to you for help:
you give them their food as they need it.
When you open your hand,
you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living
thing.

The Lord is righteous in everything he does;
he is filled with kindness.
The Lord is close to all who call on him sincerely.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him.
He hears their cries for help and rescues them.
The Lord protects all those who love him, but
he destroys the wicked.

I will praise the Lord,
and everyone on earth will bless his holy name
forever and forever.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

Roamin' thru Romans

Good Morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! Wow! What a wild and wet day I woke up to! Actually, the lightning flashing on the curtains woke me first, and then I heard some thunder. I was expecting it because the weather reports yesterday kept showing on radar, the massive clouds of rain heading our way and the reports said it would start at about 5. They were right on the money! It is still raining lightly and water is dripping off the roof, but that's OK because my van is in the shop, so I can't go anywhere. Plus, we will take all the rain we can get!

I enjoyed bacon and eggs for breakfast and will probably have a BLT for lunch minus the lettuce. I already listened to some Trent Harmon songs which started my day off right, but one of the worship songs we sang Sunday keeps going through my mind. I even tried singing it out loud to see if that would help. Not that it's a bad thing to have praise songs in your mind; it's just one of those things...

My cleaning ladies are coming this afternoon. I saw them getting a wet start from Cheryl's house across the street. They had a nice, long weekend, since Cheryl's cousin came for a visit.

 When Ray came for the van last night, he had cleaned up the oil off the garage floor and swept all the leaves off the side I cannot get at when the car is parked. Sweeping is a challenge for me, anyway, since I have trouble with my balance. So I really appreciated Ray's thoughtfulness.

Well, I guess the squirrels are wet today and I don't hear any birds singing, so maybe later, when the sun comes out, all the little critters will get busy about their days. God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Romans 3:14-23
When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's
plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
 the Creator  of everything in heaven and on
earth. I pray that from the glorious, unlimited
resources, he will give you mighty, inner strength
through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will
be more and more at home in your hearts as you
trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the
soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have
the power to understand  as all God's people should;
how wide, how long, how high and how deep his
love really is. May you experience the love of Christ,
though it is so great you will never fully understand
it . Then you will be filled with the fullness of life
and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work
within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more
than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be
given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever
and ever through endless ages . Amen

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

Paul gives up his rights

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! Very warm humid and with a breeze blowing sums up another beautiful day, with the beaches calling to those with time to play!

I was so busy on the phone trying to straighten out a billing on my credit card, and then emailing back and forth, that I did not miss leaving the house. Ray came over to check out the A/C in the van and it looks like although the compressor seems to be all right, the part that he thinks needs replacing, comes with a compressor, so that means big bucks. Sigh. Cars mean a lot of up keep, but I would have a hard time giving mine up. I enjoy my time at home, and don't mind being alone , but there is freedom is knowing I can hop in the car and go whenever I want or need to.

Our second cousin from England is now in Orlando, after visiting Wash. D.C. and NYC. We are hoping to meet with him Saturday to chat for a couple hours. He is the one who started tracing our ancestry and has done a remarkable job in discovering a lot of cousins I never knew I had. They are all over the country and even parts of the world. Adam and his wife are celebrating their first anniversary with this trip to the states. A lovely, young couple.

Since I will be without a car for a couple days, I will have to get some groceries, even if I have to drive an unairconditioned car. But God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Remember that in a race, everyone wins, but
only one person gets the prize. You also must
run in such a way that you will win. All athletes
must practice strict self control. They do it to
win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for
and eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal
with purpose in every step. I am not like a boxer
who misses his punches. I discipline my body
like an athlete, training it to do what it should.
Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others,
I, myself, might be disqualified.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

Wisdom

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! We have a cool breeze this morning, but the temp is once again supposed to get up in the high eighties, so being without the A/C in the van will be a test of thinking cool thoughts.

Ray, my mechanic friend from church, just left after checking out the problem. Looks like it will cost an arm and a leg. It is not the compressor, but what he thinks is wrong, comes with a compressor, and that costs big bucks! Sigh.

I actually started out earlier this morning and was sitting down to type this at 10, but then Ray called, so that is my excuse for being late today. My yard guys are due today, but they have been coming on Tuesday lately, so I don't know when they will come. I noticed a limb hanging down from the oak tree over the driveway, so if and when they come, I hope they can get it down and dispose of it.!

The construction on 62nd Ave runs all the way to 4th st. The weekend wasn't bad because the cones were removed, so I drove on the unpaved part to church.  I thought attendance was down at second service, until about 5 or 10 after, then more people kept coming in and it was soon a pretty good crowd. Pastor Kevin gave another dynamic sermon about the DNA of the church, He brings out things I never thought about! Go, Kevin!

My amaryllis are looking a bit worse for wear, since some are already through blooming and still standing with droopy flowers and strong stalks. But the jacaranda trees are still beautiful! God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

James 3:13-18
If you are wise and understand God's ways,
live a life of steady goodness so that only
good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't
brag about the good you do, then you will be
truly wise! But if you are bitterly jealous and
there is selfish ambition in your hearts, don't
brag about being wise. That is the worst kind
of lie. For jealousy and selfishness are not
God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly,
unspiritual and motivated by the devil. For
wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition,
there you will find disorder and every kind of evil.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven, is first
of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all
times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of
mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and
is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers
will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of
goodness.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

Faith and Endurance

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! Just another very warm spring day that feels like summer...blue skies with puffy white clouds, and occasional rain in other parts of the state, but none predicted for here. The only thing that really keeps it from feeling like summer for sure, is the cool breeze. If I stand in the shade on the front porch, I can feel the coolness of the gentle wind, and it is good!

I think there is a new squirrel family zipping up and down the oaks and racing across the street. I saw four in the yard at one time and two sticking close together yesterday. I still like to watch them, but I wish they would stop coming to a dead stop in the street when I am driving toward them. I haven't hit one yet, but one day they won't get out of the way, I'm afraid.

After I finished some business yesterday, I decided to go down to CFA for a salad, since it was late in the afternoon, and of course, there was already a line around the building, but it was moving quickly, so it only took about ten minutes to get around. It was the first time they made a mistake in my order..apparently the girl thought I said "fruit punch" instead of sweet Iced tea? They don't sound anything alike, but the switch was made at the window. It was a pleasure.

I decided to go home by way of 62nd Ave. Oh, boy! The repaving has started and eastbound traffic was down to one lane. Talk about traffic! It was almost going home time and the line of traffic was
long, so I decided to get out of that mess and turned off to head home!

On my way, I drove by Lynch Lake and saw the stately egret waiting for a fish to swim by and lots of ducks, and a couple ibis. God is good!

(BTW, my computer lost its internet connection yesterday morning and by the time my friend told me how to reboot, it was too late to send this blog.)

From the Promise Bible NLT:

James 1:2-8
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble
comes your way, let it be an opportunity for
joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance
has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when
your endurance is fully developed, you will be
strong in character and ready for anything.

If you need wisdom--if you want to know what
God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly
tell you, He will not resent your asking. But when
you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to
answer, for a doubtful mind is an  unsettled as a wave
of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
People like that should not expect to receive anything
from the Lord. They can't make up their minds. They
waver back and forth in everything they do.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

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!There's not much to report about the weather because it is the same every day. We could really use some rain, so whenever God chooses, I am ready!

My cleaning ladies came yesterday instead of their usual day today, because Cheryl has a cousin coming to visit, so they are taking the rest of the week off. That is the good part about having their own business. They can work or not as they please, just by rearranging their schedule. They have been working together over 14 years and are closer than sisters.

I did not get out in the heat yesterday afternoon. I put some stuff in the recycle bin earlier and it was so hot, I almost burned my hand lifting up the lid! I saw a man sunning himself in his front yard in the neighborhood. If I did that, I would be a french fry in no time!

I have mentioned this before, but I think the birds are so plentiful this spring. I hear the mockers chirping even though the house is closed up and the A/C is on. Such a happy sound! God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Psalm 3:1-3, 11-12
O Lord, hear me as I pray.
pay attention to my groaning.
Listen to my cry for help, my King
and my God,
for I will never pray to anyone but you.
Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to
you and wait expectantly.

Let all who take refuge in you, rejoice;
let then sing joyful praises forever.
Protect them;
so all who love your name may be filled
with joy.
For you bless the godly, O Lord,
surrounding them with your shield of love.

I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis