Psalm 150

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! I hope you all had enjoyable Labor Day weekends and are ready to face whatever lies ahead the rest of the week. We had a small thunderstorm around supper time yesterday, but otherwise, it was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine to dry things out  a bit.

I did not leave the house because I did a dumb thing and ran into my furnace housing in the garage and half ripped my front bumper off.  Ray looked at it at church and I think he bent the corner so the bumper did not stick out.It  is driveable , but he said the bumper could come off while I was driving and that scared me. I have made arrangements with Geico to have it fixed and get a rental car, but that will have to wait until after I have an appointment with my chiropractor this afternoon. Sigh.

But the good news is...my nephew will be moving out of rehab and into his own place to continue rehab for his leg at home.
And more good news, the second cousin from England who came over for vacation back in May, and his sweet wife, are expecting their first child! Adam is the one who uncovered all my unknown relatives on my father's side of the family! I now know of cousins all over the world! My father came from a large farm family...

I already had a tree man stop by this morning looking for work. He said he had trimmed my trees two years ago. I remember his card and his name, but don't remember that he did any work for me.

I told him I had another tree man to get an estimate from. which I do, and would let him know.
All these decisions! But God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Psalm 150
Praise God in his heavenly dwelling.
Praise him in his mighty heaven!
Praise him for his mighty works.
praise his unequaled greatness!
Praise him with a blast of the trumpet.
praise him with the lyre and harp!
Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals!
Let everything that lives sing praises to the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

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

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

Thoughts

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, I know it is hard to rejoice when you are flooded in or have large trees fall on your house, but God is in control!

 I am really tired of this rain and wind but thankful that I am snug inside and that my untrimmed trees stayed strong,and only small twigs and branches are littering the front yard. Across the street in Cheryl's yard a large branch from a maple tree, I think, is draped over her fence and another large one is in her front yard. She has a pool in the back and it is probably full of leaves and trash.

We still have a band of the hurricane hanging over us, and more rain and wind is expected today. Schools are still closed, but I think most businesses are still open.

I have the protection of a huge, tall hedge on the north side of my house. It belongs to my neighbors and keeps any grass from growing because of the shade, and of course, my handyman has to trim it periodically, but in times like these, it makes a good wind brake.

We have no flooding in this neighborhood, and, as far as I know everyone around here is okay, so that is a good thing. Plus the power is on! God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Psalm 34:8-10
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!
Let the Lord's people show him reverence,
for those who honor him will have all
they need.
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry.
But those who trust in the Lord will never
lack any good thing.

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

Love and hugs,
Amaryllis

Psoaring thru Psalms

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 picking up, but so far, we have no rain this morning, although it is predicted to start this afternoon. There was so much rain yesterday that the water treatment plants are are maximum capacity. so everyone is urged to conserve water, no dishwashers no laundry, shower with a friend...wait! Just kidding about the shower!

I was watching Kelly Ripa with Josh Groban as her co-host this morning, so I am late with this blog. I really like Josh Groban and he is very funny when he is not singing.  So, I took time to just enjoy the banter.

My cleaning ladies came in the rain yesterday and got rained on coming in the door with all their equipment. They did not seem to mind, and wanted to know the progress of the storm, so I turned on the TV for them. They did their usual good job and then loaded up their SUV in the rain and took off.

Well, I see from my window that the wind is picking up. I need to get my oaks trimmed, because a couple limbs are hanging down pretty far. I am not sure who to call, so I guess I will ask around for someone who is good and reliable. But God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Psalm 34:1-7
I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
I will boast only in the Lord,
Let all who are discouraged take heart.
Come, let us tell of the Lord's greatness;
Let us exalt his name together.

I prayed to the Lord and he answered me,
freeing me from all my fears.
Those who look to him for help will be
radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
I cried out to the Lord in my suffering and
he heard me.
He set me free from all my fears.
For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him.
and He rescues them.

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

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

The Tree and It's Fruit

"It was a dark and stormy night..." is the way Snoopy's novels always start out and this is the story of our day so far. But it is still the Day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!

I rejoice that as far as I know I have no leaks in the roof, plenty of food to eat and the electricity is on. I have no place to go, so I am happy to stay at home,

We are in the midst of a Tropical Storm with a Hurricane watch in effect. Lots of rain and flooded streets in some areas. I was awakened at 3:30 by thunder and lightning and a fierce storm which lasted for about an hour. I finally got back to sleep sometime later and then slept later than usual, which did not matter, since I had no appointments.

My yard crew came yesterday and got their mowing in, trying to get ahead of the rain since they cannot work in weather like today. One of them also brought up the new Phone book, which was lying on the driveway. I was thankful for that.

Oh, something strange happened. I was talking to Brian on my iphone,,he calls me when he gets off work..and I heard a beep on the fone. I looked at it and there was Daryl's face! Apparently I had hit one of the buttons while chatting with Brian and dialed Daryl and was able to have a little Facetime chat with him! First time I had a Facetime chat with anyone! Very cool!

Yesterday was sunshiny nearly all day, so I got some running around done, including a trip to the park where I saw a great blue heron standing majestically in the canal, framed by the green branches of the trees behind him.. God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Luke 6:43,45
A good tree can't produce bad fruit and a
bad tree can't produce good fruit. A tree is
identified by the kind of fruit it produces.
Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes
on bramble bushes. A good person produces
good deeds from a good heart, and an evil
person produces evil deeds from an evil heart.
Whatever is in your heart determines what you
say.

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

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis

Love for Enemies

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! I am later than I wanted to be because of a stubborn PC. Anyway, here I am, staying tuned to the weather while they all try to figure out when and where this tropical disturbance will be hitting us. We have puffy clouds and blue skies at this moment, but heavy rains are predicted to start later on.

Brian brought my groceries Sat. evening, so, as long as the power stays on, I will be okay. Unlike my niece and nephew in Louisiana, who not only have a gutted home, but Doug's Mother, Ms. Pearl, passed away from a heart attack at 1:30 this morning.  They still have positive attitudes in the face of all they are going through. God is watching over them and all the others still trying to dig out of flooded belongings!

I was able to get to the book drop at the library before the raindrops got too heavy yesterday. I returned 3 and then was headed to the bank when it started raining harder, so I thought I had better get home. If I had started sooner, I would not have run into the rain..

I drove by a flock of ibis around Lynch Lake Park. They always seem to stay together in large flocks! But God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Luke 7:27-32
But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies.
do good to those who hate you. Pray for the happiness
of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other
cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your
shirt also. Give what you have to anyone who asks
you for it; and when things are taken away from you,
don't try to get them back. Do for others as you would
like them to do for you.

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! This is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! All is still and quiet and sunshiny right now, but we have been watching the latest weather reports on TD 9 and its erratic course. No one seems to know how much we will be affected later on this week, but most agree that we will have heavy rain and possible flooding around Thurs. or Friday.

Meanwhile, my niece and all the others in La. who were flooded are so tired from cleaning up and ripping out wet stuff, trying to get ahead of the mold and mildew, and now are thinking about the storm maybe bringing more rain to their area. But, people that need help themselves, are still helping others while trying to get to their jobs so they can pay their bills which keep coming. They need much prayer and financial help.

Well, I had an unusual happening Sat. morning. Shortly after I got up the power suddenly went off. It was daylight, but not too light in the house, so I took my shower, (I have a gas water heater) so no worries about water cooling off, and then got a light so I could find Duke Energy's customer service number. Everything is computerized now, so I did not have to wait long  and the voice told me that 97 outages were reported due to damaged equipment. I never found out what the damage was, but was told that I should have power by 9:30, and they were right! The power came back on just before 9:30. I had planned everything for my breakfast that I would have to get from the fridge, so as not to open it too much, so I got my milk for the cold cereal, O.J.,  and water, and just as I finished, the power came back on and I was able to make my cup of tea!

I could not have gone out for breakfast, because I was not sure how to open the electric door. I think there must be a rope I can pull to disconnect it, but I should find out.

We had a powerful, passionate sermon about giving, based on Ecclesiastes 5 yesterday, and there was applause at the end. I think it was one of the best I have ever heard. Pastor Kevin was just about in tears when he finished. We have a lot of new people and I wonder if any of them have ever heard about tithing. I have heard of the  old saying, "I don't go to church because all they talk about is money."..Not true in our case. But God is good!

From the Promise Bible NLT:

Romans 13:8-10
Pay all your debts, except the debt of love
for others. You can never finish paying for that!
If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill all the
requirements of God's law. For the commandments
against adultery and murder and stealing and
coveting---and any other commandment---are all
summed up in this one commandment: "Love your
neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to
anyone, so love satisfies all of God's requirements.

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

Love and hugs,
Amaryllis

Psoaring thru Psalms

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! Yesterday was beautiful , hot and dry and today is starting out the same. the weather people are still doing their best to keep track of the disturbances in the tropics, but one called it "Pathetic" and no threat. However, it does look like we will be getting rain Monday and Tuesday. We will just have to wait and see.

I took a day off from writing this blog so I could do some shopping in the morning when it is slightly cooler. Well, it didn't happen. I did get as far as CVS, because i had two calls saying ai had a scrip ready, so I needed to go pick that up. After that, I zipped over to S&S to get a half price milk shake. Then I drove to the park, which was almost deserted, and had a slurp or two.  Um, um, good!

Then, back home to unload the van. I was able to get home before school let out, which always means a traffic jam when St. Pete Christian lets out. The Rays played in the afternoon, which I forgot, so I did not get to watch them, but they won! God is good!
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From the Promise Bible NLT:

Psalm 139:23,24
Search me, O God,and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting
life.

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

Love and hugs,
 Amaryllis