Good warm 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 had a warm walk yesterday, but once we got to the Tower, a wonderful breeze was blowing and rippling the water, so we hated to leave. We saw a hawk looking rather lonely, now that she is an "empty-nester." All the kids are gone. Summer camp has started and many youngsters were in the classroom learning about critters and nature.
God is good!
Psalm 146 NLT
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, I tell myself.
I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God even with my dying breath.
Don't put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
When their breathing stops, they return to the earth.,
and in a moment all their plans come to an end.
But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper.,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the one who made heaven and earth.
the sea and everything in them.
He is the one who keeps every promise forever.
Who gives justice to the oppressed and
food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts the burdens of those bent beneath their loads.
The Lord love the righteous.
The Lord protects the foreigners living among us.
He cares for the widows and orphans,
but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.
The Lord will reign forever,
O Jerusalem your God is King in every generation!
I always give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (10 days and counting)
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Hebrews 12:2
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 bit of coolness in the air as I stepped outside this morning, was very welcome after the heat of yesterday. The moon was just a slight sliver on its way to disappearing for awhile.
Yesterday we saw the peacock on our way to the Park, and noticed not very many people. But the elderberry bushes are still blooming and soon will bear fruit. Also, the crape myrtle trees are blooming along with the brilliant Royal Poincianas! God always has great beauty in store for us!
"Looking away from all that will distract to Jesus, who is the leader and the source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection].
Hebrews 12:2 AMP
From the book Quiet Moments:
If you have ever worked a complicated jigsaw puzzle, you know three things about them.
First they take time. ...Most large puzzles take several days, even weeks, to complete. The fun is in the process, the satisfaction in the accomplishment.
Second, the starting point, identifying the corners and edges.
Third, jigsaw puzzles are fun to work by oneself but even more fun to work with others. When a "fit" is discovered between two of those pieces, the excitement is felt by all participants.
Consider the day ahead of you to be like a piece in the jigsaw puzzle of your life. Indeed, its shape is likely to be just as jagged, its colors just as unidentifiable. The meaning of today may not be sequential to that of yesterday. What you experience today may actually fit with something you experienced several months ago or something you will experience in the future. You aren't likely to see the big picture of your life by observing only one day. Even so, you can trust that there is a plan and purpose. All the pieces will come together according to God's design and timetable.
The main thing to remember is to enjoy the process. Live today to the fullest, knowing one day you'll see the full picture.
Faith is the daring of the soul
to go farther
than it can see.
William Newton Clarke
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love.
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Yesterday we saw the peacock on our way to the Park, and noticed not very many people. But the elderberry bushes are still blooming and soon will bear fruit. Also, the crape myrtle trees are blooming along with the brilliant Royal Poincianas! God always has great beauty in store for us!
"Looking away from all that will distract to Jesus, who is the leader and the source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection].
Hebrews 12:2 AMP
From the book Quiet Moments:
If you have ever worked a complicated jigsaw puzzle, you know three things about them.
First they take time. ...Most large puzzles take several days, even weeks, to complete. The fun is in the process, the satisfaction in the accomplishment.
Second, the starting point, identifying the corners and edges.
Third, jigsaw puzzles are fun to work by oneself but even more fun to work with others. When a "fit" is discovered between two of those pieces, the excitement is felt by all participants.
Consider the day ahead of you to be like a piece in the jigsaw puzzle of your life. Indeed, its shape is likely to be just as jagged, its colors just as unidentifiable. The meaning of today may not be sequential to that of yesterday. What you experience today may actually fit with something you experienced several months ago or something you will experience in the future. You aren't likely to see the big picture of your life by observing only one day. Even so, you can trust that there is a plan and purpose. All the pieces will come together according to God's design and timetable.
The main thing to remember is to enjoy the process. Live today to the fullest, knowing one day you'll see the full picture.
Faith is the daring of the soul
to go farther
than it can see.
William Newton Clarke
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love.
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis
Friday, June 8, 2007
Excerpts from a of Psalm of Praise
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 stepped outside in the coolness of the morning, just in time to see a duck go flying down the middle of the street. 'They are all so fat, they can't make it off the ground very well.
Everything at the Park was simmering in the heat yesterday. Not many people were brave enough to walk while sweltering, but the anhingas stay cool while fishing and the baby hawks have left the nest and perch on nearby branches, still waiting for Ma or Pa to feed them. God is good!
Psalm 145;13
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...
I will praise the Lord,
and everything on earth will bless
his Holy name.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving , 14 and counting,
Amaryllis
Everything at the Park was simmering in the heat yesterday. Not many people were brave enough to walk while sweltering, but the anhingas stay cool while fishing and the baby hawks have left the nest and perch on nearby branches, still waiting for Ma or Pa to feed them. God is good!
Psalm 145;13
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...
I will praise the Lord,
and everything on earth will bless
his Holy name.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving , 14 and counting,
Amaryllis
Thursday, June 7, 2007
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!
This morning the half moon was visible in a clear sky, so it looks like no rain today.
Because we have a boy with a sore sunburn, we did not go to the Park yesterday, but he is healing and should be able to wear a shirt today. Instead, we made and baked cookies, which was fun.
From The Promise Bible:
What do I do when problems overwhelm me?
Psalm 145:14
"The Lord is my light and my salvation-so why should I be afraid? The Lord protects me from danger-so why should I tremble?"
Problems can turn our eyes from the Lord. Use them instead, as opportunities to turn our eyes to the Lord for his protection, his guiding light, and his saving power.
Psalm 145:14 "The Lord helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads."
God finds the fallen and never passes them by. When we feel we can't go another step, he shoulders our loads, easing our pain and burdens.
Psalm 42:5-6 "Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again-my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged , but I will remember your kindness -from Mt. Hermon, the souirce of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar God's Mercy. "
He has been faithful in the past and will be faithful in the future. Memory ignites the fire of hope and drives away the darkness of despair.
I always give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (15 and counting)
This morning the half moon was visible in a clear sky, so it looks like no rain today.
Because we have a boy with a sore sunburn, we did not go to the Park yesterday, but he is healing and should be able to wear a shirt today. Instead, we made and baked cookies, which was fun.
From The Promise Bible:
What do I do when problems overwhelm me?
Psalm 145:14
"The Lord is my light and my salvation-so why should I be afraid? The Lord protects me from danger-so why should I tremble?"
Problems can turn our eyes from the Lord. Use them instead, as opportunities to turn our eyes to the Lord for his protection, his guiding light, and his saving power.
Psalm 145:14 "The Lord helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads."
God finds the fallen and never passes them by. When we feel we can't go another step, he shoulders our loads, easing our pain and burdens.
Psalm 42:5-6 "Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again-my Savior and my God! Now I am deeply discouraged , but I will remember your kindness -from Mt. Hermon, the souirce of the Jordan, from the land of Mount Mizar God's Mercy. "
He has been faithful in the past and will be faithful in the future. Memory ignites the fire of hope and drives away the darkness of despair.
I always give thanks for you remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (15 and counting)
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Personal Ideals
Good Morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the cloudy day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!
Due to a squeaky mouse that would not do anything this morning, I shut the PC off and made breakfast, and now the PC works!
From the book Quiet Moments:
Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
What do you hold to be your personal ideals--the qualities you consider to be foremost in defining good character?
This is what Sir William Osler once said about his own ideals.
"I have three personal ideals. One, to do the day's work well and not to bother about tomorrow...The second ideal has been to act the Golden Rule, as far as in me lay, toward my professional brethren and toward the patients committed to my care. And the third has been to cultivate such a measure of equanimity as would enable me to bear success with humility, the affection of my friends without pride, and to be ready when the day of sorrow and grief come to meet it with the courage befitting a man."
A speech teacher once assigned her students to give a one sentence speech, entitled "What I Would Like My Tombstone to Read". The class told her later that the assignment was one of the most challenging assignments they had ever received. In virtually every case, the students saw a great discrepancy between the way they lived their lives and the way they desired their lives to be perceived by others.
This morning, give some thought to what you hold to be the characteristics of a respected life. What do you aspire to in your own character?
As you identify these traits, you can then see more clearly how you desire to live your life and what must change in order to live up to your ideals.
Fame is vapor.
Popularity an accident.
Riches take wings.
Only one thing endures
and that is character.
Horace Greeley
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (16 and counting)
Due to a squeaky mouse that would not do anything this morning, I shut the PC off and made breakfast, and now the PC works!
From the book Quiet Moments:
Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
What do you hold to be your personal ideals--the qualities you consider to be foremost in defining good character?
This is what Sir William Osler once said about his own ideals.
"I have three personal ideals. One, to do the day's work well and not to bother about tomorrow...The second ideal has been to act the Golden Rule, as far as in me lay, toward my professional brethren and toward the patients committed to my care. And the third has been to cultivate such a measure of equanimity as would enable me to bear success with humility, the affection of my friends without pride, and to be ready when the day of sorrow and grief come to meet it with the courage befitting a man."
A speech teacher once assigned her students to give a one sentence speech, entitled "What I Would Like My Tombstone to Read". The class told her later that the assignment was one of the most challenging assignments they had ever received. In virtually every case, the students saw a great discrepancy between the way they lived their lives and the way they desired their lives to be perceived by others.
This morning, give some thought to what you hold to be the characteristics of a respected life. What do you aspire to in your own character?
As you identify these traits, you can then see more clearly how you desire to live your life and what must change in order to live up to your ideals.
Fame is vapor.
Popularity an accident.
Riches take wings.
Only one thing endures
and that is character.
Horace Greeley
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (16 and counting)
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Challenges
Good Morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is another warm, clear day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it! When I stepped outside this morning, the moon had a small halo around it. I too off my glasses to look again and it was still there, so I don't know what that means!
Butterflies flitting and fluttering about, anhingas drying their wings, ibises intently poking their beaks into the ground, hawks feeding their young, and alligators basking in the sun. All this and more we see at the park as the waters have come up considerably from the good storm Barry! It did such a lot of good. God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
Why does God allow challenges in our lives?
James 1:2-4 "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."
Challenges that threaten and try us are the very tools that God uses to strengthen and mature us. As we endure, we gain greater wisdom, integrity, and courage to face whatever comes our way.
Are some challenges too small to bother God?
Psalm 37:5 "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you."
Nothing is too small for God. When we commit our plans to the Lord, he commits himself and his infinite resources to us.
What has God given me to help me face my challenges?
Joshua 1:7 "Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do."
God has given us his word to direct us. The promise of success is embedded in our commitment to obedience.
1 Chronicles 28:20 David continued, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see o it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly."
Instead of being discouraged by the size of the task, we should be encouraged by the limitless power of God.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (17 and counting)
Butterflies flitting and fluttering about, anhingas drying their wings, ibises intently poking their beaks into the ground, hawks feeding their young, and alligators basking in the sun. All this and more we see at the park as the waters have come up considerably from the good storm Barry! It did such a lot of good. God is good!
From the Promise Bible NLT:
Why does God allow challenges in our lives?
James 1:2-4 "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."
Challenges that threaten and try us are the very tools that God uses to strengthen and mature us. As we endure, we gain greater wisdom, integrity, and courage to face whatever comes our way.
Are some challenges too small to bother God?
Psalm 37:5 "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you."
Nothing is too small for God. When we commit our plans to the Lord, he commits himself and his infinite resources to us.
What has God given me to help me face my challenges?
Joshua 1:7 "Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do."
God has given us his word to direct us. The promise of success is embedded in our commitment to obedience.
1 Chronicles 28:20 David continued, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see o it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly."
Instead of being discouraged by the size of the task, we should be encouraged by the limitless power of God.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (17 and counting)
Monday, June 4, 2007
Psoaring thru Psalms
Good morning, Dear Friends and Prayer Partners! This is the clear day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it!
The three quarter moon was visible as I stepped outside this morning... a change from the cloudy skies of the last few days! Because of a long day at church, we did not walk at the park yesterday, but did drive through and talked to Terry, who loves to tease Matthew because of his southern accent. Matthew teases him right back!
Everything was greened up and the canal was higher because of the rain from Barry. God blessed us with part of the rain that we needed! God is good!
From the Promise Bible:
Can we do things that affect how much God blesses us?
Psalm 84:11 "The Lord God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right."
Psalm 100
Shout with joy to the Lord, O earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we are His.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
Go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (18 and counting)
The three quarter moon was visible as I stepped outside this morning... a change from the cloudy skies of the last few days! Because of a long day at church, we did not walk at the park yesterday, but did drive through and talked to Terry, who loves to tease Matthew because of his southern accent. Matthew teases him right back!
Everything was greened up and the canal was higher because of the rain from Barry. God blessed us with part of the rain that we needed! God is good!
From the Promise Bible:
Can we do things that affect how much God blesses us?
Psalm 84:11 "The Lord God is our light and protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what is right."
Psalm 100
Shout with joy to the Lord, O earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we are His.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
Go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
I always give thanks for you, remembering you with thanksgiving, joy and love!
Love and hugs,
Amaryllis (18 and counting)
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