Be Still and Know...Then and Now

I talk about my grandmother all the time here on my blog.  I was truly blessed to have wonderful grandparents. I have so many sweet memories of my grandmother but it occurred to me that I have not said much about my grandfather. I remember so many things about him. He passed away many years ago. He was a big man with an even bigger nose. I remember as a child begin fascinated by his gigantic nose. Is seemed to fill up my entire hand. One of his favorite things was bird watching. I think my appreciation of watching God’s special feathered creatures must come from him. I remember the excitement in his voice when a cardinal would come up to the feeder mounted outside the window in the breakfast nook. He would get so excited and point “Look and the red bird!” he would say! He kept a big fat book tucked behind the toaster that sat on the table and if a bird came up to the feeder that he did not know he would snatch the book out and begin to flip through the pages.   When we were...

Well the Hummingbirds are back. They are attracted by these Cana Lilies. I have seen several pairs come for a snack. What I have learned is that actually getting a picture of a hummingbirds is a very difficult thing. Also just this morning “Mr. Yellow” returned and he brought “Mrs. Yellow” with him. They perched for a visit upon my tomato cages and by the time I returned with my camera they had flown the coop. However relying upon the highest standards set by the D.O.R.C. I will remain vigilant to try and document their return to this esteemed research facility! MT 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Blessings R

Yesterday was the day. The weather was perfect, not to hot not to cold, with just enough of a breeze to keep things comfortable. I went in search of my garden gloves and pruning shears. The dead wood on my crepe myrtles awaited me. I know that this tedious task must be done, if I do not cut back the deadwood on the crepe myrtles then eventually the flowering of the tree will become top heavy and the branches will droop and hang over to the ground and the flowering will be poor. I do not know many situations in life that do not benefit from a bit of pruning. As I was whacking away at the barren straggly branches one by one I could not help but think back to the many (many, many) times over the years when I felt the painful slicing away of something in my life. I can vividly remember periods in my life where I felt like I resembled a lone stump jutting out of the ground with everything sharply pruned away. It is painful to be pruned. It is even more painful to be pruned when you can not ...