It Was A Bright Sunny Yellow Kind of Day

Happy Saturday Morning!

Mommie is typing this on Friday night, but she said we won't let you see it until tomorrow morning, so it will be Saturday when you read this. So that is why I said "Happy Saturday Morning" even though it is still Friday! 

Anyway, today, (Friday), was a "bright, sunny, yellow kind of day".

I think, according to the weather report for Saturday on Mommie's phone, it will be a cloudy, rainy, cold and dreary kind of a day, so this little bit of bright sunny yellow should make your day happier! 

I hope so!

For my dear identical cousin Tracie and her Mommie Auntie Debbi and their new friend Amybelle, I wanted you to see these pretty yellow "Carolina Jessamine" flowers again. They are blooming so brightly right now! They are growing all over the little fence next to our house and in the trees, and well, just everywhere we look! They are SO pretty! I wanted you to see them, because they must have come from "Carolina", where you live!

And then, we saw something else so pretty and yellow all day long! Mommie bought a new sock full of finch seeds because the other one was almost empty, so she actually bought a bigger one this time because we have SO many bright yellow pretty Goldfinches eating here every day!

They even like to drink from Bobby the Squirrel's bird bath!

They hang upside down and all around this sock, and they actually fight for a place on here to eat!

Can you imagine fighting for a place to eat on a sock? I thought that was kind of funny!

The birds are starting to get more brightly colored every day. Mommie says they do that in the spring, especially the male Goldfinches.

Some even wait in the trees for their turn on the sock feeder:

Isn't this a pretty one?

Uh Oh! Mr. Great Blue Heron came tip toeing along the shore of Still Waters Pond today, in the bright sunlight! Mommie says most of the time he comes earlier in the morning or late afternoon, and we rarely see him in the bright sunny part of the day. We hope he isn't looking for our little birds...that would not be very nice. We will keep a watch on him. Even if he is pretty, and has a bright yellowish golden bill!

He sure has a long neck!

Mr. or Mrs. Bluebird did not come out of their house while Mr. Heron was about...

Here is something else that is kind of bright, sunny yellow: The sunset!!! The sun was going down down down behind those trees, and it was a bright golden yellow ball...so bright we couldn't look at it with our bare eyes. But it sure was pretty!

And here is something else that has some pretty yellow on it. Today's special prayer/verse card:

Mommie said she is going to change these every day...or then again, she is thinking maybe she should just change it every week, and try to memorize the verse.  She's not sure which yet, but I think it is a good idea to have a new verse each day to think about and pray and share with our friends here.

What do YOU think? 

Mommie said the main thing is to read the verse and then to do whatever it says to do. In this case, we are to

"Be JOYFUL in HOPE", 

which means to be filled will joy while we hope for the things God has promised to do for us, even when we may not see those things happen right away.

"Be PATIENT in affliction", 

which means that even when we may be hurting or sad, or waiting for healing, that we should be patient and wait on God and not give up hope.

"BE FAITHFUL in PRAYER"

means to keep on praying, even when we don't see the answers to our prayers as soon as we had hoped.

We should keep trusting God and keep praying

and never give up hope!

I think those are some good things to remember, don't you?  The easy way to remember it for me is like they are special little honey bees:

BEE JOYFUL, 

BEE PATIENT, 

BEE FAITHFUL.

And I can imagine that if we follow those special little "bees", 

we will BEE Happy!!

I hope you have a bright sunny yellow and happy kind of a day

wherever you are! Even if it is raining...BEE HAPPY!

Bye Bye for now!

Love,

Lily Grace

xoxoxoxoxo

 

Happy Valentine's Day and So Much More!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends! This was how we started our day today...Mommie said this is a Great Blue Heron, and he came to say good morning to us from Still Waters Pond. Isn't he so beautiful?

Mommie said he is another of God's wonderful creation, and we are so blessed to be able to see him fly in and out here at our pond.

Today being Valentine's Day, Mommie and Daddy and our family and some friends went out to lunch after church.  I didn't go with them, but Mommie shared these pictures with me when she came home.

This is my Mommie and Daddy.  I said to Mommie that it looks like she has horns growing on top of her head. She thought that was pretty funny. She explained that they are horns from a bull that are mounted up on the wall.  Oh! That's good. I was getting worried...

Not only were they celebrating Valentine's Day, but they were also celebrating Daddy's birthday, which is coming up in a couple of days!!

Here is my big brother Benton and my "Auntie Rose" (or you could say my big sister Rose, but I like to call her Auntie Rose).

And my big brother Scotty got to join us too. He had to work early this morning, but he was able to get there in time for lunch!

And oh guess what! My Auntie Pamela also joined us to celebrate, 'cause Mommie said that her birthday is also in a couple of days, on the same day as my Daddy's birthday!! Isn't that amazing? I asked Mommie if they were twins like me and my cousin Tracie, but she said no. They weren't born in the same year, just on the same day in February. But they are kind of like twins..."birthday twins". That made the day extra special.  Mommie said there were more people there too, but she didn't know if she should share everyone's pictures without asking first, but they were all very special friends.

OH, my big brother Scotty likes to makes things from paper straw wrappers.  This is his Straw Wrapper Guitar Player.  He also made a Ninja and a moose, but Mommie forgot to take pictures of those. He likes to make all kinds of interesting things from paper and candy wrappers. Mommie said sometime she will have to show me some pictures of the things he has made because they are so special. I said I'd really like that. My brothers are so smart and talented!

And guess what else?  When Mommie came home from lunch, she had this special gift for me from Auntie Pamela!  She made me this bea-u-ti-ful TEAL Rain Poncho! Isn't it wonderful? And it has a little heart on it for Valentine's Day!!

And it just so happened to be raining, so Mommie took me outside to see how it worked in the rain.

I said it works just fine! I didn't get wet at all!! Thank you, Auntie Pamela!

After a while my big brother Benton came over to watch the Daytona Race on TV with my Daddy. I showed my brother my new t-shirt that says, "I'm Mom's Favorite!"  He said he'd have to remember to wear HIS t-shirt that says the same thing, and then we'd see who is Mom's REAL favorite! Ha Ha. My brother Scotty has one too...so Mommie will just have to make up her mind who is her real favorite!

(Mommie said she really doesn't have a favorite...she loves ALL of her children equally! Just like God loves everyone equally too!)

It was fun to watch the cars go round and round the race track.  

But then something really sad and bad happened...there was a great big wreck and a bunch of cars got run off the track and got all smashed up.  That was so scary!

I hope no one was hurt.  And then not long after that a big raincloud rolled in and lightning flashed and they had to call off the race for a while. We stopped watching then so I don't know if they ever finished the race or not.  I just hope and pray no one was hurt.

It rained a lot this afternoon, and Mommie said there were even some tornado warnings, but none came to our house, thank You, Jesus!! And so after while when it was safe to go, Mommie and Daddy took me for a walk.  We decided to try out my new rain poncho . Hey looky! My poncho matches Mommie's jacket almost!! We both like the color TEAL!!!

I wanted to go see my pretty white blossoms on the wild plum tree, and would you look at this?

They aren't white anymore?  They all turned pink for Valentine's Day!

And looky at the raindrops on the flowers...they sparkled like diamonds, but you can't see it all that well in these pictures.

I just thought they were SO pretty. Mommie said the flowers are changing because they will soon develop into little tiny wild plums. She said we will check them every time we go there and see how they are changing.  

I think that is exciting!! God sure made these trees and flowers and plums very special, didn't He?

Oh, and then we looked at a couple of little pine trees.  The water droplets on the pine needles also sparkled like diamonds.

I just loved them SO much!!

After we came home from our walk we got to see the prettiest sunset:

Mommie said the sunsets change moment by moment, and you have to keep watching them to the end.

She said this is God's way of setting a "grand finale" in the skies for us to enjoy in the evening.

I didn't know what a "grand finale" was, but she said it's is like saving the very best for last!

God loves to bless us with His masterpieces to remind us that He is still there for us, showing us His glory in the skies to let us know He loves us and will never forget us.

Oh, that reminds me...or, well, it reminded Mommie of something she wanted to share with you.

Here is the sermon from church this morning, and if you start it in the beginning you can hear the choir singing a very nice song called

"I Will Be With You" 

Song: I Will Be With You

When you pass through the water, when you walk through the fire,

When the rivers overflow, I will be with you.

When you walk through the desert, when you’re caught in the storm

When you lose your way, I will be with you.

When you can’t find the answer, when you’re filled with despair

When you stumble and fall, I will be with you.

When you’re tired from the struggle, when you’re weak from the pain,

Lean on me. I will be with you!

For I have called you by name, you’ve heard the echo of my voice

Whisper “I love you, you are mine.”

For you are precious in my sight, and I will guide you through the night

When you walk, walk by faith, and I will be with you.

In your joy, and in your pain, if you call out my name, I will be with you.

When you walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

Have no fear, I will be with you!

For I have called you by name, you’ve heard the echo of my voice

Whisper, “I love you, you are mine.”

And you are precious in my sight, and I will guide you through the night

Through the storm, through the rain,

Through the joy, through the pain

When you walk, walk by faith, and I will be with you.

I will be with you, I will be with you

I will be with you, I will be with you.

We hope you will enjoy the message of the song.  Sometimes the singing isn't "perfect", but the message this song conveys is very comforting.  And the sermon was also wonderful...from the book of James 2:14-26.

We hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day today. 

Remember that Jesus loves you always!!!

And He will always be with you!

 

A Masterpiece Kind of Day

Hello to all my new friends out there in "blogland", as Mommie calls it! It is so much fun to make new friends here. I just wish I could really see you in person and get to know you better. Maybe we could have some adventures together too!  Wouldn't that be fun?

Mommie said that she needed a more quiet day today because she had some things she needed to do at home and around the house, so we didn't go anywhere.  But Mommie showed me some pictures of pretty birdies and flowers and things here on her computer.   A lot of these pictures were taken right here at "Still Waters Pond", and she said if we just sit here quietly and watch we might see some really pretty ducks and birds.

Oh, looky at Mommie's tea mug today!  See what it says?  

"Live one day at a time and make it a masterpiece."  

I asked Mommie what's a "master-piece"?  And she said it is something very very special, like a wonderful painting or photograph that is really really pretty.  She said that God creates many "masterpieces" every day with  His beautiful sunrises and sunsets and colorful animals and birds and pretty things in nature.  Mommie said that if we just open our eyes and look around us, we can see God's Masterpieces every day...even people are God's Masterpieces, because they are so wonderfully made in His image!

Genesis 1:27 

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; 

male and female He created them."

Psalm 139:14

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well."

Oh, Mommie was tickled when she read the tag on her tea bag today. It said:

"Never quench your thirst for adventure!"  

Mommie said that means we should enjoy every day that God gives us to live, and always be ready to do special things when He shows us what to do and where to go.

Mommie and I went out on the back porch for a while this morning, and we could see a great big bird on the other side of the pond.  I am trying to point to him below, but Mommie said we needed "be-nok-u-lars" to see him better.  (Mommie said that should be spelled binoculars. I just wrote it the way it sounds to me!)

Mommie has a special "zoom" lens thingy on her real camera (not her cell phone camera) that can see things farther away, and so she took these pictures of that big bird so I could see him better.

Isn't he beautiful?  It looks like there are two of him, and one is upside down! Mommie said that is his "reflection" in the water! It is kind of like looking in a mirror.  

Mommie said this big bird is called a "Great Blue Heron", and that he likes to eat fish and turtles and things like that.

I was so excited to see this pretty big bird in our pond. I hope he will come back some day and maybe come over to our side so we can see him better.

It was such a pretty day that Mommie said she wanted to sit out on the porch and do some work.  I asked her if I could help. She said I could help her pick out some pretty cards to send to people. She said this is a special "ministry" of our church to send cards to people for their birthdays and anniversaries and when they are sick and stuff like that. Mommie just recently volunteered to do this and it is time to get the ones ready for February, so I helped her pick out some pretty ones. She let me put the stamps on the envelopes too. That was fun. Mommie will put them in the mail when it is time to send them for each special day. She said it makes people happy to receive a real card in the mail on their birthday or anniversary, and she is happy she can help do this. And I was happy I could help!

Oh, look what Mommie showed me how to do for supper last night!

We made real biscuits!! They were so much fun to make!

And then Mommie made this chicken mixture from leftover chicken, carrots, onions and celery and chicken stock, 

which was then made thick and creamy with milk and flour and served over the hot biscuits:

And Mommie calls it Chicken Pot Pie, but it really is chicken and biscuits.  Whatever it is named, it sure tasted good, and I helped!  Mommie says sometimes she uses this same chicken mixture and puts it in a pie crust in the oven and bakes it and then it really IS a pot pie, but this is the easier and quicker way to do it! Oh, and guess what else? This is my big brother Scott's favorite meal! He loves anything with biscuits!  And I liked having a biscuit with some yummy blackberry jam! That was like dessert!

I guess it is time to finish this letter for today. But wait!! I just looked outside the window in Mommie's special "Room with a View" and the sky looks all golden and shiny and beautiful!  Mommie says that is one of God's "masterpieces", called a sunset.  She said if we watch it for a few minutes it will keep changing colors and get prettier and prettier! So we are going outside on the porch to take some pictures of it. We'll be back when it is done!

While we were waiting for the sun to set, Mommie showed me the "Porch Rules". I think they are pretty neat, don't you? It shouldn't be too hard to keep those rules!

And then "God's Masterpiece" began to happen right before our eyes!

It just kept getting prettier and prettier every minute!

I loved it so much, I was saying, "Thank you, God, for Your pretty sunset!"

Mommie said that now I can understand what a "masterpiece" really is!

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands."

Psalm 19:1 NIV

I hope you enjoyed our special "masterpiece kind of day".  I hope you have had a "masterpiece kind of day" wherever you are too!

Bye Bye for now.

Love,

Lily

Lillian Grace

xoxo