Good Tuesday morning ~ It is gray, and humid. Grass is growing like crazy and I try to keep it mowed in between the rain, when the grass is dry. Don't know when I'll be able to get to it this week, I just take life one day at a time, trying to live in the present moments I am blessed with.
The cereus cactus gave another round of blossoms. They are so amazing and such a gift.
This is Coral or Fringe Hibiscus, Hibiscus schizopetalus.
Don Juan roses
Loved the way the afternoon sun was hitting this gate.
This is a deep red hibiscus.
This past Saturday I had a surprise visit from my dear husband's brother and his wife. They live about 30 min away. We've not seen each other since February. They were on their way to visit their daughter and her fiance who live south of me by maybe another hour, not sure.
Anyway, we had masks on, and I got big hugs from both of them, what joy. They did not come inside, we stayed outside for about 15 minutes. She ooohed and aaahed over my overgrown secret garden, which made me feel good. She gave me a lovely T-shirt, and said when she saw it she just had to get it for me. She said I am her strong sister. Well, I can tell you right now, that there are many times I do NOT feel very strong at all, and any strength that is showing is because of Jesus, as He is my strength. Thank you dear Sue for your prayers, love and encouragement.
Here I am in new T, sitting where I zoom with them each week.
Next, I'm going to share with you from my journal from last night and this morning. I was not being very strong, but reading in Psalms 91 and 119, calmed me down and I was so thankful. I thought I'd share the real deal, instead of just typing out what I had written. I was in bed, had just turned out the lights and no sooner had I turned over when I could hear wind starting up out of the blue and then rain. Oh good grief. Ever since going through 3 bad hurricanes in 2004-2005, and then other ones that were close, when 'weather' starts to happen, adrenaline starts pumping. I hate it. I wasn't this bad when my husband was with me.
I have been journaling for more years than I can remember. It helps me a lot, especially since God called my dear husband home 7 1/2 years ago. I write about life, thoughts, fears, thankfulness, etc.
When I went back to bed about an hour later, the encouraging scripture verses kept running through my head, and the ending was really powerful for me.
"No matter what happens, I will live unafraid." That is my prayer for each and every day.
The title of this post is Providence. I heard a piece taken from the Heidelberg Catechism this morning and it blessed my heart. I pray that it will also bless you.
Providence is
The almighty and ever present
power of God
by which He upholds,
as with His hands,
heaven and earth and all creatures,
and so rules them that
leaf and blade,
rain and drought,
fruitful and lean years,
food and drink,
health and sickness,
prosperity and poverty ~
all things, in fact,
come not to us
by chance
but from His Fatherly hand.
power of God
by which He upholds,
as with His hands,
heaven and earth and all creatures,
and so rules them that
leaf and blade,
rain and drought,
fruitful and lean years,
food and drink,
health and sickness,
prosperity and poverty ~
all things, in fact,
come not to us
by chance
but from His Fatherly hand.
I will close with the wonderful photo taken the other day. I was sitting here in my space and looked out the window and saw this.
Love, hugs and prayers for all ~ FlowerLady
12 comments:
Oh Flower Lady, I like the photo of you in your new blue tee shirt. That is an empowering message. For me too, difficult times are harder without my dear hubby. We are learning to be strong and Psalms are very encouraging about God's love and protection. That cactus is stunning in its beauty and size.
Love and hugs to you too, dear FL!! I'm sorry about your anxious night. I know them well. I wake up often in middle-night and do as you do -- read and meditate, and pray, and ask for the peace of the Spirit to come, with the Word. It comes, and I sleep. Stormy times will come, we know they will. I am in one now. We only make it through with His help, and His Spirit holds us up and keeps us going. Much love to you during this storm season!
Don't feel badly Lorraine. I too truly believe it is all in God's hands, but I get scared of bad storms and flooding. I worry myself silly. I tell everyone I inherited my mommy's big old worry gene. LOL. I am glad you got a sister hug and saw family. I loved seeing your unusual flowers. Blessings to you, xoxo, Susie
How wonderful that your husband's brother and his wife stopped for a visit.
S always your flowers are beautiful
First, let me say that you look lovely in that new shirt. The color suits you, and yes, we are stronger than we think.Thanks for sharing your heart and also the comfort from God's Word.Where else could we turn to, if not to God? I am so thankful for His care and love.
Wonderful encouraging post. Glad God comforted you and brought you through to rejoicing. Enjoyed reading the Heidelberg Catechism.
Thank you so much for sharing not only your garden and yourself but also for the wonderful reminder from the Heidelberg Catechism :-) I looked it up and found it is the answer to Question #27 in case anyone wants to check it out further. Anyway...I appreciated it so much that I've included it in a letter to folks in our church. Just so you'll know, the letter(s) I'm talking about is a project to give someone a surprise in their USPS mailboxes to break up the monotony of all the dumb boring stuff that shows up there so much of the time. So... every month or so each member/friend gets a personal, handwritten "love letter" to encourage them that they're not forgotten through these tricky times. I tell you this so that you & others might be encouraged to drop a line in the mail to brighten someone else's day with a real live old fashioned letter in the mail :-)
Bobbie
It's wonderful that you had a visit from family! That's just the best thing! Plus you got to share your garden with someone, every gardener's joy. The color of the T shirt is beautiful on you! That blooming cactus is stunning! I kept a written journal for a long time but I'm afraid that I've let it stop this past year. I still like to read my old ones and it's always encouraging to see how many prayers God answered for our family over the decades. Psalms is always good when worried!
blessings to you for comfort and safety; Psalm 91 is lovely. I just finished Psalm and am being pummeled in Proverbs.
A visit from family! Wonderful for you. And they saw your secret garden in
it's full splendor of flowers. Even short moments like that can be a life
saver at this time in our life. And of course, your constant trust in the Lord. So glad to see this post Lorraine, thank you for sharing all.
So nice of your brother in law and his wife popping in to see you and bring you that cute t-shirt and visiting for awhile. It's wonderful that you journal. I journal as well, and it's something we can look back at and read what was happening in our lives at the time. Funny that you mentioned it, cause it's been a few months that I wrote in my journal, but then the other day I had something interesting to write in it. That was a beautiful view you saw outside your window. And your Don Juan roses are so pretty.
It's always like a breath of fresh air when I come over and visit with you, Lorraine.
~Sheri
What you have, Lorraine, is courage. We all should be like you.
I have never seen anything like those cactus flowers! or the Crepuscule rose -- oh my, isn't it the sweetest.
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