God revealed

When he is revealed........ we will see him how he is. 1 John 3:2 (paraphrased)
Many of us have 'symbols' in nature that remind us of the presence of God. We look about and God speaks.There are so many daily blessings and affirmation of his presence with us.. Even the tiniest flower will be dressed in the handiwork of God. Its like he has a paint palate and he ponders and chooses colour and shape and splashes that around and perhaps he will think with each stroke of his brush that this will please my people, this will bring them joy, this will bring them blessings.this will show them my love. Look and see that the Lord is good.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne,servant of the Lord.

Who would make a flower so beautiful

See more than there is.

All things have been created through him. Col 1:16
So much more can be seen when we  look beyond what is right before us and so often we miss the beauty, the blessings of awareness. So,when you look at a window, look through it into the world.  When you look at the beautiful bright mass of yellow on the wattle tree take a closer look at the tiny balls of fluffy yellow that make up the mass. When you look at a gum leaf after the rain you can see a life giving drop of water bulging on its tip.When you walk past a pocket of perfume on the Daphne bush notice its little tiny pink and white individual flowers that make up its beauty  What delight there is when we let our 'God mindfulness' play on our imagination.  W.E.B Dois says:  Lord make us mindful of the little things that grow and blossom in these days to make the world beautiful for us. 
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Look beyond the window

All the things we enjoy

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,give thanks in all circumstance.  1 Thess 5: 16-17             
 A weekend of silent retreat in the  highlands of New South Wales and I found myself repeatedly thanking God around every corner I turned. There were flowers smiling brightly,an occasional fading autumn leaf still visible on the ground,an old  tree of fading pink blossoms that looked like it had been sharing its joy for many years, Kookaburras laughing, and  rows and rows of vineyards ready to burst into production of the finest dinner wines and there was peace and there was quiet and there was God. John Calvin said, 'All the things we enjoy are ladders by which we may ascend nearer to God.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.
'

                                     I see heavens glory shine and  faith shines equal (Emily Bronte)         

Within ear shot.

Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. Psalm 116:2
As a child I loved exploring the bush, climbing big mountains and roaming around river flats with my friends.Sometimes we would split up in pairs and go separate ways catching up at the next gully or creek and we would keep each other within earshot with the very Aussie  'coo-ee.' We would 'cup' our ear to hear the far off voice responding. A voice that kept us connected.  A voice that made sure our friends were close by.  Psalm 116 is a psalm of love towards God and a knowledge that he has his ear tuned to  hear us at every call be it sadness or joy, pleasure or pain, when we call he hears us. What a faithful, loving God. How can we ever repay his love to us who is surely very near. I answer myself with the hand written note in my bible at psalm 116:v12. ' I will give a life of service.'  How did you answer?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Over fields, around ponds and up the mountain.

Ever present God

 Its good to be near God. Psalm 73:28
You might be standing beneath a wattle tree catching its perfume and admiring its bright yellow colour or you might be looking at a tiny wild flower that is here today and gone tomorrow or perhaps you are among those who see little hope in their lives and no God in the smell of the wattle or the face of the tiny flower. When I have a short prayer time with the very ill people in the day hospice we always start the gathering with a moment of quiet and stillness drawing into the presence of God and remembering that  where we are, he is also there.' How lovely it is to know that we cant move an inch sideways, forward or backwards without God being there. No matter where we are, we are  in the place where God has brought us and that truly makes for Holy ground.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

God is here because you are.

Lifting holy hands above.

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the sky, for the love which from our birth over and around us lies..........for the mystic harmony linking sense to sound and sight (TIS 13)
So much around us in today's world has the potential to cause us despair and impact on our well being. But don't let any of that cause you to lose your joy in the Lord for Oh how we also live in a world of wonder and delight. Yesterday I had the  perfume of the new mown grass mingled with the sight of wattle blossoms bursting with bright,yellow from every individual bloom, packed with a real punch of perfume that sent me back to where I grew up as a child. God so blesses us when we come out of the gloom of winter into the season of spring where he showers us with so much joy from his treasure chest of colour, perfume, and sound. And as I reflect on these things I am blessed with  the beautiful warble of a pair of Magpies singing their joy. Take each day for what it is, balancing  in it the prayers for  the dramas of the world and the joy of the Lord.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

The light of spring rising through the winter gloom.

Do you believe in angels?

And suddenly the angels came and waited on him. (Matthew 4:11)
Some things stay in our minds and hearts always and its usually because they have made an impact, so much so, that we actually feel a stir in our heart and a leap in our faith because God is in it. An elderly lady was telling me about an encounter that she could only call an act of God through an angel. She had been out for a walk and was struggling to get her 'wheelie walker' up her front steps when what seemed like a presence out of nowhere  came a young man who said, 'Can I help you with that?' Prior to this she had not seen anyone around and had never seen him in her neighborhood She accepted his offer and then he seemed to go as mysteriously as he had come. She described him as a young man perfectly groomed with skin so smooth, a glow on his face and his hair beautifully combed. She said I can't explain his looks except he looked like someone who had just stepped out from a shower in preparation for his day yet it was more than that and as she spoke about this it was obvious by her experience that something, or someone special had helped her that day. I call such experiences as 'having your soul tickled by God' Go into this day being aware of angels.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

An angel of the Lord.

Joyful in believing

How shall I sing to God when life is full of gladness. (TIS 667)
I was watching a playful wind pick us the dry leaves from the carpeted ground and toss them into the air in a spiral and off they went in a twister that carried them high  into the sky well above the tree tops where the birds fly and as I looked up I had a sense of the grandeur of God that reminded me of a verse I had read:
The woods are God's own cathedral with pillars that reach the sky and a faraway ceiling of fluttering leaves where songbirds and angels fly. (anon)

God's own cathedral.

And the perfume of the violets pack a punch

All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, so thank the Lord, O thank the Lord  for all his love. (TIS 130)
God has been putting down his perfume, its just outside the front door in the beautiful aroma of the Daphne. Its along the walking track in the bright and fluffy flowers of the Golden Wattle. Its filling the air, its hanging off pearls of tight pink buds among the already merging blossoms of the Prunes tree and its in the cheerful faces of the daffodils and  those jonquils beside a fallen tree and it hovers in the bright blue of the violets that pack a real punch among the garden beds.  All around is the glorious perfume of spring hastening our hearts towards God and holding hands with our soul.
From a book of Treasury of Prayers I read this lovely prayer:
 Sing to God with thanks and love.
 Praise him for his joyful spring, bringing life to everything.
 Praise him for the blossom trees,birds and butterflies and bees.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

The perfume of God from hidden places