Chubby balls of grey feathers.

 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within in me. Psalm 51:10

Has spring already arrived I found myself thinking as I stepped out the door into a balmy sort of morning and as I stood on the edge of the garden, with just me and God  I heard the call of a baby bird anxious for its breakfast being watched by its mother, one eye on the baby and one eye on the food gathering.  I marvelled at the increasing swell of the buds on the Japonica bush, some already bursting with delight  and the air is filled with the perfume of the wattle blossoms. From the bird bath came sounds of the joy of little finches bathing, splashing water all over while under the bird feeder were the sparrows, chubby balls of grey feathers always so happy, gathering crumbs and they, a pest to some, always bring me delight for they remind me of God's promise that he cares for us all, even the sparrows.

A few still moments at the front door with God sets the pace of the day. 

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                        Golden  Cootamundra wattle,

Memories are made of this.

 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above coming from the Father of lights. James 1:17

It was Fanny Robinson who said: Flowers are the gems that children love, yet we all delight to see and they bring a thousand memories of bygone days to me.

How very true that is. I couldn't resist while out walking yesterday, stopping to smell a Jonquil, attracted by its vivid white  flower foremost, because   also I  knew that if  I stooped to smell it I would visit that comforting, safe, warm place of peace as a child sitting in the paddock surrounded by the clumps of Jonquils filling the air with God's perfume.  Its the same memory as walking under a trellis of Wisteria or passing by the Daphne bush at the back door. They transport us to places of comfort  and joy in our memories. Spring is full of memories from the gardens that embrace our life. Enjoy them all and what they offer.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.    Anne, servant of the Lord. 

                                         
                                    memories

All things bright and beautiful

 Each little flower that opens each little bird that sings, he made their glowing colours he made their tiny wings. (Cecil F Alexander)

I love to walk in the garden. I love to admire the gardens when I go out walking. Each and every flower is an inspiration of God's thoughts and creativity and every perfume is his aroma.

From tiny forget-me-nots to long nodding trumpets of the bright yellow daffodils. The Lord God made them all.  I don't think you could look at a flower and not give God a smile.

I mean - look at the pansies' faces, they look so happy and childlike.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                            Bright and beautiful.

Faith HOPE and love

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

Hope of the cold winter passing is the emergence of the green growth of the spring bulbs as they push their way through hard soil towards the sunlight and warmth and hope is the sweet perfume of the Daphne flowering at the front door, heralding Spring.

Hope is the bow in the sky full of colour and joy following the rain reminding us of God's covenant with his people. All these signs and more assure us that we can put our hope and trust in God. They fulfil our hope that God is  faithfully and loyally with us so why should we ever doubt when we don't see signs of hope for they too will come.

Grace and peace  from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, Servant of the Lord.

                                                Daphne - the hope of Spring.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ

 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.(2Corinthians 13:13)

Charles Dickens said: 

How can we tell what coming people are aboard the ships that may be sailing to us now from the unknown seas.

What a different changing world we are living in, Everything 'Coved pandemic' consumes our lives and actions. Every day is different, unpredictable, uncertain, difficult and lived in caution and in many places, fear. One thing I am so grateful for is my faith, and I pray in yours,  is the strong presence of God in my daily life. In the valleys and the mountains God is there  stabilising my world with this lovely familiar blessing we call the grace.

Peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                        Peace.

 

Pray to the Lord of peace.

 Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (The Lord's prayer)

For time immortal prayers have gone to God from all corners of the earth. Prayers of the faithful and in hope and trust we lay them before him. We know prayer makes a difference, we know prayer changes things but sometimes we can be in a place of doubt. I read this lovely fable which you may know:    'Tell me the weight of a snowflake.' a coal mouse asked the white dove. 'Nothing more than nothing.' came the answer.  'In that case I must tell you a marvellous story,' the coal mouse said. 'I sat on a branch of a fir tree, close to its trunk, when it began to snow. Since I had nothing else to do, I counted the snow flakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. The number was exactly 3,741,952. When the next snow flake dropped on the branch - nothing more than nothing, as you say - the branch broke off. The dove, an authority on the matter since Noah's time, thought about the story awhile and finally said to herself: 'Perhaps there is only one persons voice lacking for peace to come about in the world.'  

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                                 fir tree - peace.

Joy and deight

 Behold what manner of love the Father  hath bestowed upon us. 1 John 3:1

I think it is fairly obvious that if 'the Father' had not bestowed his love on us and called us children of God  then the wonders of the world would be somewhat obscured. With his love, so much around us is given to us - freely.  I reflected on this as the day broke and along with it the chatter of 5 or 6 King Parrots filled the air with excitement as they landed and began feasting on the beautiful flowering native bush outside my window. The sight reminded me of the title of Macrina Wiederkehr's book, 'A tree full of Angels.'  How blessed are we to know the manner of the Fathers love even in the ordinary things of life.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the  Lord.

                                                            Ready for breakfast!

The glory of the rainbow is a splendid gift.

 I have set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Genesis 9:13

When the rain stops the rainbow shows it is finished and  if you look for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow you will never find it because the gift is not at the end of the rainbow but the rainbow itself. Its a  gift of  atmospheric beauty, the colours of the bow, and of God's promise to us to never flood the earth again. That's the treasure to be found in a  rainbow and the joy when seeing one.

I love this passage of scripture from Sirach 43:11 Look at the rainbow and praise him who made it: it is exceedingly beautiful in its brightness - it encircles the sky with its glorious arc - the hands of the most high have stretched it out.

                                            A splendid gift

He is here

 God is with you. 1 Samuel 10: 7

I suspect , in a corona virus ridden world, and in our own personal world, there well may be a few cries going up, 'Where is God?'

It is so easy to lose hold of the fact that God is with us in all things and at other times there is a great unquestionable  sense of his awareness. Think of your day, the ups and downs, the blessings and curses and pray today to hold onto what Samuel knew, - 'that God is with me.'

George Macdonald said: Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.

Jehovah - Shalom. The Lord is peace

Anne, servant of the Lord

                          Prophet  Samuels tomb and national park Israel.

Dark is not darkness at all

 And your right hand shall hold me fast. If I say surly the darkness shall cover me and the light around me become night even the darkness is not dark to you; The night is as bright as the day for the darkness is as light to you. psalm 139: 10-12

 These are some thoughts I shared with an elderly lady who was full of anxiety and darkness was overtaking her.  I said: How often have you been scared of the dark? I can recall as a child running down a dark corridor to my bedroom where there was a light on. I can recall waking up in the night terrified of the dark and hiding under the bedclothes frantically pleading with God to be under the bedclothes with me. I was scared stiff!!  Then as I grew older and God filled my life more and more I felt such fears leaving me. Even when I was doing a mine rescue at Coober Pedy and I would be  down a very, very deep mine shaft to rescue a fallen miner, sure I was scared of the dark but not terrified, because I had learnt to reach out for God's hand in times of need.

When fear and uncertainty creeps into the 'dark of life' stretch out your hand to God and feel his light filtering through to your fingertips, filtering through the darkness.

 Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                     Hold out your hand and feel his light filtering through.

Touching lives with love

 There is no one like you to help.  2 Chronicles 14:11

One way we are known as Christians is by our actions and how we live out our lives and that  brings to mind the saying that actions speak greater than words.  I read of this conversation after a person, a passer by,  helped an older man pick up his  spilt bag of groceries from the pavement.  He said: 'You must have been a cub scout ' and laughingly came the reply, 'No, just a Christian.' 

Well we could pray daily: Heavenly Father, help me this day to use what you have given me to touch  another life  with your love.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anne, servant of the Lord

Christian love.

A curious feeling

(Jesus said)  I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

Faith is a fascinating thing. Its not a sense, or a sight, or a reason, but simply taking God at his word. Its an absolute belief and trust that God is with us at all times. I read this little yet profound story which said: After a long and trying march over Antarctic mountains and glaciers a South Pole  explorer said to his leader. 'I had a curious feeling on the march that there was another person with us.'

God never leaves us nor forsakes us.

May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                     Even in the wilderness he is with us - (the road to Jericho) 

Forged by life

 Here is my servant, whom I uphold.........a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. Isaiah 24:1-3 (paraphrased)

There is something so peaceful about looking across a valley with rows and rows of regimented grape vines. Its a picture perfect scene and even the mist seems to be suspended in the air and I reflected on an elderly lady  I had visited recently.  She is a person of faith, forged by life and living with aging issues, failing strength and health. To look on her one would thing she may well be suffering yet her smile, when she lifts her arthritic neck is radiant and her eyes are alive.  She is an inspiration.  As I continued to ponder the vineyard I realised that like grapes there is a process to go through in life. Its a 'crushing' process, a refining process and the strength of faith is in the fact that even while we are being crushed, we are still being used, and we are still 'hanging in there 'with God and its then I see the strength of the elderly lady.

There is a profound saying which says:  It is the crushed grape that yields the wine.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace

Anne, servant of the Lord

'Peace'

Their trill lifts my heart

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. (TIS454)

At times we only need a thought for it to be a prayer. Sometimes we only need a thought for it to be a meditation or a reflection. Sometimes words don't come but the trying is all of the above.  Stopping momentarily as if caught by surprise is one of the beautiful images I have of connecting with God, Deliberately I have grown native plants to try and encourage small birds into my garden and as they grow and flower I am more and more rewarded. Just working from my office, glancing out the window and there in the flowering Grevilia is a tiny honeyeater and he has brought along the family. The sight catches my breath, their trill lifts my heart.  Its a prayer. Its a meditation. Its a reflection.

The smallest of gifts in the running in life can be the greatest blessings.

Jehovah - shalom.

The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the lord.

                                            A surprise - a blessings when out walking.

God unchanging

Wind, wind blow on me, wind wind set me free, wind wind the Father sent, the blessed Holy Spirit (New Harvest 226) 

I was watching people flying kites on the hills of the arboretum and there was great delight and   joy  as the kites rose high and dipped low, dancing on the wind, until the wind stopped and the kite plummeted to the ground only to be picked up   and tossed sky wards again. As I watched it reminded me so much of life. The soaring and dancing, the dipping and falling and then I thought of God how he is there for us in whatever life throws at us be it joy, dancing,  feeling low or in crisis His love is unfailing, unchanging and always present, never dependant on which way the wind is blowing. Ever present, ever loving, ever unchanging God. May the wind of the Holy Spirit blow on you today.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                Kites in the wind

Comfort for you and for me.

 Your rod and your staff they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Many of our days can be floored with little fractures of despair or worry. They can pull us down, distract us from enjoyment, take us away from our trust in God. We often cant avoid the issues in our days but we don't have to go them alone. God is with us always, even in the fractured bits. Now that's a great comfort.

That's a nice word, comfort.

 It gives me an image of being wrapped in a warm blanket and  held tight. Mecrina Wiederkehr says ; Between the cracks of daily life I find you waiting........you slip into my life like day and night, like stars and sunshine. I know that you are God.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                    God's love in the cracks.

Secrets of a happy life

 The cheerful heart has a continual feast. Proverbs 15:15

We are never poor when our heart has a continual feast: 

The company of good friends around a picnic table sharing chocolate, sharing the beauty of nature, sharing life. Walking at sunrise, catching the 'making of the day., the fog, the mist, the colour. Walking a winters day, in the rain smelling the fresh earth and stepping in puddles. The blessings from God, the stranger we meet along the way, Godly encounters, our life, his comfort  and love.

I read this from Iris Murdock: One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.(and I just saw another from my window, as a tiny blue flower on a spindly stem waved its joy in the breeze)

                                                    A morning 'feast;'

Today, tomorrow and every day.

 I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Jeramiah 31:3

Indeed, God does love us with an everlasting love and he shows that in so many ways; so many uncountable ways. As my eyes fall on the opening of each new day I am compelled to say 'thank you Lord,'  what a gift. So often we can be complacent about 'the gift of a new day' - almost take it for granted, as a given. But when we truly see it for what it is then our desire is to use it wisely in love for one another  and to the service of the Lord.  Jimmy Carter said: We should live our lives as though Christ was coming this afternoon. 

Thank you Lord for the gift of this new day.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                               Not just another day.

Love letters from God

 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish  but may have eternal life. John 3:16

What's a blessings? There is so much wrapped up in that word blessing. I can 'feel' it now in the quiet and still of the morning. I can 'hear' it in the trill coming from the tiny birds, little notes falling  and rising on the morning mist and  in the has been, once was, lingering beauty of the last rose of summer and its that little pond of peace, heavenly peace, that's deep in my soul, my whole being. I think I would call a blessing  love.  Peter Kreeft said: The whole world is a love letter from God:  I would say, every blessing is a love letter from God.

Jehovah - shalom. The Lord is peace.

Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                What's a blessings?

A splendour all around.

 There was a splendour all around like the bow in a cloud on a rainy day.. Ezekiel 1:27-28

The carpet of leaves on the ground were thick and colourful and full of moisture from the recent rain and silently some fading leaves were still falling without any ceremony but there was a  look of a dance about them. and looking at them was like a sudden gift. I read this quote from T.C.Clark which said: 'Lord, give me joy in the common things.' 

May you find joy today in the ordinary, the common things.

May the Lord of Peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.

Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                                A carpet of leaves.