Ten Things I Learned in June

I'm joining Emily today for something brand new. She has invited us to write a post about things we've learned in June. So here goes:

1. Cardinals really will build a nest in an artificial plant hanging from your front porch. They will have six babies and Papa will help with the feeding.

2. Despite the fact that I had to resort to an artificial plant for the front porch (having murdered two perfectly beautiful ones) I can actually plant flowers in the ground. And.....they will grow.

3. Deer will leave your flowers alone if their name is Lantana. I am so happy. They graze all over our land, but amazingly they haven't bothered my little flower garden. They turn up their noses at Oleander as well.

4. It is possible to spend eleven hours in doctors' waiting rooms over the course of only two days.

5. I never, ever spell "occasion" correctly. I spelled it with two s's that time too!

6. Feedly works! I have now made the switch from Google Reader - all by myself!

7. Walking is a great way to memorize scripture. I carry my little index cards with me and by the time I'm done - I've got another verse tucked away inside this aging brain.

8. I am hopelessly out of touch with the current batch of celebrities. I've learned I don't know who anyone is, what songs are popular or what's big at the box office. I really am getting old.

9. Learning to listen - really listen - is a very difficult discipline. Before every conversation, in recent days, I've promised myself I won't interrupt - not one time. So far I've been a complete and total failure.

10. Mama birds are very good at pushing little ones out of the nest. It's been fascinating to watch.

Come join us at Emily's blog. Lots of great stuff!

Blessings,
Linda

And Then There Were Four

 As soon as we walked in the door from yet another doctor visit (I've lost track at this point!), I went to the kitchen window. Two of the babies were perched precariously on the plastic branches of my lovely artificial plant.
 

They fluttered their little wings (which seem to have magically appeared over-night) and suddenly one of them took flight (I'm so disappointed in the quality of the picture. I hope if you enlarge it you can see the little out-spread wings.)

 Number two stepped to edge and sailed away into new life. Mama and Papa were close by. She flew down to the ground where they landed and offered encouragement.

 Papa stood guard from a nearby tree. He then resumed feeding duties. Of the four babies left, two are much further behind the others. They're the ones I worried about. They were scrunched under the others in the nest and seemed to miss out on a lot of the meals. I am hopeful they will do well, but Mama seems to have lost interest in feeding. She is all about getting them out of the nest.

And then there were four.

Blessings from your bird-obsessed friend!
Linda

The Secret Things

 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law."
Deut. 29:29

God has revealed wondrous things to us through His word and through the magnificent "voice" of His creation. He has, in fact, given us all we need. But, true to my nature, it is the "secret things" I long to know - those things He has chosen to keep hidden.

I ponder the tragedies and the poverty and the evil run rampant. I wonder why good people suffer and little ones die. I try to understand the ways and the mind of Him who is so far above me. Like Job, I long for answers - just a glimmer of something that will make it all make sense.

Heaven remains silent - the secret things hidden from view. I am reminded of my smallness and His greatness; my bent to sinning and His holiness; my weakness and His might. In the reminding He offers me this - His peace. It is not hidden or secret. It is there, waiting behind trust.

                                                         

 By now you are probably bored senseless with these bird pictures. I can't help myself. They are endlessly fascinating. In this season of my husband's health problems, they are a constant reminder of a Father who loves beyond my comprehension and whose miraculous power is limitless.

There aren't four babies in that tiny nest as I previously reported - there are six! You can enlarge the pictures by clicking. I, like all the great National Geographic photographers, risked life and limb to get these pictures. I had to climb up on the kitchen counter - no small feat for this 66 year old grandmother!  However, no risk is too great in the pursuit of a good picture!

Have a blessed day dear friends,
Linda

Of Birds and Wind and Trust

I find it difficult to tear myself away from the kitchen window these days. This little "drama" is one I've never witnessed before and perhaps never will again.

I discovered that there are four little ones - not three. Every once in a while huge heads on reedy necks rise up from the depths of the nest. Impossibly big mouths open wide - they have an insatiable appetite.

Yesterday, one of the things I feared might happen did. The wind began blowing in earnest. Those babies have had a wild ride - sometimes spinning, sometimes rocking back and forth in an ever widening arch. I watch in alarm, waiting for them to tumble out of the nest.

 Papa has joined in the care and feeding of the little ones, much to my relief. I thought perhaps he was one of those "dandies" and was going to leave all the work to Mama.

 I am learning some life lessons from these seemingly fragile creatures. The wind buffets their nest, and they don't fly around in circles of desperation. They aren't chirping shrilly at the heavens asking where God is when, after all, He promised to watch over every bit of creation. They haven't enlisted an army of cardinals to come to their rescue and help still the wild pitching and spinning. They simply keep doing what they know to do - trusting that all will be well.

After all, there are four hungry mouths to be filled.

Blessings,
Linda

Wonder on a Sunday Afternoon

 The incredible view from the top of Canyon Lake Dam. The sky, the wispy clouds, the blue water against the gray rocks - all creation sings His praise.

 A busy Mama - tirelessly caring for her three little ones. I have been watching in utter fascination.

 If you click to enlarge the pictures, I think you can see three little hungry mouths waiting to be filled!

 

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

Hope you had a "wonder-filled" Sunday,
Linda

Still Saturday - Waiting

"Thou art the Lord who slept upon the pillow,
 Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious sea,
 What matter beating wind and tossing billow
 If only we are in the boat with Thee?

 Hold us in quiet through the age-long minute
 While Thou art silent, and the wind is shrill:
 Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord, art in it?
 Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy will?"

Amy Carmichael
"Toward Jerusalem"

Joining the others at Sandy's today:



Blessings dear friends,
Linda

"...his poor listening heart..."

There is a lovely scene in the movie "Out of Africa" where Robert Redford and Meryl Streep are sitting in front of the fireplace in her home. The fire, the only light in the comfortable room, dances and crackles. He looks at her and asks her, the weaver of beautiful tales, to tell a story. As requested, he gives her the first sentence, and she begins.

There is a part of the story, no - just a few words - that has stayed with me for years:

"Cheng Huan lived alone in a room on Formosa Street...
above the Blue Lantern.
He sat at his window...
and in his poor listening heart...
strange echoes of his home and country..."

"...his poor listening heart..."  I want a heart like his. One that hears the echoes of all that the Father has pored into my spirit. One that hears the heart of another - unhurried, not thinking about what I will say next - just listening with my heart. Listening so closely that I see and feel what is being said. Listening with eyes that see clearly not clouded by my own short-sightedness. 

It is this kind of listening that takes my breath away - this being known and heard. It is the way the Father listens, even when the weight is so heavy I cannot utter a sound.

"I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath."
Psalm 116:1,2

The great God, who created the heavens and earth, whose very breath breathed life into humanity, this God bends down to listen to me. He gives me the gift of a listening heart - a gift meant to be shared.

Blessings,
Linda