Watching “The Green Planet” again and came across this!
That has to be one of the most amusing ways I have seen to spread seeds! That is the “Harvest Mouse” eating, of course, dandelion seeds. They showed an actual film of the mouse climbing the stem. I was again laughing out loud!
No idea what the mouse weighs, but it tickles my heart. Never even dreamed about anything climbing a dandelion stem.
I understand how unwanted mice are when they invade a house. We stayed at one of my sister’s houses in Colorado that was especially prone to mouse invasion. I would not kill a mouse in the wild, but inside the house where they run all over the food and silverware? That is something else!
The Lord God takes care of all of His creation, except perhaps when they invade a woman’s abode.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
I had no idea that Lego and other toy block makers were offering Jesus and other Bible stories! Sadly the image of Jesus is unsmiling and angry looking.
I have been leading discussions about Philippians lately. My focus here is the secret of being content in any and every situation. Not just well fed or hungry. (So ignore the fork below.)
I woke in the night with an image of a happy frumpy man in my mind’s eye. He was overweight and wearing soiled overalls. He had on a bucket-style hat with a collection of pins adorning it. He was smiling and obviously happy and content with his life.
In our society so fixated upon how others dress, their weight, what they look like to us, this man was a refreshing revision of contemporary humanity. He obviously did not care about social norms. I had the impression he knew Jesus very well. There was no such image online that I could find. Not even close. I want to be like him, though. He might have been carrying a fishing pole in his left hand?
We need all the humility mentioned above, but we also need 1 Timothy 6:6
Godliness with contentment is GREAT GAIN. Find your comfortable clothes and go out into the world declaring the power of Christ to make each of us content, whatever we go through. Going about His business, doing His job assignment to you with joy. My pastor calls it ‘the family business.”
Mrs. Charles E. Cowman compiled quotes from Sunday School lessons, sermons, books and Scriptures that were published under her title “Streams in the Desert” in 1925. A friend gave me a copy that was in the 29th printing in 1950. My friend did not like it due to the older style of speaking. Now it has even been published in contemporary English.
In 2005 Bob bought me a copy that was published as a journal with lines to make notes. I have noted things over the years. IN 2018 I posed the question, “Molly can you read sea charts and navigate by the stars? No.” This morning when I opened it the bookmark fell to June 1st. Ha! I love her quote from Charles Spurgeon, known as a “Prince of Preachers” during the late 1800’s.
Why dost thou worry thyself? What use can thy fretting serve? Thou art onboard a vessel which thou couldst not steer even if the great Captain put thee at the helm, of which thou couldst not so much as reef a sail, yet thou worriest as if thou wert captain and helmsman. Oh, be quiet; God is Master!
C. H Spurgoen
It reads something like: Why do you worry yourself? What use can your fretting serve? You are aboard a vessel which you could not steer even if the great Captain put you at the helm, of which you could not so much as reef a sail {I do not even know what that means!} yet you worry as if you were captain and helmsman. OH BE QUIET; God is Master!
I got the OH BE QUIET part. Aren’t there times when we need to tell ourselves to shut up and sit down? Lately I have been in an orthotic boot trying to recover from Plantar fasciitis. That pesky ligament in the bottom of your foot that can get inflamed. My trusty foot surgeon basically told me to go sit down, do icing, stretches, rest, Tylenol, steroid tablets, wear the boot and rest: i.e., quit walking so much. Once out of school, does anyone heed when they are told to go sit down? Well, if the pain is bad enough this one does.
Molly, OH BE QUIET. You are not a foot surgeon and you do not know what is best for you. Sit down and hush. As the weeks have plodded on with me thumping along in this orthotic boot, strapping and unstrapping the front blade on with the tearing sound of Velcro, I have repeatedly told myself, “Buckle up, Buttercup and Hush! Stop complaining and be grateful you have good medical care. How many women on the run from Ukraine need an orthotic boot and do not have access to one?”
What am I worried about? Bob has had to do the dog walking a minimum of twice a day for the long walks. I do the short ones at 11 AM and 8 or 9 PM if I am able. Bob has been doing the shopping except when I go to a store and get a wheelchair cart. I am really trying to get better and store the boot until next time I need one. We have not walked along the lake road in a long time. No museums. An occasional movie. yep, fairly sedentary here. It is truly a pain for me to drive any place as it is my right foot and I cannot drive in the boot. If I drive for more than about 30 minutes it hurts to drive even with a slipper on.
Oh be quiet, Molly. Go sit down and write your blog.
Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
do not fret
Psalm 37:7 NRSV
Three times this psalm says ‘do not fret.” I always say God knew to write it 3 times because I would not catch it otherwise. Be quiet. Be still. Jesus, my Captain says: “Do not fret, over dog walks or shopping lists, or housework or other errands. Yield to this current situation and heal. Ride the storm of right now and let Father be in charge, because Molly dear, you are not.”
Without your glasses are you using the Spray ‘n Wash stain stick or Underarm deodorant?
Which one where
With your glasses off are those eye drops or scalp drops?
Steroid cream says do not use internally. Doctor says apply to your gums. Go figure!
If you are on a low salt diet is it okay to soak your foot in Epsom Salts? How about swimming in a friend’s in ground salt water pool?
Level of pain determines which cream I use on my face! Arthritis and TMJ are NO FUN!!
And then I have plenty of tears from my eye!
How come we find time to do so many things, including visiting others, and rarely find time to do things for us (like shooting photos downtown or cutting quilt squares)?
Since I never learned how to cook for two I have plenty of food to share with others!
My, oh my, this life brings humor if we are willing to look for it! I do not envy my kids or caregivers as I age. How come I think many of those comfort options will be dropped then as non-essential? A counselor who did her internship at a nursing home said she wants to hire someone when she grows old to pluck the hairs that grow in unusual places. How about my left elbow? Can I count on you to do that for me?!?
Our church was gifted with a young priest for about 2-1/2 years. His name is Brad. He did all sorts of things that enlivened our faith and our walk. Recently it was time to tell him good-bye. He was given a job across the river in Northern Kentucky to be head rector at a church…
My new project entails gathering the object lessons the Lord has given me over the years to encourage me and keep me walking the road laid out before me. I will likely post of few of these during the coming months. The following is entitled “Called At the Beach To Write More.” How does an…
Often the veil and the curtain are mentioned in the Scriptures. I have had this on the brain for a couple of weeks. The veil usually refers to the lack of understanding among the Hebrew population regarding the Messiah. The curtain is the fabric that was hung between the courts of the temple and the…
This post has been republished due to a technical issue preventing some followers from seeing the initial publication…. So I guess the pressure to write this week has been taken off!
So did he hitch a ride from the flower grower to the flower shop at Kroger’s to my house or come in to find this fragrant place from outside in our yard? I will never know. I was delightfully surprised when I found him, snapped his photo, then caught him in a tissue and sent him on his way in the yellow begonias outdoors.
Where are you from tiny guy?
I will never know his origins or destination!
Jodi Picault wrote a novel entitled Small Great Things. In it was this quote which had me pondering.
I hear the flow of the fountain behind me, and I think about water, how it might rise above its station as mist, flirt at being a cloud, and return as rain. Would you call that falling? Or coming home?
Jodi Picault
water as vapor
These are the kind of thoughts that make me praise God. We have had severe humidity, then thunderstorms, then water flowing from the yards. Is it falling, or coming home?
“Water flirting at being a cloud” thunderstorm brewing
water on the earth – storm runoff
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45b NIV
Photo by Molly – He causes His sun to rise on all
Ponder this and share your own discovery in the comments section!
This post has been republished due to a technical issue preventing some followers from seeing the initial publication…. So I guess the pressure to write this week has been taken off!
Dan and Betty Cooksey have been visiting with us for a couple days. What a delight to see our oldest friends from New Mexico. We are always at ease with them. We share approximate ages, they are married about 3 years longer than us, but best of all we share a deep and abiding faith in Christ.
It has been a whirlwind here. If I have missed a posting or two that is because I have been too busy for my own good! Or perhaps this is all FOR my good? I am lumping along in my orthotic boot with plantar fasciitis, writing a group lesson plan for Saturday (trust stands guard), group lesson plan for Thursday (Philippians Chapter 2), the blog (you are reading), company and preparing for the backyard landscapers to arrive any minute here to create a new garden strip across the back of the yard. All that amidst high humidity and nasty high temperatures, etc.
photo by r m dutina
We did get to visit our son’s food stand created with his friend Ryan, at Findlay Market. He has been making sour dough biscuits and serving them with either fresh eggs, cheese and optional sausage or berries and whipped cream. I opted for the eggs and told Bob I did not think I could possibly get it in my mouth.
photo by r m dutina
Well look at that BIG mouth!
photos by r m dutina
As you can see for a photo I can eat that with determination! Could not finish it until the next morning for breakfast. It was SO delicious! From scratch sour dough biscuit, 3 eggs fresh from a market vendor, cheese from a market vendor, prepared by Ryan and Jeff with care and attention. I will probably opt for berries and whipped cream next time!
Shel Silverstein summed it up perfectly in his verse about Scale:
This post has been republished due to a technical issue preventing some followers from seeing the initial publication…. So I guess the pressure to write this week has been taken off!
Did you hear about the glut of anchovies in Marin County, California? To me it would just stink. To Bob it would be like quail in Numbers 11:31-32!
Bob said just put down a pizza crust and let him bake it! Ugh!!
Not raining quail, but something like that!
Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubitsdeep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp.
So did he hitch a ride from the flower grower to the flower shop at Kroger’s to my house or come in to find this fragrant place from outside in our yard? I will never know. I was delightfully surprised when I found him, snapped his photo, then caught him in a tissue and sent him on his way in the yellow begonias outdoors.
Where are you from tiny guy?
I will never know his origins or destination!
Jodi Picault wrote a novel entitled Small Great Things. In it was this quote which had me pondering.
I hear the flow of the fountain behind me, and I think about water, how it might rise above its station as mist, flirt at being a cloud, and return as rain. Would you call that falling? Or coming home?
Jodi Picault
water as vapor
These are the kind of thoughts that make me praise God. We have had severe humidity, then thunderstorms, then water flowing from the yards. Is it falling, or coming home?
“Water flirting at being a cloud” thunderstorm brewing
water on the earth – storm runoff
He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45b NIV
Photo by Molly – He causes His sun to rise on all
Ponder this and share your own discovery in the comments section!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 