Life continues day by day

 Dear Ones,

I'm so sorry for having neglected this blog for so long. I've been posting on my main blog ~

FlowerLady's Musings  Although, I've not posted much there either. I'm afraid 2020 was a year that knocked all of us for a loop. Here it is 6 years later, and as the title says, 'life continues, day by day'.

God blesses us with the gift of each new day. In Lamentations 3:22-23 we read:

 

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; 

His mercies never come to and end;

They are new every morning;

Great is your faithfulness." 

 ~~~~~~

There are times I've been discouraged, filled with anxious thoughts, fearful, yet our great and awesome God, Jesus, has always been with me. It is because of His deep love and tender care that I keep on going one step, one day at a time.

Here are some encouraging words from Joshua 1.

 

"Be strong and courageous,

Be strong and very courageous.

Be strong and courageous! 

Do not be terrified

nor dismayed,

For the LORD

Your God

Is

With you

Wherever you go."

~~~~~~

Then again we read in Isaiah 41:10:

Fear not,

for I am with you;

Be not dismayed,

for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, 

I will help you,

I will uphold you

with

my righteous right hand.'

~~~~~~ 

 Deuteronomy 31:18 says:

It is the LORD who goes before you.

He will be with you:

He will not leave you or forsake you.

Do not fear or be dismayed." 

 ~~~~~~

Here is more encouragement from Phillipians 4:7-8

 

 "And the peace of God,

which passes all comprehension,

will guard 

your hearts and minds in

Christ Jesus.

~~~ 

Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is right, 

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence,

if there is anything 

worthy of praise,

think on these things." 

~~~~~~

I am so thankful to be able to grow flowers here in my humble, tropical, overgrown cottage gardens. The scents, colors, shapes are such a joy. My garden spaces are not pristine, they are weedy, growing willy-nilly, they surprise me on a daily basis. They bring me joy. There are lots of butterflies, bees,birds, including humming birds, and there are occasional neighborhood cats that lounge around here.

There is so much fear-mongering going on these days, we can hardly get away from it. But, we are so much better if we can tune it out. We must do so for our own health, mentally, spiritually and physically.

We don't know what tomorrow may bring, God knows, and He works all things out for His honor and glory and our good.

I will now share with you one of God's beautiful flowers from the 'Incense' passion vine. This flower has a lovely scent.

 

Enjoy each day you are blessed with and look for the joys large and small. 

Be thankful.

 FlowerLady

2020 - Clearer Vision - Trusting Jesus

Hello Folks ~ Here it is another new year, not only that, but also a new decade. My pastor said the other day, 'may 2020 be a year of clearer vision.' That's what I desire in my life this year. A new year of trusting in Jesus more in everything I do and for everything I need. 

Yesterday in my devotional time I read again about Mary and Martha, where Martha is all in a tizzy because Mary is not helping her in the kitchen, Found in Luke 10:41-42 and in The Passion Translation it says this: "The Lord answered her, “Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Are they really that important? Mary has discovered the one thing most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take this privilege from her.”  

This reminded me of the book that has really helped me in being a widow. I found it online, a month after God called my dear husband home, 7 years ago last month. It is the best book on this subject, written by a widow. The book is  linked here.  I have read it more than once, it is a go-to book for encouragement. After I started helping with GriefShare, I saw that the author of this book, Carol Cornish, is a contributing author/speaker in the GS workbook and in the videos. I highly recommend this book. For widows, (widowers also could be encouraged by this book), and for anyone who desires to help those who have lost their spouse.

 

 This time and journey of being a widow is a privilege  for me to grow closer to Jesus and to serve Him however He wishes to use me, for His honor and glory.

Here is a link to GriefShare's 'A Season of Grief - Daily emails' 
These were very helpful to me that first year.

***********

I bought The Passion Translation (TPT) after hearing my pastor read from it. There is so much gentleness and love in it. It is just the New Testament, Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Solomon. The King James Version has always been my favorite, but I've expanded into other translations as well, ESV, NIV, ASV, The Message, and more.

When I first looked for this Bible, on Christianbook.com , I saw a beautiful floral cover that caught my eye, but then remembered these days large print is better for my eyes. I checked for large print and this is what they had, perfect for FlowerLady to read here in Plum Cottage.

It has great notes at the bottom of pages.

I want to end this first post of this new year with a new rendition of an old hymn.

Praying that all who visit here will be drawn closer to Jesus. He is God Almighty, Creator of all, and He loves us deeply. May you feel His loving comfort surrounding you.

FlowerLady