Sharing a Blessing, Not a Book Report

a field below our house. Everything is so green!

I am very sorry about the way the background is colored in at the beginning of this post; I do not know how it happened, but tried fixing it...to no avail. Sometimes it just does what it wants to, I guess.
I am reading a book by S. D. Gordon at this time. It is entitled, Quiet Talks on Following the Christ. He lived during the 1850s and into the early 1900s. Perhaps it was the "simpler time", less complicated with technology, that tempered the old writers so that they wrote in a way that we all should walk and talk, with the Lord right there beside them. I enjoy the footnote format, Gordon finishes each page or two with the many verses from which his thoughts are drawn (not to mention that he uses Roman numerals, which sharpens me in that area). What a blessing to just take some quiet morning time to look up and meditate on these verses from God's Word. I won't go into a book report, but suffice it to say that God is using this and His Word to remind me that He wants me to have hold of His hand during every step of my day.
There is this one passage I'd like to record though, on speaking of the fall of Adam into sin: "Man went away from God that day, then he wandered farther away, then he lost his way back, then he didn't want to come back. And away from God, his ideas about God got badly confused. His eyes grew blind to God's pleading face, his ears dull and then deaf to God's voice. His will got badly warped and bent out of shape morally, and his life sadly hurt by the sin he had let in."  (Genesis 3:8,9; Gen. 4:6; Gen. 6:6)

What glory that Jesus came to bring us back to God! I used to say that Jesus came to earth to die. He surely did, but the Bible says that He primarily came down to do his Father's will. Everything He did was His Father's will! The death was an ultimate item in the obedience. I was also blessed when I read this passage from the little book, "Now, His 'follow me' does not mean imitation. It does not mean a restless, aggressive hurrying here and there in meetings and Christian service. It means that there will be a getting so close that the sweet fervor of His heart shall be caught by ours." One other passage: "It is not to be imitation, good as that may seem...it is to be some One living His life in you."

There is so much more contained in the pages I've read but I am just digesting it a little at a time. I pray always that I will not "let them slip" but that when these truths go into my heart, they will STAY there and not filter out. Writing them down and sharing them is one way that may help to keep them in there! I pray for so many of you, readers, whom I know personally. So many of you I have never met but you have emailed me and said that you read. I try to remember to pray for all of you regularly.

another field I pass on my way from home to the PO

It is another hot, Summer day. They say that is with less humidity and I must admit, I am in an air conditioned building, so I have not checked out the humidity levels yet...okay, I just did. They were right it is less humid here today and it seems like a perfect day if you can stay out of the sun.

Just ending with some random shots of things I see along the way between this office and my home:

I'll start with my own little garden area. The radishes and peas are coming up well, lettuce too. Now if the dogs and chickens will just stop to read the sign, we'll keep it that way.

This birdhouse is about 30 feet off the ground. So colorful!

This was a huge pile of dirt they piled up at the end of a road. What a nice "stand of daisys"!

The little office I am working at for past two days is quite rural. There is a little "park" just off our driveway. This cow was fenced in on it when I got here this morning. Here he is, taking an afternoon siesta after lunch.

After I took my first picture, he woke up and posed, though he still looks sleepy

I brought the camera hoping to see a moose in the swamp on Eagle Hollow. Often we do see them here...maybe on the way home.

This office is situated in a tiny settlement of buildings, and yes, on a dirt road! This is the view from the front porch. Very quaint.

Right across the dirt road is an old, historic academy

Those are the happenings on and off the hill today. Ruger stayed with Mom again today. She did not answer her phone all morning. When I went up at lunch she said, "I've been out in the woods". Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Nothing Much-ness

Two of my fellow-bloggers named their recent posts "Miscellaneousness" and "...Randomness", so I thought I'd follow suit. I  know this one got lost last night, and I was able to retrieve it today and get it posted. Sorry for the confusion.

Here it is, the first day of Summer - and it's HOT! I don't mean to complain, as I know that the southern and western states are REALLY getting it. We are experiencing a stiff breeze and are so thankful for this.

Not alot has been happening on the hill lately. Ruger has not run into any more fawns in the bush. One new thing, Sturm HAS learned to be off his leash! That is a big breakthrough. As some of you know, he was a stray (left off at a local park and ride) and was a "runner". During the week that we had him on trial we actually had to sign a paper saying that we would not just let him out the door with no leash. I certainly did not want to lose him either, especially when we didn't know if he was going to work out. He did, of course, stay with us and knows his way around enough now so that he can go loose around our house and up at Grammy's too. He met my brother's little dogs, Chichi and Jack, last weekend and they all got long famously! He is getting to understand children also. Our great nephew, Lucius, was up last weekend and Sturm is now beginning to see that all little children make quick moves and it really is not anything to worry about. Lucius is a good one for him to get practice on, because nothing really scares Lucius! Sturm is a real "little boy's dog". I like to call him TUFFY because he has one tooth (sometimes more) that likes to stick out from under his lip and he always looks like he's looking for a fight. We are finding him to be a truly loving and even 'gentle' (much of the time) dog. I think Ruger is rubbing off on him some.

The peonies are out in full force here. I almost think that these are my favorite 'showy' flower. I love hydrangeas also. I guess I like flowers on either a very large scale or a very tiny one. They both appeal to me in the same way. I took a boquet of peonies to Mom this noon. There is a huge bush out behind where I worked this morning. I brought a few to look at here at the post office this afternoon too.

Another happening on the hill this week: our rooster crowed! (or is that 'crew'?) I have been trying to teach him how to crow for some time. The first few times I 'cock-a-doodle doo'ed at him, he JUMPED and looked at me sideways. I think it scared him. Several mornings ago I came down from staying the night at Mom's and Syd informed me that Buck-buck crew! (or crowed). He did say that he did a terrible job at it. I have now witnessed just how sad his crowing is, but I think he'll come into it yet. Every morning around 4:30 or so he gives several attempts. The first morning I heard him I thought that it was an odd sounding turkey down in the woods. Just try to hear this, "Er, er, uht!"  -- see? he doesn't add the, "uh, OOOooh!" on the end. I say that it may be because he can't stand to his full height in the pen that we have him in. He's a little stooped over and cannot throw his head straight up. Syd thinks not, but we are in the process of getting him a little more space which may improve his crowing.

Ruger is with Grammy for the afternoon and I hope they're staying in the woods as promised. She and I sat on her porch during lunch and the beautiful breeze made it quite enjoyable. We are still working on her little garden (not today though).  I must put a short fence around it, as I did at home. Both dogs thought they could dig in hers today.

As many of you know, I work in several local post offices. I do not talk about my job(s) very often because they are not really what I wish to focus on. Home is my favorite place to be. I am only glad that the Lord has given me abilities to be able to work with the public so that I can be a help to my husband in some of the financial burden. It is always a challenge to balance duties at home and work, especially when the out-of-the-home schedule gets fuller than I had hoped. There are so many changes on the way for postal workers, and so much is still not known. We are waiting to know what options may come up or when it may be feasible to give up the job, if need be. Whenever the Lord closes a door in one area He does it for a reason. Jobs come and jobs go and the Lord provides for us, no matter what. Those of you who know the Lord and would like to pray about this, we would certainly appreciate it. My greatest desire would be to have at least two FULL days at home each week.

One more big praise - we are pricing siding for our cabin! I received a certain amount of money for my 50th birthday and we have been holding it aside. Syd wanted to know what I would best like to do with it. I said, "put siding on the house". He priced barnboard and we wouldn't even have been able to do the front for that amount! It will be a surprise to everyone to see what we are leaning towards. I'll let you know in a future post! It's a cliff-hanger!! 

Thanks, all, for stopping by the hill and listing to our "nothing much-ness"!
Take care.

Fawning Over A Fawn

Ruger bounded out of the woods as I stepped out behind my workplace the other day. He was barking and started to run back over the bank, looking over his shoulder and barking again. It was obvious that he had something to show me. I heard a persistent bleating in the direction of where he was headed. When I got down there, I could see the tiniest fawn. I have only seen one up this close before, and they are so small! Our dog, Sturm , is 13 pounds and this little baby did not look any larger (but with longer legs). Ruger began lapping his back and head, which were already wet, so I assume he had previously been doing so. Then the fawn would reach up and trustingly lick Ruger's face. After checking around for the mother deer,I ran to the office for the camera. It would not turn on (no batteries) so I got my cell phone from the car and turned it on while I was running back to the woods. I snapped several pictures and then had to literally DRAG Ruger out of the woods with me so that Mama deer could come back for her baby. The poor dog layed out behind the office, on his leash, and cried for at least two hours. It was pitiful. When I went to check mail I carefully tromped all through the field and in that little corner of woods, looking for the fawn, and he was gone. It really made my morning and I thank the Lord for the opportunity to see this rare sight.

Ruger is laying down in these  photos. As you can see, the fawn does not fear him at all.

The fawn was actually licking Ruger's head here

I thank the Lord that He has us living in the country, and even allows me to work in such a nice out-of-the-way place as this. To have His creatures so close at hand.

"Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." I Timothy 6:17


Well, we are not back "online" yet at home; still awaiting our internet people so that they can fix the problem with the dish. I will keep this short. I'm thankful for a place where I can borrow a computer from time to time. Had quite an ordeal, getting these photos off my phone. I'm so thankful for our dear friend from church, who let me come up last night and went to the trouble of getting her laptop to get internet connection, opened her kitchen window and handed me my phone (which we had patched through to the computer). When I held it in just the right spot we had a connection and I was able to send myself these four photos! Oh, the joys of living in the country  - once again!

Thanks for stopping by the hill. I hope you all have a wonderful day, full of little surprises.

200th Post!

Good news for the 200th post! Syd and I got our computer back last night and it appears that nothing was lost in the lightning jolt! They said that our "logic board" was hit. I never thought computers were logical. I guess it just didn't have the sense to boot up when told to!

We are praising the Lord that He answered prayer and that I don't have to go onto facebook and the blog to retrieve our photos, many of which would have been lost as they were ONLY on the albums in the computer. When I take photos off my SD cards, I tell it to delete them. From now on I will save them to a thumb drive right away!

We have had a gentle rain all last evening and through the night. It was beautiful and our gardens must be so happy. I am sorry for you all out midwest and other places that are in drought conditions. I do try to remember to pray for you and that the Lord will send rain soon.  The sun has just come out and I am about to head out for lunch, to let the dogs out and go see Mom on the hill. Lately Ruger has been staying with "Grammy" and keeps her good company. When Syd went to pick him up the other night he saw them through the door; Ruger's head on Grammy's lap as she wept, telling him that her husband had died. He said that it was a touching sight and that he was glad that Ruger was there. My hubby is so great, as he went in and talked to her and eventually changed the subject. Before he left she was laughing and happy again. He is such a blessing. That is one man who loves his mother-in-law! He calls her on the phone to say 'hi', usually once a day, from work or as soon as he gets home. I love that guy.

Every few days I try to notice which flowers are about to unfurl along our driveway or road. Today I see that the daisies are getting ready to open. I love daisies and I keep several wild patches of them in my garden area. As I was weeding last week, the nicest surprise met my eyes. The cosmos that were so prolific last year have re-seeded themselves! There are probably two dozen of them springing up in the patch. This year is the best for this to happen, as I had already decided not to spend much money on buying plants. I now have several perennials coming back and we could use the money in other areas anyway. The Lord really blessed my heart by giving me these cosmos! He is always so good to us, isn't He?

Monday evening Syd plowed up a small patch for Mom to have a tiny vegetable garden. When I left from lunch today, she was turning over some of the sod so that it could dry in the sun (while Ruger layed there waiting to take her for a walk). Her patch is about 4 X 7 foot. She has three tomato plants and will have a row of radishes and one of carrots. I have extra snap peas which I'll probably put in around a pole or something to climb on in the corner. He put it just off her porch area so that it will be handy for watering but still gets all-day sun.  I will post pictures of both her and our tiny gardens. Mine is below each kitchen window in front of our house, two small patches with the walkway in between. They should be quite handy for picking and weeding. Keeping the dogs out can be a challenge. I have a short metal fence, but Ruger's legs are so long he hardly notices it's there. I am planning on putting up rustic signs that say: 'Dogs', 'Chickens', 'Keep Out', but though Ruger does know how to spell, he doesn't yet read.

Life, Indeed

When a seed falls to the ground he must die;
 die, that he may live again
 to feed a child, to cheer a heart,
 bearing seed to begin again.

Every green herb points his eyes toward the heavens
 from whence all life comes.
He died that we might live; to feed,
 or chance to die for some.

Risen! alive! He sustains all flesh;
 warmth of sun and soaking rain
Those who feed on this life-giving stock
 shall n'er hunger again.

Fall to the ground, die at His feet
 a stirring within the seed
New life springs forth, breaking the earth
 Now this is life indeed!

"Verily, verily except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12:24


"Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed; He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him." John 6:54-56

A Happy Lump of Clay

II Thessalonians 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil."

I was reading this the other day and it struck me how often I look back to different situations that could have turned out very bad, or where I could have gotten spiritually sidetracked and yet the Lord either directed me right out of the path or walked me straight through it, unscathed. Aren't you glad that He keeps the Christian from evil. I used to think that, now that I am a believer, God will not allow certain "bad" things to happen to me. Not so. With God, all things that come into my life are for GOOD. He does everything perfect and is always right. I'm so glad, because there is no one else who does, or is!

As I meditated on the verse above I realized how often I am tempted to "categorize" God as always doing things in one particular manner. Yet, He works in such different ways in each individual life. This does not make God "changing". He is always the same. It is so easy to think that, because you do not have a certain thing that another believer may be blessed with, it is a mark of being out of the will of God. Then I am reminded of the verse, "and having food and raiment, therewith to be content." He has blessed us with so much more than food and raiment. Jesus Christ shed His blood and died on the cross for every one of our sins, past, present and future! He adopted us into His family and has given us a new name! Don't let Satan fool you into thinking that because you do not have certain "blessings", that God has not blessed you immensely. Contentment and joy in the Lord Jesus is the greatest blessing one could possess!

I am happy that He can keep us from the evil and He will not lead us into temptation. Our Potter can work us, His clay, into any shaped vessel He wishes.  Lord, please make and keep me a happy lump of clay!

A favorite Hymn:
"My Goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God.
'Tis His to lead me there; not mine, but His; at any cost, dear Lord, by any road."


I'm so glad you stopped by Darling Hill today and hope you'll visit again soon.

Happenings on the Hill

It's a warm summer day that promises, so the weatherman said this morning, thunderstorms this evening. Aunt Janet will be happy to hear that I have been picking my milkweed tops and plan on having them with tonight's supper. I am ashamed to say that it is my FIRST time (imagine that, of a country girl like me!). I had been planning to serve them last night with chicken, but my sweet hubby came home  with TWO LARGE pizzas! He had been thinking about surprising me by cooking dinner - but decided on pizza on his way home. It certainly did surprise me! I don't know what he thought we were going to do with TWO. He said that he was thinking of having Mom come down, which we did, but even the three of us couldn't polish those off! We all had our fill then each were able to have some for lunch today and there's still enough for Syd to have some tomorrow. He is one for doing things up big! With full bellies we still managed to each get a cup of coffee and waddle out to the new back porch to enjoy the rocking chairs and a quiet evening gazing down into the woods. I LOVE the porch Syd has put on and the fact that he has now opened the "spare room" (enclosed end of porch) into our living room. Previously there had been a temporary wall. With a wide opening there now, it gives the appearance that our living room is much larger!

Other evening happenings on the Hill:
I was walking the dogs on Monday evening at the top of our driveway - still "broad-daylight", when suddenly both their noses went to the edge of the road. Ruger's hair went up on his back and he started toward the neighbor's house. It was right then that I heard the bear give a loud hoot. It sounded as if it was just on the other side of  their place. Ruger growled and was headed down when I called him back and we went inside and phoned Joe & Janine. Yes, Joe had been outside when their visitor sounded off. He was inside when I called them! Syd stepped out on the porch and hooted to the bear, he did not answer.They're roaming around looking to see if their berries are ripe yet, I guess. We still do feed the birds up at Mom's but we're pretty diligent to take the feeder in at night. I know that it doesn't matter though, as  I posted a couple weeks ago - another neighbor had one come up on her deck in the middle of the day. I'm glad that, "they're more afraid of you than you are of them" - what a funny saying.

I never even think of seeing one though. I am famous for not seeing bears. It's a family joke, actually. Everyone had seen a bear but me. Syd sees bears on his way to and from work. Our nephews have both reported sightings, though Dallas hesitated to tell me, not wanting me to feel bad. The ONE time I did see one (in the exact vicinity of where one was calling out the other night) it was running SO fast and so low to the ground I hardly got a chance to know it was a bear. We were on our way to prayer meeting and I was excited to tell Dallas that "I've seen a bear!".  Syd had a dream one night. We were on a ride with Mom and Dad, out on a back road (typical) when Dad pulled over and he, Syd and Mom were all watching a bear. I just could NOT see it! Mom and I were in the back seat. I even got on Mom's lap and she was trying to point it out to me - I still never saw it. Even as I am typing this I'm laughing very hard.

This is a rather rambling post. I just miss blogging and have checked out all the posts on my "reading list". I got a cute picture sent to me by Aunt Jan today. She took it in town the other day. These ducklings were enjoying a dip and a sip from a puddle. I read "Make Way for Ducklings" while in a doctor's waiting room on Tuesday. This adorable picture makes me think of them.

They're all here...Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack , Pack and Quack! plus TWO (Rack and Sack, I suppose)

I hope that you all have a blessed evening. Thanks so much for stopping by the Hill.

P.S. Syd just called and wanted to know if he might stop at Subway! I don't know why, but he must be going through a fast food withdrawal. We just never really eat at these places - really! I told him what I have planned and he thought that was a better idea...THIS time.

"Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." I Thess. 5:16-18

The Burning Tree

As I had stated in my last post, the thing that I miss the most about not having my computer is being able to blog. The best time for me is early morning after being refreshed from God's Word. The house is all quiet and there is space to think.

One other thing that I do miss though is being able to edit my photos! This promised photo needs enhancing badly. I dared not get too close to the tree at this point, as burning branches were falling off. On the computer I am using today there is not way to crop and edit this photo so you do not really get the full effect. Being that it was a very drizzly, dark morning, this is a drizzly, dark photo too. Sorry. I will at least post both of them.

Oh, and THANK YOU ALL for your comments! Wow, how fun it is to read them and just know that you're all out there. I'm sorry this one is so short, but I am doing this one from work, so can't take alot of time (though they do allow it). Thanks for checking in to Darling Hill.