Be Thankful and Believe



My backyard vista!



I have a beautiful back yard.  There, I said it.  And, really, I’m not bragging.  I live below a beautiful bluff.  We have total privacy.  We have a great deck that gets the morning sun, a hot tub that we use almost every day, and a hillside garden with a rock fountain surrounded by beautiful perennials in every color.  Each time I look out to my back yard vista, I feel so blessed.  I thank God often for giving me such a beautiful space to enjoy.

But the part of my backyard that I most enjoy is my bird sanctuary.  Surrounded by a coppice (I’ll let you look that one up!) of shrubbery, bushes, and perennials, my bird sanctuary is a haven for birds of all kinds.  I’m kind of a freak when it comes to my birds.  I’m constantly standing at my kitchen window and calling to my husband, my boys, or any random guest, “Hurry, come here!  I have a Downy Woodpecker!” or, “Come quick, there’s a Cardinal!”  

This morning, I was treated to a bevy of beauties!  Here, on another gloomy gray day, (will spring ever come?) were birds of all kinds.  The ground was covered in striped brown and gray Sparrows.  Two Downy Woodpeckers, with their cheerful red head patch against brilliant black and white, pecked at the suet feeder.  There were two Ruby Throated Grosbeaks (again that beautiful bright fire-engine red), a few Cardinals, several Purple Finch, a couple of brilliantly yellow Goldfinch, a great big Blue Jay, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and, oh my gosh, could it be?  A Baltimore Oriole!  A couple of bunnies foraged for food and a couple of squirrels jumped from tree to tree.

It’s mornings like this that make me pause and reflect on God’s wonderful gifts to man.  He created all things great and small.  He created this earth and all things in it for our enjoyment.  Can you even imagine it?  And what can we give in return?  Well, the only thing that God asks from us is our faith, our belief in Him, our belief in His Son, Jesus Christ.  He asks us to love – to love Him, to love one another as He loves us.  He asks that we live in His Presence, by being present.  

So instead of complaining about the weather (a common event these days), let us look to what is good and beautiful.  Let us be thankful for everything.  And let us Believe.

³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. ³¹ The second is this, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”                                                                                        Mark 12:30-31

For you have been rooted in him and are being built up and strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, while you continue to be thankful.                                                

                       Colossians 2:7

In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

                                                                                                                                         1 Thessalonians 5:18