Small and Wonderful Things . . .

 

 

"The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand. But who gets excited by a mere penny?...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, so that finding a penny will literally make your day, then, since the world is in fact planted with pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. It is that simple. what you see is what you get." ~Anne Dillard

A few of the small and wonderful things which bring untold joy into my life. It's the small things in life which truly mean the most. Simple abundance . . . it's the best. 

  

 

Getting my herbs bought and planted. I picked Cindy up on Saturday afternoon and we went to the Home Hardware in town and I bought some dirt and some planters and some herbs for planting out. Then we came back here and planted them.  All being well, I should have a nice variety of fresh herbs at my fingertips all summer!  I am so happy about that!  I am so grateful for a sister who is always willing to help me to do these things.  Once everything gets established fresh herbs for her too! 

I had a really pleasant day yesterday, beginning with church. It was a bit of a rainy day, drizzly, but that didn't stop the hummingbirds from visiting.  Yes, that is not a hummingbird, but a woodpecker. He visited too.   Two hummingbirds spent most of the day at my feeder. I have a cast iron shepherd's hook in the garden near the end of my railing and one spent a lot of time just sitting there and chasing off the other one when it visited. They were so much fun to watch. 

I had time to write some letters. I wrote notes to the sister's that I minister to and included little prints of Eva Timothy's work. She includes a small print with every regular sized piece that she sends out to me.  So I had several duplicates. 

I also enjoyed being able to partake of the Sacrament and renew my covenants and take His name upon me.

 

I was watching an episode of The Chosen on Saturday night and at the end of the episode Jesus comes back to his tent after having ministered all day to the people and he is so clearly exhausted that he can barely stand and his mother goes to him and washes his feet and he sinks down onto his sleeping palate and  she closes the tent flaps around him, but you hear him praying his bedtime prayer . . . 

Blessed are You, Lord our God, 

King of the universe, 

who brings sleep to my eyes, 

slumber to my eyelids. 

May it be Your will, 

Lord my God and God of my ancestors, 

that I lie down in peace and that I arise in peace.

Let my sleep be undisturbed by troubling thoughts, 

bad dreams, and wicked schemes. 

 May I have a night of tranquil slumber. 

 May I awaken to the light of a new day, 

that my eyes may behold the splendor of Your light. 

 Praised are You, Lord 

whose glory gives light to the entire world. 

It touched my heart in a special way.  His tiredness . . . I had never thought before about how tired he must have been at the end of each day after all of his ministering to others.  Oh, I think about him in the garden and on the cross and his resurrection, but I had never thought about his every day before. It brought tears to my eyes and the words of this prayer touched my heart in a special way.

We think often and rightly so of the divinity of Jesus Christ, but how often do we stop to remember that he was also a man.  He felt tired just like we do. He felt sorrow just like we do, pain, etc.  The miracle of Jesus Christ is that although he was divine, he was also human and so is able to understand our humanity, with all of our weaknesses and shortcomings, etc. in a very special way. I am so grateful for that understanding.

I love the Jewish prayers  . . . the Hamotzi (Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.) . . . the Shema . . .  and I have only ever read a fraction of their prayers. I recently bought myself a Tora so that I could read it along side of my own Scriptures.  There are so many things about the Jewish faith that sings the song of my heart. So many of their traditions which are incredibly beautiful.  Their celebrations and Holy days.  I think as Christians we should pay more attention to them.  Jesus Christ was a Jew and these traditions and prayers were important to him . . .  these Holy days  . . .  

I came across this old photo of myself. I am sure it was taken back in 2010. I am sure I was not overly fond of it at the time. I never like any photos of myself.  In any case when I saw it, it reminded me that I had many, many happy and beautiful days over the last 22 years, even if things did end very badly and I must be careful not to ignore all the joy filled moments that I also  had. 

Last night I was reading in this book of mine, Written on Our Hearts, Invitations From the Old Testament.  The author is talking about the moment when Joseph's brothers came pleasing, asking forgiveness for the great trial they had imposed upon him when they sold him into slavery.   Joseph asked them a profound question. "Am I in the place of God." (Genesis 50:19)  It was like he was saying to them . . .  at the end of the day, isn't the place I ended up after all of that, exactly the place God needed me to be?

All that he had gone through was what had enabled him to be in the position he was in order to be able to save his family and indeed an entire nation. 

It made me think about my trials, and whilst it often is hard when you are going through a trial to figure out the whys and the wherefores, I have learned through the years that the trials bring you through to the place that God wants you to be, needs you to be . . .  for whatever reason.  We may not always be able to comprehend the trials we face in this life, but we can always trust that God can turn them to our good. 

I had a nice long talk with my good friend Debbie last night.  She was my neighbor that lived across the street from me when I lived in that house by the marshland in New Brunswick. It is always so good to talk to her. A good friend is one who, no matter how long it has been since you have seen or talked to each other, you can pick up right where you left off. I have a small handful of those in my life and I am very grateful for each and every one.  I have always been a person who has friends, good friends.

My best friend however has always been Cindy.  My parents really blessed my life with her, and a good brother too. I am so thankful.

Now that I have my art hung I am so pleased with how it looks and how it makes me feel. I love my little house.  God willing I will be able to stay here until such time as I am not here on the earth any longer and I hope that I have a good long time yet to go.  I am so grateful for all of the many blessings in my life. For my family, my faith, my friends, my home  . . .  my health and all of you. Just wanted you to know  . . . 

I will leave you now with a thought for the day  . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.˛.When my heart is overwhelmed

lead me to the rock that is

higher than I. ~Psalm 61:2 

•。★★ 。* 。•。★★ 。* 。 

In the English Kitchen today . . .  Raw Donut Holes. I got this recipe from my sister. They are delicious. No cook. You need a food processor to make them, and they taste just like donuts.

I hope your week ahead is filled with a multitude of small and wonderful things. May you be richly blessed.  Don't forget! 

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And I do too!