Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation.  Psalm 68:

A friend brought me a perfect white cream rose the other day as a thank you and a sign of friendship, and because she is one of those kind, thoughtful people I am blessed to have in my life. The thank you was a simple, simple thing—just gather the mail one day while she was away; nothing major, we live only a few yards (as in distance) apart.

pure rose

But when she came to collect her mail, she gave me the gift of friendship and this lovely rose. That was four days ago and the rose still sits in its small vase she brought it in, and it makes me smile.  And it makes me thankful. Thankful for the wonderful creation in just this simple rose, never mind all the other bounty He created. I am thankful for the many friends in my life, but it always touches my heart so much when my friends do the sweetest things such as present a gift, or present (haha, a homophobic word!) as a thanks, as a thinking of you. This gesture and flower touched my heart, and I hope it touches yours.   

It is so lovely, pure, and simple in the intricacy of each petal. No one but God could create such a lovely, natural flower.

God created all—all my friends, all the bounties of nature, the blue sky, lovely trees, singing birds, and so many other things which touch me in deep, moving and personal ways. So thank You, God for all those things that touch me–my wonderful friends, and the simple, yet, complex beauty of my life and “mybellaviews.

Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, not by sight

Galatians 3: 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith

What is faith? It is more than hope, although hope is imbedded in it. It is the deep belief of what is to come, a conviction that something is going to occur. It is the trust, certainty, the absolute knowledge of the spoken promise. It is the willingness to wait—patiently, knowing in God’s time, the promise will be delivered. That’s faith.

I so admire Abraham. He was waiting and believing, all the while being bullied by his wife to act in the flesh, instead of waiting in the spirit. And oh, what problems that caused. Silly Sarah, encouraging him to be with another woman. But Abraham had been willing to wait because God had told him he would make him the “Father of

Then when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac his son of Sarah, after also having told him he would be the father of many, Abraham prepared to kill him. But even as he trekked up the side of the mountain to obey, he believed God would send an alternate sacrifice. He had faith in God.

God tested Abrahams’ faith, found him sincere, and loved him for it. Faith is believing He will deliver all He has promised; even when we wait a long time.

But faith is huge. It can carry you through times of difficulty, fear, anxiety, hurt, loss, illness, addiction, and so many difficulties we face. For those who believe, we cling to God’s promises, and although we may not understand, and we may grieve at times, we know that His will and promise will see us through.

Faith is incredible. And I want more…and more.

Thank you for the faith. Help me have more in all of “mybellaviews.”

You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. James 2:24

Whew! I have been pleasantly busy the past several days washing windows, having a new door installed, cleaning ceiling fans, windows, moving furniture, painting baseboards and trim within the house, and cleaning “kitties.” And yes, although I own two cats those were not the kitties I cleaned. One thinks they do a good job housecleaning, UNTIL Spring cleaning. I rarely get to the Fall cleaning, tending to bask in the warm sun, knowing it will soon leech into winter.

But every task on my long list has been completed! How exciting! What a feeling of satisfaction when you do as you need to and accomplish your goals. I truly thought I would skip some or pull a ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ and “worry about it tomorrow.” There was a lot of work on that list. And now, because I followed through and completed the list with good cheer and faith, doing each task to the best of my ability, they are done.

Once the windows were completed, it rained the next day, and of course the pollen is spewing yellow trails down them. I love to keep windows open once it is warm enough and before the weather heats to its Eastern NC hot, so, I wipe my “clean” counters down each day picking up the pollen deposits. Lucky for me I am not bothered by troublesome allergies. But I wonder when I wipe counters and window sills if God is smiling at me and my impatient ‘let’s get this house sparkling!’ But it feels clean, and looks pretty with spring flowers scattered in the gardens and the pots that align my outside stairs.

So, I am feeling thankful for the spring, the finished heavy cleaning, and the blessing of my home, “mybellaviews.”

A time to die, a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. . .   Ecclesiastes 3:3,4

I found shag dancing, dance of the Carolinas several months after my husband’s death. I needed to get out, socialize and thought I would try dancing. Although I enjoyed some of the ballroom lessons, it was not quite it. Then I found a class for shag, so let’s give it a try.

It was like another home. I enjoyed the music, learning a new step was challenging and great exercise, and I was meeting lots of nice people. There are some wonderful gospel shag tunes such as ‘Give Me that Ole Time Religion,’ ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,’ ‘Going Home to Jesus,’ and ‘Rough Side of the Mountain,’ and so many others.

What a blessing it was to have an activity I looked forward to with folks I enjoyed. After a difficult time, I was meeting new friends, who came from all over the Carolinas, Virginia, and as far north as Pennsylvania and New York, and south to Florida, Alabama and so forth.

Dancing is fun, while it can be an artistic expression, a means of expressing feelings but also sharing with others who like one of your interests. I have meant so many wonderful friends I see repeatedly at different shag events, even if I don’t get to see them at any other times than a dance event.  So for me, I found more friendships, am able to see some fantastic dancers, such as Charlie Womble and his wife Jackie McGee, (you might want to see one of their Youtube videos!), and get to exercise, and have a lot of fun.

For everything, there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven…. Eccl 3:1.

Since one of the year’s biggest events for dancing is coming up in NMB, I plan to be there for a few days. I will be with these supportive folks who so enjoy the expression of music, dance and the camaraderie; this is a blessing to me, a favorite “mybellaview.”

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly…So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.  Jonah1:17, 2:1,10

 

Wow! I saw a whale today while standing on my porch taking a break. It was … awesome!

I needed to get busy and write and was having a hard time planting my bottom to the chair and beginning. Start, just start! My brain’s motor just would not turn over. Finally, I hoped for inspiration looking at the ocean. The water is green-blue today with several white caps, and I wondered if I would get the blessing of spotting a dolphin, or even a pod of them.

Resigned that didn’t seem likely at the moment, I was about to head in when I saw a huge dolphin leap out. But no, there it is again. Wow! That’s not a dolphin, that’s a whale, that’s its tail! And yes, I know it sounds like a whale of a tail, but it was not. I felt humbled and thankful. I was standing here at the right time, God’s right time, and received this visual rare blessing.

My breathing caught and I continued to stare. I saw the tail slap three times causing ocean spray, and I assumed this was part of feeding, maybe stunning fish. The tale disappeared, and I continued to watch and was fortunate to see this gray massive creature rise and send spray up into the air, then see part of its back as it rolled up, then down, every twenty seconds, slowly working south. How amazing! Just look at this creature God created swimming and living life within sight of my porch. And I had the blessing of standing there at the right time to see this rare view.

I watched her (I decided it was a female, but who knows?) and she continued south for several minutes then disappeared from my view even though I waited to catch a glimpse again. How greedy I was! I already watched for maybe fifteen minutes and was filled with awe at this gift; and still I wanted more.

So, now I sit so thankful for the eyes which see, for the timing of spotting that impressive gray creature, and for giving me something wonderful to write and share. Such a moving blessing to witness and share.

Thank You for my many blessings; this was terrific for “mybellaviews.”

 

Skip to toolbar