. . .an extension of the Orange Moon Cafe
This picture was taken one day when we were kayaking along the delta in our area. Five rivers come together to form a wonderful place to explore the water and enjoy the scenery. When I took this picture I think I more wished to have the bird in it than expected to. When I saw the results, I was so pleasantly surprised.
Years ago I purchased my first digital camera. I loved taking pictures with it and exploring the possibilities it presented. I also enjoyed adding Scripture to the pictures. I came across a few of them the other day and decided to start posting one or two a week and perhaps telling the story behind the picture.
This picture was taken in our back yard when the ligustrum was in bloom. Glen and I planted these 42 perimeter plants when we first moved into our house, 29 years ago. Little did we know at the time we were both allergic to ligustrum. I now dread seeing the first blooms come on the plants, but when they are not in bloom, I love their glossy green leaves and the privet hedge they provide. They were about 12 inches tall when we planted them and now they are easily 20 feet tall. In the spring, when the little white flowers appear, the plants are full of bees. I enjoy that our plants help to provide sustenance for the busy bees.
God always has a plan.
He has a plan for His children. He has a plan for those who choose not to accept His Son. He has a plan for this earth. We may not see it, or know it, but one day we will see how very perfect His plan for us has been.
As I look back at the path my life has taken through the decades, I can see God's hand working in my life so much more clearly than I could see at the time. Few things bring this to light more than the hymns.
Hymns have always been a great part of my life. I grew up in a time before choruses were used in churches. We sang the old hymns, many of which were written out of great pain and sorrow. I grew up in a small church and was quickly plucked out of the congregation, placed in the choir and told to "sing what the lady next to you sings." I learned to sing harmony from the old hymns. The first song I played on the piano was a hymn.
Someone asked me recently where Glen and I attend church. I answered that we "take church to people." We do several services each week in nursing homes and assisted living centers, "taking church" to those who are unable to get out and go to church. In those services we sing several hymns. We once estimated that we sing about 1472 hymns each year. That is 26,496 hymns since we began almost 19 years ago, give or take a verse or two.
Many of these hymns I have sung for so long, I know them by heart. Interestingly, for many of these I have sung the harmony to the hymn so long that I no longer remember the melody. I would have to look in the hymnal to remind myself how the tune actually goes.
Who would have thought, while my bridesmaids, my father and I waited in the foyer of the church, singing that old hymn with the guests, it would be a symbol of something Glen and I would share over and over and over again. God always has a plan.
Always.
2 Samuel 22:31
The Solid Rock
written by Edward Mote
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
When darkness veils his lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale
my anchor holds within the veil.
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.
His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
On Christ the solid rock I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.
Glen and I really enjoy decorating our tree because it is an opportunity to remember places we have been, things we have done and people we have known that might have been lost to us without the reminders on the tree. Our tree contains memories of our almost forty-three years together. Children's and grandchildren's handprints can be found hanging from the branches. Pictures of all our family, including dogs, can be seen. Concert tickets, Boston Red Sox baseball tickets, Magic bands from DisneyWorld, logos from businesses in almost every city we have visited (most of these involve some very good food) can be found as well. Approximately 1000 "ornaments" adorn the branches of our tree, some are "regular" ornaments, but the ones saved from the events of our lives are the ones most special to us. The older we get, the more these memories mean to us.
You may wonder how are tree became such a mix of balls, candy canes and "stuff". Here is the post telling that story:
