Short fuses

Yesterday did not start well. A few minutes after waking up my husband told me he ordered some items on Amazon’s grocery delivery service because he does not want to make unnecessary trips to the store. He did this while I was still sleeping, so I did not have any input. That bothered me. Then when I looked up what he ordered, I saw 24 cups of Ramen noodle soup and 4 pounds of rice, two things I do not eat eat much and something we already have in the house. This upset me. When I questioned him about his choices he became defensive. This irritated me. He didn’t order the one thing I am hoping to not run out of, cream for my coffee. (He drinks his black.) This worried me. And of course, he was not happy with my questioning his decisions. We went to our separate corners, as the fighters would say.

I had forgotten a verse of Scripture that is good to live by:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, and slow to become angry.     James1:19

This stay-at-home routine is starting to wear on me. It has been a very slow week since we began this isolated routine. The day got better, I vented to a friend, he confessed to the same friend not knowing I had already done so, and we both looked at the silliness in it all. I will memorize that Bible verse and do my best to live it.

I would love to get comments on this blog. It helps to know I have readers and that I may be, in a small way, making your day brighter.

Backyard Blessings

This is the view from where I often sit in my back porch, or lanai as it is called here in Florida. You can see my bird feeders hanging there and the plants and fountain that my husband installed for me. He calls it my Botannical wonderland. I sit out there more these days because I don’t leave the house as much now with the virus out there, and the weather is just right. Sunny and cool mornings which lead into sunny and warm afternoons.

My feeders have attracted different kinds of birds. Last year we had beautiful bluebirds come for the dried mealworms. I haven’t spotted any yet this year, but I do have a possessive mockingbird who dive bombs other birds who come to the feeders. Perhaps they came and were scared away. When I first hung the feeders many grackles would dominate them. I hung two more feeders, platforms with room for more birds at one time. Since then I haven’t seen the grackles in such large groups., and the seed is lasting longer. I am excited to see a pair of red-bellied woodpeckers come to the two caged tube feeders I filled with a fruit and nut mix. One feeder is made especially for woodpeckers with a place for them to rest their tails. It also is spring loaded so squirrels and multiple birds, or heavy oat tail grackles, force it to close. Unfortunately two woodpeckers at one time are weighty enough to close it, too, so they use both feeders then. Yesterday one was on the feeder when a grackle landed on top. The woodpecker stopped feeding, went to the top of the feeder and faced the grackle with her sharp beak open. That was enough to make the grackle leave. No fighting, just staring down, a Cold War of sorts. On another spring loaded feeder with perches for small birds, I see small palm and pine warblers, and earlier in winter a pair of cardinals as well.

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

This is Their Lot

It has been awhile since I picked up my daily devotion books but today I woke up earlier than usual and decided this is something I should do regularly, a habit I should develop, going to bed earlier at night so I get a full night's sleep and waking before the sun comes up with time to read my devotion and enter my thoughts here. Today's Scripture passage in the devotion was this:

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 New International Version (NIV)

18 This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. 19 Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. 20 They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.

Do you see those words in there that made me think of this blog page? "this is a gift of God" Our country is in a crisis right now. The Covid-19 virus, the pandemic, has reached our country: thousands are getting sick, hundreds are dying, hospitals are being overwhelmed with shortages of space and necessary ventilators, gloves, and masks, toilet paper is in high demand and hard to buy, restaurants are closed or open only to carry out, we are told not to gather in groups and to stay away from friends and family, no hugging or shaking hands. This is a gift of God?

Yes, every day is a gift of God and God keeps me occupied with a glad heart. I have the riches of heaven to look forward to because Jesus took on my sins, died on the cross for me, and rose from the dead preparing a way for me to get there. I plan on keeping my focus on the little things I have in my life that bring me joy, the things that make me smile, and the people I am grateful to have in my life.