Category: Proverbs

Quotes, Proverbs & Poetry – Beautiful Bugs

On By TimelessladyIn Poetry, Proverbs, Quotes8 Comments

In the waning days of July, my backyard is a living canvas of flowers and beautiful bugs.

“The pedigree of honey does not concern the bee, a clover, anytime, to him, is aristocracy.” ~ Emily Dickinson

“Until the crickets sing it is not summer.” ~ Greek Proverb

Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, nor butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing.
~Christina Georgina Rossetti


“A dragonfly to remind me even though we are apart,
Your spirit is always with me,
Forever in my heart.
~ Author Unknown

“Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

Proverbs – Good Deeds

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IMG_6073

“A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, And the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him.” ~ Proverbs 12:14

According to my computer clock, as I am writing this post, the time is 6:48 a.m. Even as I compose my paragraphs I am reaping the benefits of my “good deeds” toward the birds. The symphony of birdsong coming through my window is bringing me great joy.

I have three birdhouses in my yard at this time, far enough away from each other to prevent the birds from feeling their territory is being invaded by another. One of the houses seems to have been rejected by one and all…why is a mystery to me. One has been a home to sparrows, and the one in the photograph is the nesting spot for a family of wrens. I benefit not only from their lovely songs, but also their bug-catching abilities. I am always on the hunt for new ways to draw birds to my yard.

Quick tip for birdhouses: Place some sort of barrier around the entrance to the house. This will keep rodents (squirrels in my case) from chewing the opening larger and getting inside. Brass thumbtacks are a good choice and easy to push into the wood. I also enjoy the rustic look they give the bird house.

Proverbs – Painted Pebbles

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I am once again posting these pebbles my sister Amy and nephew Abel painted for me. I love the story connected to them, and even better: there are more chapters to the story. In fact, the pebbles cause me to dream and hopefully the dreams will bear fruit soon in the future.

“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12

My sister Amy and my nephew Abel painted these pebbles for me. They remind me of Faberge Eggs. I love what Amy does with her painted pebbles. When she hikes in the mountains of North Carolina she leaves the pebbles along the trail to be found by other hikers. I enjoy picturing her placing her painted gems amid the tangled roots of trees or within a clump of grass or fern. I also enjoy imagining the happiness of those who find these sweet gems.

Proverbs & Photographs –

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May God our Father and the Lord Jesus give you all of his blessings, and great peace of heart and mind. I Corinthians 1:3

 

I consider feeding ducks and geese one of my blessings. It is also one of my earliest happiest memories. When young, I fed the ducks in a park near the James River in Newport News, Virginia, the hometown of my paternal grandparents. I visited ducks in McDonald, Pennsylvania too. My grandmother would walk me to her neighbor’s yard to see his flock of ducks. The waddle and quack of ducks brings me great peace of heart and mind.

The raucous cries and whistles on this short video are the seagulls flying about my head. They also had their fair share of stale Cheerios and bread.

Please excuse the shakiness of the video, it’s not easy to keep the camera steady while tossing bread with one hand and getting your fingers nipped by a hungry duck’s bill.

Proverbs & Place – Conquering Winter Blues

On By TimelessladyIn Place, Proverbs1 Comment

A1 - Longwood Tulips-January 2013

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” I Peter 5:7

Banishing wintertime blues and anxieties can be as easy as visiting a local garden, a nearby park or arboretum. Even a quick walk or bike ride around the neighborhood does me good in the winter. Saturday was a perfect day to visit one of my favorite gardens, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The sight of God’s beautiful flowers in the conservatory was the perfect prescription for my hunger for green.

Check back tomorrow for a slideshow of my favorite flowers in the Longwood Conservatory.

Power and Proverbs – Isaiah 40:26 – 31

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Tuesday was an off again/on again stormy day here in the Northeast. Near dusk I went outside. The sky glowed with newly washed light, a promise of another day. Most nights, in my busyness, I miss the sunset sky. Luckily, on this day I found the right moment to go outdoors and worship God beneath His glorious sky of grey, blue and gold.

Today, searching for something beautiful to read aloud from the Bible, I came to this passage. The beauty of the passage is a perfect complement to the glorious sky.

Isaiah 40:26-31

New Living Translation (NLT)

Look up into the heavens.
Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
not a single one is missing.
O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired,
and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.

Proverbs and Perspective – Lists

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For as long as I have been self-aware of myself as a person, I have also been aware of the personhood and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have my parents and grandparents to thank for instilling within me an understanding and love for Jesus. What they did for me is priceless and has stayed with me all through my life. At my worst, as a teenager in the 70’s, through several years of bad decisions and actions, the best in me was that I never lost my love for Jesus.

Because I am a firm believer that even a very small child can have a correct concept of the Lord Jesus, and love him with a purity adults often lack, I talk to my young grandsons about the Lord now and again. Lately, I’ve been talking to my middle grandson about Jesus. Derek is three, and as all three year olds tend to be, he is very honest. Last week we were driving somewhere in the car, and I said to him, “Derek, do you love Jesus?”

Derek answered, “No.”

This is not new. I’ve asked him about Jesus other times and he has been resistant to “loving” Jesus.

“Why not?” I asked.

“No, don’t love Jesus.” he said. I let it drop, but prayed that God would find a way for Derek to realize Jesus loved him.

Later on in the week we were together once again. I’ve noticed children love to group things into lists, and out of the blue, with no prompting, Derek said to me, “I love Mommy. I love Daddy. I love Nanny….” and then, he spoke the words that caused me to swing him up, hug him to me and praise God. “I love Jesus.”

Oh the joy those words brought me. All on his own Derek added Jesus to the list of those he loves. My prayer was answered. I feel such peace that Derek has a concept of Jesus as a person. I am thrilled he grouped Jesus together with those he loves. He might have said it only to please me, but it is a start, and I will continue to build on it, as will his parents, his Sunday School teachers, and those spiritual touchstones he will come in contact with throughout his life. I rejoice that Jesus is on Derek’s list of those he loves. Is he on yours? Is your name listed in the Lamb’s Book of Life?

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. John 6:47

Proverbs – Painted Pebbles

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“In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets.” Matthew 7:12

My sister Amy and my nephew Abel painted these pebbles for me. They remind me of Faberge Eggs. I love what Amy does with her painted pebbles. When she hikes in the mountains of North Carolina she leaves the pebbles along the trail to be found by other hikers. I enjoy picturing her placing her painted gems amid the tangled roots of trees or within a clump of grass or fern.  I also enjoy imagining the happiness of those who find these sweet gems.

Proverbs – The Path of Peace

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April’s Trail

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (NIV)

There are many potential threats hanging over us all: the collapse of world-wide economies, dangerous cataclysms beneath the earth’s crust, the crescendo of bad weather, poisons in the water, air and sky, epidemics, illness, famines…the list could go on and on.

Yet, I have a source, you have a source, we all have a source of peace. That peace can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27 (NIV)

God’s presence and his word are always my abiding peace.

To find the Bible references for this post I used Bible Gateway. Bible Gateway is an excellent way to locate a verse in the Bible in a multitude of translations.