Ash Wednesday ~ Lent (40 days) ~ Easter

Giving up anything for Lent?

In Western Christianity, Ash Wednesday marks the first day, or the start of the season of Lent which begins 40 days prior to Easter (Sundays are not included in the count). Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline. During some Ash Wednesday services, the minister will lightly rub the sign of the cross with ashes onto the foreheads of worshipers.

The Bible does not mention Ash Wednesday or the custom of Lent, however, the practice of repentance and mourning in ashes is found in 2 Samuel 13:19; Esther 4:1; Job 2:8; Daniel 9:3; and Matthew 11:21.

I have prayerfully considered what I should give up for Lent. This year I'm once again giving up my beloved blog again as a form of self-denial. I believe giving up the time I spend blogging and reading your blogs would be the most painful form of self denial for me at this time. I will try to spend more time studying God's Word and doing some other kinds of self-denial. I am convinced that this is what I should do at this time. During the 40 days before Easter I will not be posting on my blog or reading other blogs. If you want to write me a note of encouragement or just say 'Hi', you can still send it to my e-mail address.  I will miss you and will look forward to posting again after Easter. I hope you won't forget me and will come back and visit my blog after Easter.

May God Bless and keep you,

Meet Bob

 

The other day a found a handful of red feathers in the backyard and I thought probably a Cardinal had been caught by the neighbor's cat.  Yesterday, Jeep made a picture of this Cardinal without a tail, which I promptly named, Bob.

 
Here's another shot of Bob.  He's funny looking without his tail feathers.
 

After I put out some fresh seeds, the birds flocked to the feeders.  Here the Cardinals are joined by the Goldfinch and Purple Finch.

I like the color of this sweet little Purple Finch.

Today I'm thankful for all of the blessings we enjoy every day! 

Celebrating 25 years of Marriage

I want to share a few pictures with you that were made last Saturday at the

25th Wedding Anniversary of my son, Joe and his wife, Kay.

 

Kay's sister made this beautiful and delicious cake for the occasion. 

 

Kym brought lots of photos made through the years.  She also put together a very nice slide show, (complete with their favorite songs), of photos that were made through the years. 

 


Joe and Kay just before they cut the cake.

 

Joe was so tempted to smush the cake in Kay's face, but thankfully, he restrained himself!

The party was held in the Fellowship Hall of Eupora First United Methodist Church last Saturday.
  Today, March 7th is their actual anniversary.

 

These chocolate covered strawberries went like hotcakes!

 

Kym and Jesse engineered this family party and several others helped with bringing goodies.

 

Instead of signing a guest book, people signed the mat around this picture.  That lower right signature belongs to my grandson's.  He says he's he practicing to be famous! Ha!  Maybe a doctor?

 

This is the family, Kymberly, Joe, Kay and Jesse.

Kay, Joe, Me and Jeep.
One reason we were so happy at this celebration is that it's "the anniversary that might not have been"!  Just a little over ten months ago Joe was severely burned over 63% of his body, and most of those burns were 3rd degree.  By the grace of God through your prayers, and those of many others, a real miracle was performed.  It was ironic that yesterday Jeep preached on I Corinthians chapter 13, the Love chapter.  He ended up telling about our experience during the two months the three of us spent in Augusta, GA with Joe, waiting for this miracle.  Jeep spoke about Love, Hope and Charity,  and how we experienced such an outpouring of this through God's servants while we were there.   I won't go over all the details in this post, as you have heard them before.  But I'm here to tell you, it was a very humbling and dramatic experience to be on the receiving end of so much love as was shown to us through God's people by His grace.

Happy Anniversary to Joe and Kay and may you have many, many more!

Skywatch Friday ~ Exploring Bluff Lake

 For more Skywatch pictures click on the button on my sidebar.

What a fine way to start a few month!   I've been wanting to go the Bluff Lake in the Noxubee County Wildlife Refuge for ever so long!  This was our first trip there and the roads we traveled were unfamiliar to us.  We took one road which appeared on the map to be about two miles long.  It was a dirt road which they had been working on and there was a sign that read, "Road closed to thru traffic".  Since this was the shortest way to where we were going, we pressed on.  There were big holes in the road and it was scary at some of the bridges where the bottom of the car touched the road as Jeep navigated the treacherous terrain.  I could imagine us getting stuck and having to walk out of there for help.  My stomach was in a knot by the time we reached the paved road!  We found the lake and went to the visitor center where a nice lady told us where we might see an Eagle.  We had to park and walk in on a gravel road. It was not hard to find and soon we were shooting Eagles!

The nest was up high in a dead tree and it was about 500 to 600 yards from the road.  We were not allowed to leave the road and go into the woods in order to get closer.  Right in front of the mother Eagle you can see the head of one of her babies.

Here she is feeding one of her chicks.  She had a piece of fish or something up there and she was pulling off pieces of it and feeding the babies.

I was using a 300 mm lens and Jeep was using a 400 mm.  We were a long distance away and these are cropped severely.

 

There are lots of these walkways built out over the water.  Straight out in front of the pavilion  is a rookery of the birds in the next picture.

We thought these were Cormorants of some kind.  They were having a very noisy chat.

 

This was the view from an overlook where you can usually see deer, geese, ducks and other wildlife.  We only saw Geese, Ducks and Turtles here today.

There are many Cypress trees in the shallow water.  And I've been told there are a good many.....

Alligators!  I didn't take this picture, but it was made at Bluff Lake.  I can't wait to get back over there and do a little more exploring.  Maybe we will find one of these!

This day, I was thankful for such an enjoyable afternoon!

Mississippi Sunset

Our lives have been busy lately!  We had a really special day yesterday, which I will tell you about in another post.  And then today we had to make three trips to town for Bible Study at 10 A.M., a Friends of the Library program and Pot-Luck Lunch at noon,  an exercise session at the Wellness Center at 3:30, and another Bible Study at Lebanon United Methodist Church tonight.  Before going to Bible Study tonight, I was sitting by a window, reading.  I saw that there was a little color in the developing sunset, down low on the horizon.  I glanced up several times to see how it was changing, and then the next time I looked, WOW!  The whole western sky was aglow!  Of course, I grabbed the camera and snapped a few shots and just stood in the yard watching, just amazed to see the beauty of it unfolding before my eyes!

 

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty of Your creation!