May God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Around Our House
Tag: nature
Sweet, Sweet May
Hello, friend! I hope you are doing well. We’ve had a stormy spring in Southwest Missouri. Matter of fact, last week we had SIX confirmed EF-0 tornadoes in and around our city and the region of the Ozarks! Several people had property damage in our area and many trees were uprooted causing road obstructions and damaging electrical lines. Clean up in our city is ongoing and some are still without power, though they expect it to be fixed in the next few days. Thankfully, we just had a few branches down and never lost electricity. Tornadoes are a fact of life here and it’s wise to have a healthy respect for them and a safety plan.
On the upside, we’ve had a lot of rain making the leafy forests of the Ozark Mountains look like a lush, green sea. My plants have been thriving with the joy of spring too.
About three weeks ago I noticed a house finch with a yucky eye, a sign of a contagious infection among songbirds that can be passed easily at feeders. So, I took all the feeders down, disinfected everything, and raked the ground under them. I just put the feeders back up a couple of days ago, I sure missed my little friends and am so happy everyone looks healthy.
May God be with you! ❤️, Amy
February from My Window
Hello, Friend! It’s a balmy 11*F/-11*C in Southwest Missouri with about 8in/20cm of powdery snow on the ground. I’ve had a lot of birds at the feeders as well as many come by to eat the peanuts I threw out for them to enjoy. It’s been especially exciting birdwatching because I’ve had two firsts for me, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 💛!
No Amy’s Axons post is complete without cats!
Stay cozy! Thank you for coming by ☺️. ❤️, Amy
Anonymous Words
The following is from my daily devotional and attributed to the always eloquent Anonymous. I pray it blesses you as it did me.
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ~ Galatians 6:14
They were people who were living to themselves. Their hopes, promises, and dreams still controlled them, but the Lord began to fulfill their prayers. They had asked for a repentant heart and had surrendered themselves with a willingness to pay any price for it, and He sent them sorrow. They had asked for purity, and He sent them sudden anguish. They had asked for meekness, and He had broken their hearts. They had asked to be dead to the world, and He killed all their living hopes. They had asked to be made like Him, so He placed them in the fire “as a refiner and purifier of silver (Malachi 3:3), until they could reflect His image. They had asked to help carry His cross, yet when He held it out to them, it cut and tore their hands.
They had not fully understood what they asked, but He had taken them at their word and granted them all their requests. They had been unsure whether to follow Him such a long distance or whether to come so close to Him. An awe and a fear was upon them, as Jacob at Bethel when he dreamed of”a stairway… reaching to heaven” (Genesis 28:12), or Eliphaz “amid disquieting dreams in the night ” (Job 4:13), or as the disciples when”they were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost” (Luke 24:37), not realizing it was Jesus. The disciples were so filled with awe, they felt like asking Him either to depart from them or to hide His glory.
They found it easier to obey than to suffer, to work than to give up, and to carry the cross than to hang upon it. But now they could not turn back, for they had come too close to the unseen cross of the spiritual life, and its virtues had pierced them too deeply. And the Lord was fulfilling this promise of His to them: “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself” (John 12:32).
Now at last their opportunity had come. Earlier they had only heard of the mystery, but now they felt it. He had fastened His eyes of love on them, as He had on Mary and Peter, so they could only choose to follow Him. And little by little, from time to time, with quick glimmers of light, the mystery of His cross shone upon them. They saw Him “lifted up from the earth,” and gazed on the glory that radiated from the wounds of His holy suffering. As they looked upon Him, they approached Him and were changed into His likeness. His name then shone out through them, for He lived within them. Their life from that moment on was one of inexpressible fellowship solely with Him above. They were willing to live without possessions that others owned and that they could have had, in order to be unlike others so they would be more like Him.
This is the description of all those throughout the ages who “follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Revelation 14:4). If they had chosen selfishly for themselves or if their friends had chosen for them, they would have made other choices. Their lives would have shone more brightly here on earth, but less gloriously in His kingdom. Their legacy would have been that of Lot instead of Abraham. And if they had stopped along the way or if God had removed His hand from them, allowing them to stray, what would they have lost? What would they have forfeited at their resurrection?
Yet God strengthened them and protected them from themselves. Often, in His mercy He held them up when they otherwise would have slipped and fallen. And even in this life, they knew that all He did was done well. They knew it was good to suffer in this life so they would reign in the one to come; to bear the cross below, to wear a crown above; and to know that not their will but His was done in them and through them. ~ Anonymous
It’s been quite a long while since I’ve shared any photos. The following are a few of the highlights since my last post.
A few autumnal scenes…
I’ve continued to enjoy the birds, of course.
Wally and Clemmy continue to bring us plenty of entertainment and snuggles!
God be with you!
❤️, Amy
Created
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” ~John 1:1-3
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” ~Romans 1:20
“O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.” ~Psalm 104:24
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” ~Revelation 4:20
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” ~Romans 11:26
“You are the Lord, You alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and You preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships You.” ~Nehemiah 9:6
“For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16
“God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” ~ Genesis 1:25
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” ~Job 12:7-10
“Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” ~1 Corinthians 8:6
“All the earth worships You
and sings praises to You;
they sing praises to Your name.” ~Psalm 66:4
“Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” ~Psalm 124:8
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.” ~Genesis 1:1
“For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” ~Hebrews 3:4
“Ah, Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for You.” ~Jeremiah 32:17
“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” ~Psalm 121:1-2
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom.” ~Isaiah 40:28
“For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” ~Colossians 1:16-17
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” ~Ecclesiastes 3:11
“In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.” ~Psalm 95:4-5
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” ~Hebrews 11:3
“The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” ~Genesis 1:12
“I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by Myself” ~Isaiah 44:24
“Rich and poor have this in common: the Lord is the Maker of them all.” ~Proverbs 22:2
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” ~Psalm 90:2
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.” ~Isaiah 40:28
“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” ~ Psalm 139:13-16
A Day (or Three) In My Life
Hello, Friend! I hope you are well wherever you are when this post finds you.
I’m currently sitting on the back patio watching the birds on a gorgeous May afternoon. I can hear cardinals, house finches, titmice, and blue jays calling, singing, squeaking, and buzzing from the canopy overhead and behind us. Though it’s a warm, sunny day, there’s a lovely light breeze in the shade keeping me cool and bringing the last scent of quickly fading lilac across the yard to me. It is a springtime feast for the senses!
Yesterday and today have been absolutely joyful days as my typically excessive MS fatigue has lessened and allowed me to be up and about more than usual. So, naturally, I rode my scooter over to the lake in our neighborhood yesterday and soaked in some Vitamin D and the beauty of God’s creation around me.
After I rode back home from the lake, I decided to sit under the birches in the backyard.
Thanks for stopping by. May God be with you! ❤️, Amy
It’s Blooming Spring!
Have a lovely day! God be with you. ❤️, Amy
2023 Beginnings
Hubby and I celebrated 17 years of wedded bliss last week 💞. First thing he did that morning? Cleaned the windows so I had a better view of the birds. Love and happiness – just look at that smile – are found in the doing of little things.
May you find your greatest joy in Christ this year and always. God be with you! ❤️, Amy
Arkansas, The Natural State
Long weekends should be spent in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas. Forget your images of hillbillies and poverty and replace them with rivers, lakes, trees, mountains, and lush, green glens. The drive between Springfield, MO and Hot Springs, AR is eye candy all the way. We kayaked on Lake Hamilton, lazed around in hammocks, drove up and down some switchback roads of the surrounding mountains, sat on the dock behind the house and watched the dragonflies whiz to and fro, dipped our toes in the water, and ate some really good food.
Do yourself a favor, go to Arkansas! God be with you. ❤️, Amy
A Beautiful Day In the Ozarks
Sunny with a high of 78* F and a gentle breeze. I rode my scooter to the neighborhood lake and spent a couple hours besotted by God’s creation.
Thanks for stopping by. May God be with you. ❤, Amy
Amy's Axons 