Friday Ponderings....

Our lives are constantly being woven together, moment by moment, day after day, month after month, year after year...

God uses all of the tangibles of this world, people, circumstances, events...to work out all of the intangibles He is more interested in. Drawing all of the weaknesses out of us: fear, anger, impatience, immaturity...and replacing them with courage, joy, longsuffering patience, and wisdom...

As the song Great Is Thy Faithfulness goes..."Strength for today and bright Hope for tomorrow"

God is good. He knows the plans HE has for us, even when we DON'T!..and HE is truly the master weaver, making ALL things , ALL moments, All circumstances, All of our days ....ALL of them... come together and seamlessly work FOR GOOD...and He weaves...and when the fabric is finished, the colorful tapestry, oh what a work of beauty it will be. Those DARK threads HE was weaving during dark moments...outline even more perfectly the lovely masterpiece that only the Creator could have known and presented...in the end.

This is my strength today. I believe it, and I hold on to it. It's a sure thing.

Today I am posting some miscellaneous pics just for fun and for memory...


FOR FUN...because it is do darn cute...
Woobie "Devil-Dawg"....well....not this night...terrible fear of thunder, trying to hide...





Favorite Cottage of the day...in her new duds...**below is a "before" a few summers back...





This photo from the past gives a good idea of what this lot is like in the summertime. We are completely surrounded by trees. It is an escape from the 90-100 degree Southern Summer days, when you pull up the drive. We feel like we are entering a Shady Haven. It is wonderful. Wonderful....


My favorite view from inside the house, looking out.

There is a place in Charlotte named "Winghaven Gardens." A woman named Elizabeth Clarkson started it all.


She was not your garden variety gardener. She developed her formal garden as a habitat for songbirds—long before the horticultural concept of the garden as habitat existed.

I can not tell you how many times I have had people walk into our yard and make the same comment...that it was like a little Winghaven, because of the habitat that just supports birds...and the trees...so many birds singing and chirping all the time... I cherish it. and so I dub our feeding area, Little Winghaven. :-) If you are out in the driveway late in the evening, you can hear the mockingbird in the wooded lot next door in full symphony. I have counted 20 different bird sounds in one evening, as he perfectly mimics them all. If you venture out Very late...around midnight sometimes, you can hear the owls in their cacophony..it sounds like monkeys in a jungle, no kidding....awesome...
and on Spring and Summer days, we hear the Hawks as they call loudly to each other. Here is a baby that was born high up in one of our trees several summers ago. Jonny captured some photos and video as he was doing his test flights...


When we pull into the driveway and shut the gate, it feels like a getaway...an escape from all that is "out there", and entering into a shelter of peace...THIS is what OUR NEST should be for our family...



Lay down your burdens...rest a spell..














Chicken coop/pen...now clean and empty for the next family to cherish...(shhh..yes even in this little suburbia...) what a fun thread woven into our lives while we were here...














our very worn...but cherished back deck...freshened up with paint.



When it is cool in the mornings, Kurt and I love to sit out here with a mug of coffee and the dawgs, and catch a breeze...and talk...taking a moment, to make a moment...GRATEFUL we got 2 mornings to get JUST that when he was last here...



{{{a metamorphosis segway}}} This special piece was chipped, RUSTY and showing age, wear and tear, when I got it last Fall. It was in the garage. When Kurt and the boys were marking stuff to throw out in the dumpster, they asked several times to throw this out. ***SHRIEK*** I actually loved it in it's shabby condition, but they don't GET IT...so I just said NO!!!! This past week, (for their approval) I painted it in an Ocean blue color and got it out of the garage and onto the deck...sigh...NOW I WILL WAIT for the weathering to happen again, and make "her" once again aged to perfection with blue showing through. :-)

This post is about our little spot on this earth. It is no fancy shmancy mansion, no well clipped and manicured estate... It is our home that shuts out the "stress of the OUTSIDE world"...It is where the days of our lives, all together under one roof, take place. It was and IS a gift from the hand of God. He knew exactly what we would need. It has been perfect for our needs and desires. A secret, sweet hideaway tucked away in this big sprawling city of Charlotte, NC.

It is MY nest.


**((my latest treasure, abandoned and empty, pulled out of the ivy over the chicken pen))


I am watching my fledglings leave the nest one by one. It is bittersweet, but I thank God that HE has everything in HIS hands...

Today, Kurt and I often repeat the phrase below to each other, as we look back and see how God ,in His faithfulness, even down to the 11th hour of finding THIS house, believe He will do the same in Iowa...

THERE IS A PLACE ...JUST FOR US...AND GOD KNOWS WHERE IT IS....

and as my Dad often states to me in these days:

GOD IS NEVER LATE, AND VERY SELDOM IS HE EARLY....


God's timing is perfect. We will trust in this.

As I close this long post, I believe I can state that there can be no doubt in any visitor's mind today to ask WHY?... about what I have always testified to..

I am a Homebody...



I find happiness in my own back yard, and I love my home, my wonderful husband, and my beautiful and cherished kids, and my furry beasts... I thank God with all my heart for all the gifts and treasures HE has bestowed upon me in my journey through life. There are days and moments that are HARD!....but God is present...always there...strength for the journey.

I hope you feel the same way about your home too...

Hugs to all who popped in to my little corner of the world today to visit or say Hi...