Excerpt: The Pursuit of God, The Human Thirst for the Divine, A.W. Tozer

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, The Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wondered so long. In Jesus' name. Amen
Excerpt: The Pursuit of God, The Human Thirst for the Divine, A.W. Tozer

Sunday, April 2, 2017

The Next Door Neighbor

"I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor.  Do you know your next door neighbor?" ~Mother Teresa
"A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good neighbor is a blessing." ~Hesiod
"Every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies." ~Jane Austen

(That last quote is for Traci Walker.  She saw the picture I posted yesterday of her and Lori looking at the plants Lori got into yesterday and had an allergic reaction to.)

We became acquainted with Lori and Frank a couple of years ago when Frank was having problems with his health and Lori came over and talked to Tim and asked him to put Frank on the church prayer list.  Eventually, I met Lori when she came to the house looking for Tim.  Tim visited Frank when he was in the hospital.

Eventually, Lori and Frank began to come to the services at church.  And, as always, our church welcomed them with open arms.  Everyone quickly became friends.  Then it was time for Fall Revival.  They attended the services.  Tim and the revival speaker went to visit Lori and Frank on Saturday morning.  They both accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior!  Praise the Lord!

It wasn't long after that Frank began having serious health issues, and in seven months, the Lord took him home to heaven.  It was such a sad time.  But, in the sadness was great joy in knowing that Frank was a child of God and that Lori and the rest of the church will see him again one day!

I said all of that to say this, Lori and Frank were blessings as good neighbors, as Lori continues to be.  So, the second quote is very true.  I'm thankful that we haven't really ever had the misfortune of having bad neighbors, thank the Lord!  Yes, we have been blessed with good neighbors!

I want to ask you the same question Mother Teresa asked, Do you know your neighbors?  Are you concerned especially for their spiritual condition?  Do you know if they are on their way to heaven? If you are a Christian, you have a responsibility to know your neighbors enough to have a chance to tell them about the Lord.  I fail at this miserably, I confess.  We must tell them that they, like we, are sinners in need of a Savior.  Jesus is that Savior.  Without Him being their Savior, they are bound for hell, not heaven!


So, since I royally messed up on my photo prompts for yesterday, I decided to do TONS today!  Here they are, then I'll get to some bird photos and more "spying" on the neighbor!  :D
Prompt:  under your bed (these are mattresses we found at Goodwill that the kids sleep on when they spend the night, mostly Abby)

Prompt:  what you wore today

Prompt:  it happened this weekend (a sink full of dishes that I finally cleaned up today!)

Prompt:  favorite kids' book (I loved reading this to the kids and to the grandkids)

Prompt:  coffee (instant with french vanilla creamer)

Prompt:  blooming (periwinkle at Lori's house)

Prompt:  in your hand (my camera, looking out my craft room window for birds)

After Tim and I ate lunch, I headed out to my bird-watching station between the cars under the car port.  I had to wear a hoodie and it was still a bit chilly, so I made some coffee, which cooled off pretty quickly.  But, I sat out there for probably half an hour hearing birds here, there and everywhere.....except at my feeder.  So, I took other pictures.......
This week's church sign I worked on after lunch.

A beautiful day!

A beautiful sky!

Spying on Lori again.


She's gonna be sore tomorrow!

Lori saw me sitting under the car port and called to ask me to come over and give her some company while she worked.  So, I handed her some tools while she was on the ladder, etc.  At one point I held a branch down while she tried to cut through with her hatchet, but the vibrating and jarring was hurting my arm, so I had to let go of the branch.  She eventually got it down.


Another pile made.  She tried to use the new chain saw sitting there, but it kept dying when she got it started.  That would have made cutting those branches down a lot easier on her.
A pretty, purple flower at Lori's.  Looks like it is the Honesty Plant.  See if you agree by looking at these pictures:  
https://www.google.com/search?q=honesty+flower+images&espv=2&tbm=isch&imgil=mm77v91aDm6z5M%253A%253B_0wE2jkKbVCuzM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwildflowerfinder.org.uk%25252FFlowers%25252FH%25252FHonesty%25252FHonesty.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=mm77v91aDm6z5M%253A%252C_0wE2jkKbVCuzM%252C_&usg=__Wu7jsXMO8noBLdXgyP7-sabtlNw%3D&biw=1366&bih=599&ved=0ahUKEwiLpa_aoYfTAhWnCsAKHarkBooQyjcINQ&ei=hbbhWMvOE6eVgAaqyZvQCA#imgrc=h_q153EAf289cM:


Well, while I was over at Lori's, I decided I would take pictures of any birds that I saw at her feeders.
Tufted Titmouse

Chickadee

Brown-headed Cow Bird

A couple of these little guys were flying around to the trees,   From the images I see on the internet, it is called  Hairy Woodpecker.  Very pretty!

When I went back to the house, I noticed that some of the suet cake is eaten!  Tomorrow, I think I will change out this cheap, thin wire for the mesh I finally found in my craft stuff.  I'm glad something is eating it, anyway!

Well, that's it for this Lord's Day!  Praying you all have a great week!

No comments: