Gratitude 175

It’s been a busy week at the bird feeders… I guess “If you feed them, they will come,” is really a thing around here.

The red-headed woodpecker came back – this time to the backyard feeder! How exciting to finally get a picture!

Geese are nesting (thankfully not at my house) because my neighbors saw a pair with five goslings trailing behind in their yard.

Chippy the chipmunk comes out of his hole regularly. Before you ask, yes, I name the wildlife!

Mallard ducks came to check out the discarded food that the picky birds pushed out of the feeder.

The phat squirrel has a built-in umbrella – who knew? His mate was tearing up black gardening fabric and taking it up the tree to pad her nest.

And finally, the red bellied woodpecker comes to the feeder almost every day. He likes to grab seeds then take them up to the tree limb to eat them. Woodpeckers particularly like peanuts and sunflower seeds.

Watching the birdfeeder from the front window during the day makes the day go faster and gives my eyes a break from the computer screen.

After the workday is complete and dusk falls, the side porch is my go-to spot.

The finch feeders can be viewed from the side porch. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to sit out there regularly.

My side daylily bed is growing like gangbusters.

It’s my view from the side porch…

I love the solar fairy lights and sitting out there in the nighttime quiet.

It’s my after-dark relaxation station since I can’t drive after dark until at least the second or third week in June.

Welcome to my peaceful, boring but breathtaking, weekday life in the spring, summer, and fall!

Every time I watch the birds, I am reminded of the verse:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-34

I am reminded not to worry about things I have no control over

Just the sight of the birds being coming back year over year and the thought of beautiful daylilies blooming shows me that G-d is in control.

H- has my best interests in mind in every situation.

I am grateful.

I am thankful.

I am blessed.

XO Lisa