Feed the birds.............

This picture was on the front of a Christmas card we received this year from my cousin. I instantly fell in love with it, and saved it.
One of my winter activities is feeding the birds. I have several feeders, and last year Roger and I counted 8 pairs of red birds on the feeder at once; his comment was "if I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it!"
One of my all time favorite songs is "Feed the Birds", from the Movie Mary Poppins. The stanza that stands out to me is:

"All around the cathedral
the saints and apostles
look down where she sells her wares.
Although you can't see them,
I know they are smiling,
each time someone shows that he cares."

I've always figured if God cares enough for the birds to know "when a sparrow falls to the earth", the least I can do is feed them. My bird feeders are up, and my oak tree is full of birds, every kind pictured here, and yes I think God is smiling to know that I am "feeding the birds".

Kansas........

Yep, it's cold! We didn't get quite this much snow, but it is COLD! 9 degrees this morning unloading the Angel Food Truck, and 14 when I was driving home at noon after distribution. Nic always said that winters in Kansas were boring, as we ALWAYS got the cold temperatures, but not necessiarily the snow. "What good if cold weather if there isn't any snow to play in?!" That is the way it is now, bitter cold, and no snow. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one for snow and ice, but it is sort of boring. I'll be soooo glad when winter is over.

Finally!

It's been two months since Holton made his appearance into this world, and I finally got to meet him yesterday.
My original plan was to go to the hospital when he was born and get the "fresh from heaven" experience that so many people love when a baby is "fresh". However, with him being a month early, and going straight to the NICU no one but parents, and grandparents were allowed to see or touch; alas I am neither, so I waited....... I then made plans to go over the day after Christmas, but had a TERRIBLE cold (I think that is what it was), and didn't want the dubious distinction of giving him,or anyone else in his immediate domain, his first cold, especially since the Dr's had been adament about keeping him home and away from small children to further insure the safety of those tiny premature lungs.
It was beginning to look like he would be old enough to introduce himself to me at the rate things were moving but AT LAST, I saw, I held, and I relished the sweet baby sounds, the incredible smell of a tiny newborn, and the innocent helpless dependence of a "little bit of heaven" here on earth. He is, as any self-respecting great aunt would attest, perfect. Content, peaceful, and........yep, perfect...until I become a grandmother that is :)

Terminology

Negative capability.....
[is being] capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.--John Keats

Or as a fried puts it:

Happiness is being able to enjoy the scenery.......on a detour.
or perhaps another term is:
Faith, Trust......

A Hug from a Dog

My "constant companion", i.e. Lily, loves to give me hugs.
This is something she and I do. I know it is not something she should be doing with other people, but this is "our" moment. I'm sitting at the computer in my swivel chair. She is lying on the floor destroying whatever chew toy she has at the moment, when she stops, comes to my chair, and lays her head on the arm of the chair. This is my signal to stop what I am doing, and swivel to face her, where she then puts her front feet up on my shoulders, and lays down in my lap, back feet still on the floor. She then lays her head down on my chest and I give her a kiss on her long nose, and rub her soft face while she "nibbles" on my robe or clothes, no licking just nibbles. It is a gentle nibble, that symbolized that she loves me, and if she could, would climb right up in my lap; alas she is too big. After we have done this for a few minutes, she gets down and returns to the toy, or falls asleep. She just needed a hug, and knew I needed one too. When we do this, we are both in absolute bliss. She is being "held" by me, just like when she was little enough to hold, and I am having "doggy love" lavished on me in immeasurable proportions.
How many people are actually lucky enough to get hugs from their dogs?
There is something about being shown affection from one of God's creatures, and not a human being. I like to believe that God himself might be giving me a hug. We had a preacher one time who used to refer to the acts of Christians being something like "a little bit of Jesus wrapped up in the flesh". I feel like Lily's hugs are a little bit of God wrapped up in a dog. I find myself alone a lot these days, save my dog, but I am not lacking in affection being shown to me. She is being affectionate at every turn, something that I love receiving.
This might seem a stretch, but God is everywhere, and I know from personal experience, meets our needs in some pretty amazing ways. So at this point in my life, why couldn't He be showing His love for me in the affections of a dog, a shepherding dog, who seems to understand when I need a hug, and some special attention. I will take God's love anyway I can get it.