Julie's Raintree

Still Immanuel

I think that Tulips are among one of my favorite Spring flowers & I was blessed to find them, especially in the exact shade of pink that I wanted for a live Easter bouquet. Combined with pink carnations, which I also love not only for their beauty but for their long lasting blooms & they fit so well together, it was the perfect effect that I wanted. & the fragrance was very sweet though not overpowering. In buying bunches of each, I was able to put together nice little Spring nosegays here & there.

Aren't the little striped mums adorable?

I cheated on this one as the flowers aren't real but still sweet & the little retro enamel kettle so charming!

More tulips & .....

these peppermint striped carnations! Precious! & look good enough to eat!

All of these harbingers of Spring are so nurturing to the soul & spirit, especially when our Spring looks like this...

Beautiful, but oh so cold. Brrrr.

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standing on one leg & a bit of snow on his beak.

There have been many cold days so far in this month of April, so we are putting out extra feed for all of our wildlife family because the snow covers everything so it makes it difficult to get anything to eat. This last several days have at times been in the single digits.

I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but very diminutive birdlet. So cutie-pie!

Our friendly neighborhood woodpecker!

With all of the birds coming in to dine at the 'Foul (or Fowl!😊) Weather Buffet', we really have to watch our inside/outside kitty Zeke.

We do a lot of Operation Bird Rescue here.

This is easy pickins' for him. We constantly thwart his plans though which I'm sure is frustrating. But we really have to hover. That is how we frustrate his plans, we hover.

🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈

My husband was laid off of his employment in the oil fields recently along with over 200 other men, which didn't come as a complete surprise to any of them. But still can be disconcerting & even frightening. One of his friends was praying, asking God for guidance on where he should apply for a new job. The answer came to him in one word. "Apply." Apply? What? Where? Then came the second word. "God." Simple. Apply God. & isn't that the answer to everything that's going on in our lives right now? So much shifting. So much shaking until only the unshakeable remains. What can we do when trouble, hardship, fear, loss, sickness, disease, death comes not only knocking on our door but doesn't even wait for us to answer? It barges right in & takes over, leaves us seemingly defenseless & bullies us into the submission of surrender before we can even catch our breath because it has caught us unaware. But quickly. Take your 'homeland' back! Jesus is the same yesterday, today & forever. (Hebrews 13:8) Apply God to each crisis that comes up, His word, His deliverance, His salvation, His blood. We are not & never were left alone.

Do you remember the song from 1990 called "From a Distance" with the words, "God is watching us from a distance"?

Well, God IS watching us, but not from a distance. He is 'up close & personal'. He hovers. He hovers over our enemy when that enemy is all set to 'eat us for dinner'! & He hovers over us to help, deliver, & keep us from that enemy & FOR Himself. You know what that says?

IMMANUEL, GOD WITH US.

Like I said before, up close & personal. Never. Never. at a distance.

As the old hymn says,

"Through every day, o'er all the way,

God will take care of you."

Isn't that safe? Isn't that restful?

"When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

Yes, you will lie down & your sleep will be sweet.

Do not be afraid of sudden terror.

Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

For the Lord will be your confidence,

& will keep your foot from being caught."

Proverbs 3:24-25

Notice it says, "WHEN trouble comes". Remember, Jesus said we would most surely have trouble in this world & when it comes knocking at your door, (by the way, we need to better secure the doors of our hearts with faith. It overcomes the world! That's 1 John 5:4 & 5.)......apply God. Immanuel, God With Us. Hovering. Waiting to answer our prayers, to quiet our fears, to show us who we really are in Him.

"Yet in ALL these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS

through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37 (My capitals)

& finally, waiting to love on us. Jesus is our sweet 'Immanuel'.

Still.