"Summertiiiime, & the livin' is......"

(fill in the blank)

It has been a a very blessed Summer thus far. I have purposed to notice & be thankful for the blessings of the days. & nights! 

We have had our share of tempestuous storms which have included serious hail,

crazy strong winds, bombs of thunder (that's what it sounded like!) & lightening that seemed to strike in our own back yard!

The skies at times looked very ominous & foreboding.

(Doesn't this look like the head of the bird from the 'horror' movie 

"The Giant Claw" from the 1950's? 'Lacaconia Lacaconia!' 😬)

These cloud formations were so fascinating to watch, but believe me in our cloud-gazing we were praying up a storm! or rather praying OUT a storm! Ha! It worked!! 

These were before & after pictures in less than an hour's time! 

WOW! 

July has been a 'lightening speed' month, but really a lot of fun! It started off with a cattle drive down the main street of Belle Fourche, 

then, Family Night at the rodeo!

I always pray that no human or animal gets hurt. Too much anyway.

Oh those aerial dives! OUCH!!

Of course, it's all prefaced with some seasonal decorating!

I found that old cast iron skillet in an antique store & decided to incorporate it into my decor rather than use it for cooking. It's so fat & chubby!

It was a very hot day, but by six o'clock, the east side of the house  was in the shade, nicely warm, perfect for our July 4th picnic! 

Oh man! A combination of my secret recipe barbecue sauce & my husbands expertise with the grill! Yuuumy!

My daughter added her own creative napkin handiwork.

Perfect table, perfect food, (we thought 😋!) perfect weather! Ahhhhh. Just plain ol' perfect everything, not to mention perfect guests who played 'Croquet' on the lawn.

Even the fireworks were perfection. & then some!

These two above from neighbors.

A perfect sunset....

A perfect moonrise.

.

It was all so perfectly wonderful & ending with homemade ice cream & blackberry clobber. A truly old-fashioned 4th of July!

We celebrate lots of July birthdays! One son, one daughter, two grandsons, one granddaughter, & different friends, so I guess you could say practically the whole month of July is just one big celebration from beginning to end!

😁!🌟!🎂!🎆!🎈!🎇!🎉!🌟!😁

Summer is also the perfect time for family picnics. & the weather has been very cooperative for this.

I love eating outside, & this year there have not been any bugs to speak of  which is always a blessing.

 We have been watching the progress of these baby barn swallows in our horse shed. I don't know how they survive the heat, right up against a hot, tin, roof like that! Mom & Dad worried about us at first, frantically swooping down on us whenever we came for our daily baby bird observations & monitoring.

Now, they don't even  make a sound because they know we will not hurt their offspring but instead, standby as we take pictures & admire the tiny, downy, balls of fluff.

They are getting a little braver.....

& a little braver day by day. Not quite ready to take that final step into the air yet though. They are so adorable!

Gardening time is here, corn, peas, cucumbers, beets, green beans & quite a few tomato plants. We don't have much produce yet, but with a lot of good sun

& a lot of hard work

we have this to look forward to!

There is so much packed (like vacuum-packed!) into the month of July that there is scarcely room to breath! But it feels so good because it is good. There are & always will be circumstances that will try to steal our joy or overshadow our celebrations. & often sorrow & loss will run parallel with joy. It's the world we live in. But we don't have to give in to depression, despair, fear or hopelessness. When we have Jesus, we have LIFE, & not just life, but ABUNDANT LIFE! as Jesus promised. That's His part. Our part is to live our lives purposely making choices that produce life!

& no matter what our circumstances, we CAN live our lives creating our own atmosphere of joy, fun, laughter, peace. We need to let Jesus change our perception  of what is going on around us in this world,  to change any of our own skewed perceptions.  & make those choices that will not only bring life & joy to ourselves, but to our family, our friends, our neighbors, our world. Get your perk-o-laters going to bring 'perk' to your sphere of influence.  & actually that's about anywhere you are. Someone said that wherever you go, satan has to respond to your presence. In other words, when we 'on purpose' live in the joy of the Lord, wherever we go, we will only see the devil's backside, in  hasty retreat I might add, with fireworks following. Get a mental picture of that! Yes!

So get out there Christian Cheerleaders!! Rah! Rah! Sis-boom-bah!  Celebrate Jesus! Celebrate Life! Celebrate this day! Celebrate July! Celebrate Summer! 

"Summertiiiime, & the livin' is ........"

well, the livin' is....living.

Fill in the blank.  Purposely.  & 

CELEBRATE!

Raintree Perk of the Day:

The Blessing

"The Lord bless you & keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you & be gracious unto you, the Lord turn His face toward you & give you peace."  (Numbers 6:24-26)

The response

".... a time for...rejoicing...laughter...dancing..." (Ecclesiastes). 

Sounds like a celebration to me! So let's do it!!!