I have posted a couple short stories about my morning meditation at this link and the past few days have been gorgeous as far as the weather temperature goes lingering in the mid 80s, above normal temperature for this time of the year.  The temperature was down into the 70s last week and below 50 for the morning lows.  The grass stopped growing for a while, giving the ole lawn tractor and yours truly a break from cutting grass and weed trimming.

When the weather permits, my favorite place to have my morning meditation is in our front yard swing under the canopy of a large White Oak tree.  I am usually there long before the sun comes up and many times hear the awaking of the song birds with each species giving their own particular sounds that makes them easy to identify.  Depending on the moon phase, gray squirrels will start their morning off feeding on acorns (when in season) in the White Oak tree and will also harvest Pecans from a free growing Pecan tree on the other side of the road in the road right of way ditch.  A few years back, I cleared around it to give it some growing room, which has been a treat for the squirrels and Blue Jays when the Pecans start maturing.

I normally have a cup of fresh brewed K-cup coffee with me and will sit it on the swing seat while giving my morning devotional prayer.  I remember as a youngster while living with my Grandma Coley who raised me as her own son, she would go into the kitchen about daybreak each morning, get down on her knees in front of the water heater and/or wood cook stove at the time and start her morning prayer.  She continued that as long as she was able to kneel down physically.  I can still hear her words praying to our Lord Jesus Christ and she would usually start off by saying, "Lord,  thank you for letting me see the light of another day........" and it was no Reader's Digest prayer, but a long, heart filled fervent prayer that I am sure made it straight to our Lord.  She prayed for about everybody and everything and was considered a "Prayer Warrior."  The linoleum floor covering where her feet would rest, the top layer pattern of the linoleum was worn off exposing the dark backing material as she continued to pray over the years and decades. 

Those are the life experiences that help sustain and direct us in the right direction in my humble opinion, whereas following an example that has been set before us.    

After my morning devotional, I will slowly sip on my cup of coffee taking in all the sights, sounds and smells at the start of a new day.  It is a time to reflect not only on the past, present and the future, but become engulfed in a serine and tranquil state that is so soothing to the mind, body and soul!  With retirement, I am able to get into our swing much more often than when working a full time job which is understandable.  Below is a pix of the swing, of which I made myself and have the construction documented at this hyperlink:

Yesterday while swinging, I noticed a few small beautiful pinkish colored Azalea blossoms that were awesome against the backdrop of green leaves.  By this time of the year, they have been long gone to reappear again in the Spring and a wonderful sight to behold.  I finally got around to photographing one of the blooms, of which I wanted to do it earlier for better natural lighting, but got busy removing spent tomato plants.  I used my Canon 60mm Macro lens on an old Canon EOS 30D 35mm DSLR camera on the tripod, whereas the wind was blowing and had to wait until the wind was still to prevent blur.  For you shutter bugs, I used a slow shutter speed 1/30 sec and large aperture F/5 and ISO 100 so the back ground would be out of focus framing the blossom.  The size of the blossom is approximately 1.5 inches in diameter and the 60mm Macro lens certainly makes it look much larger!  The afternoon light was ok and below is the pix:

Pix below taken in the morning and at a different angle and almost got a pix of a honeybee but there apparently wasn't any nectar on the blossom.

It is amazing how simple things of nature can bring about a most pleasurable moment and experience, if we will only, stop and take time to smell the roses, but in this case, the Azalea blossoms.  It is a little late for Azalea bushes to bloom, but the temperature has been conducive for it to happen.

GIVE GOD, THE PRAISE, GLORY AND HONOR IN ALL THINGS

God's creation is amazing and it is hard for our finite mind to comprehend or understand how it all works, but we accept it by faith!  Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

God richly bless each and every one of you and take the time out to enjoy what he has created for all of us to enjoy.  Do give God through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, thanks for allowing us the opportunity to partake of what he has created!

THE NATURE OF GOD

Cast aside for a few moments all the hustle and bustle of life, politics, etc. and enjoy this - I found it a bit calming.

There are some beautiful animals and scenes.  When the owlet almost turns his head upside down, I smiled and smiled.  Beautiful video.

Forget about everything for a few minutes and look at this video.  It will relax your mind, body and soul.

Click here: The Nature of God

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 10-18-16 and added video link on 11-09-16 that was forwarded to me from Sue Newton.