My heart and my spirit sing songs of joy…
Each day I take my camera in hand and make an attempt at capturing the glorious beauty unfolding around me. This spring. This world re-awakening. This bursting forth of bud and blossom and new life emerging from the depths. This hope renewed.
My spirit sings JOY!
I mediate on Your wonders, sing songs of Your worth, O God.
Your majesty and glorious splendor have captivated me;
I will meditate on Your wonders, sing songs of Your worth.
We confess—there is nothing greater than You, God,
nothing mightier than Your awesome works.
I will tell of Your greatness as long as I have breath.
The news of Your rich goodness is no secret—
Your people love to recall it
and sing songs of joy to celebrate Your righteousness.
Psalm 145:5-7 The Voice
I imagine that this path of life you walk is a lot like my daily walks.
My husband and I start our walk and turn down the street where there is a minimal rise in the road and a slight increase in the effort required in each step. For a brief time there is a leveling off and the walk seems effortless. But then we round the corner, and the road steeply rises before me, and I must lean in, breath more deeply, and walk with more intensity.
We continue upward and as we come to the top of the rise we see a lovely garden. Not much is blooming right now, but there is new growth, and dusky rose-colored Hellebores among the leaves from last fall. We are refreshed as we walk past, noticing the bursts of green and promise of flowers to come. And then the road drops before us sharply. Our foot falls become more rapid, and yet, we are cautious to not step too quickly as fine gravel from winter covers the road, which can cause one’s foot to slip in an instant. And so the walk continues up and down to varying degrees and often with pleasant surprises to discover along the way.
These Anemones or Windflowers were blooming alongside the road. A lovely lonely celebration of color and glory. Purple and white. They sang of HIS glory. And my heart lept for joy. They delighted me. I wonder if God took delight in my delight. I really think He did and does.
If your journey is like mine you may feel like every step is an effort. When I take my eyes off the difficulty of the journey and look around I see glories. Like the purple Anemones. God blesses me with a phone call from a friend, or a cat who sits next to me on the couch and reaches out and touches me and keeps his fluffy paw on my leg as if to say, “I’m here. Everything is okay.” or a fellow writer who invites me to join a Facebook group, or the flurry of birds near my window, or…..
My heart sings songs of joy.
What is it that causes your heart to sing sings of joy?
What helps you to take off the mirror glasses and see the world with His eyes?
It’s Joy Day!
The day when you and I take a few moments
to reflect on the past week and count just seven things of gratitude.
We count the obvious blessings. But, we also count things that might have hurt or brought disappointment because God has directed us to give thanks in all things.
Please join me in counting ‘seven.’
I’ll start…
I’m grateful for…
- knowing there is nothing greater than YOU, God
- a dear friend giving me her ‘big girl’ camera
- a new, poorly paying part-time job
- knowing that God is my provider…not me
- buds and blossoms emerging everywhere
- the penetrating heat of sunshine on a cold walk
- still warm-out-of-the-oven banana bread
Now…it’s your turn! Join me to “sing songs of joy to celebrate God’s righteousness.”
Scroll down to ‘Share Your Thoughts’ below.
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After writing this I attended church. The service concluded with singing a rocking rendition of “This Is My Father’s World.” When I was a little girl, that song was sung with the pipe organ. It was my favorite. As we sang it today I knew why these walks I take are so important to me. They help me to get perspective. They help me worship my Creator God through discovery and delight in this amazing world He created. I get to see and experience God as I walk. My spirit is always renewed. And all that troubles me seems smaller. I seem smaller. And God seems much much greater. And that, my friend is a very good thing.
Thank you for stopping by today!
You bless me when you return my keyboard taps with yours. I love to read your words and sense your heart. We need to encourage one each other. My prayer is that you have been encouraged today. If you have…would you also please use the sharing buttons on the side to ‘like’ and ‘share’ and more? Thank you!
Joyfully!
Diane
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I’m grateful that I live so close to the ocean and get to take the dogs walking there everyday! They are the unofficial greeting committee of Plymouth, MA. As the tourists are gazing at the sights, my crew brings a smile to their faces and what could be better than that!
I love that Donna!! We often talk about how fun it would be to walk dogs who loved greeting people. It’s a great way to meet others, too. What breeds are your dogs?
I have three. A mixed breed sheltie/chow who came to us in TX and is now almost 13 yrs. The next two came to us while stationed in MS and are a french bulldog and a boston terrier, ages 4 and 2. They keep me entertained always and are great company! Maybe our paths will cross one day while walking:-)
I bet they are great entertainment and company!
We had a great walk tonight….I hope you had a good one too!
I began singing to The Lord and saw your post. I pictured myself singing the Psalm in my parents’ small beautiful church and we used to sing the Psalms with the pipe organ. So I refocus on praising God, not my confinement… And count blessings today
*TV church programs
*Good devotionals
*Easy to read Bible translations yet a good memory for the KJV
*My dear Mom
* I got out for fun~no appointments!~just fun with a dear friend from out of town
*Jesus never leaves me nor forsakes me
*The beauty I see out my windows. The glory of The Lord
What a sweet picture, Gwen…you singing the Psalms. A memory to treasure too.
You have so much to be grateful for this week. I love that you had a friend in to love on you.
Praying that this week will be filled with God goodness and JOY!! [hugs]
Diane, your photographs are delightful. You celebrate God’s creation with each flower and I’m always blessed.
Thank you Pamela! 😉
May your week be overflowing with JOY!!
1. just home from our condo in Hilton Head that we are so thankful the Lord allowed us to buy!
2. to have our new grandson with us tomorrow night while mom and dad go to a Reds game to celebrate Dad’s birthday I think
3. that today is our son’s 38th birthday
4. that we have a wonderful church to go back to when we get home
5. that we have a wonderful church to go to when in Hilton Head
6. that our daffodils are out and beautiful!
7. that I can look forward to all the other flowers coming out!
love all your pictures of flowers on your walks Diane! thanks!
Thanks for taking time to share your ‘seven’ Glenda!!
You are a blessed gal! Praying your week overflows with more of God’s goodness and JOY!
[hugs] I’m so glad you love the photos. BTW…your prayer was answered. My friend gifted me with one of her older cameras. Yay! Now to learn to use it.
WOW. What phenomenal photos! Are these with the ‘new’ camera? Whichever one–they did a wonderful job of capturing the colours and details. And I adore the streaming effect on the last one. Made my heart happy! What an awesome discovery on the walk–and what a wonderful way to meditate and commune with your hubby and your Maker.
My seven!!
* colouring bannery things with the three year old (yes.LOL….still a work in progress! JULY, I’m tellin’ ya…)
* the girl and her partner house hunting–how fun for them
* blue skies….gorgeously blue skies!
* Oh!! Earth breaking tulips! I saw some!!!
* employment opportunities for YOU…..still makes me do a happy dance in my chair
* thousands of people reaching out to the victims in Boston. There IS good out there…..
* brilliant sunrises from the kitchen window
Oh Mel…not from the ‘new’ camera, yet. Haha! I’ve a lot to learn. 😉
Thank you for your kind encouraging words. You always put a smile on my face.
And thank you for taking time to share your ‘seven.’ 🙂
I love the joy in your heart. And soon…happy dance will come with he who can’t wait to dance with you again.
Hope your day is filled with blue skies, sunshine, and flowers bursting forth! [hugs]
Sooo thankful for the lovely songbirds our Creator put on this planet. When we moved to the middle of the country after having served in So Amer several years, I was delighted w/the home God provided in a wooded neighborhood. So many birds; some resident & some seasonal migrators, but all teaching & showing God’s handiwork.
This morning after Bible study I was thoroughly delighted to see several goldfinches feasting on something growing now in the back yard. These bright little sunbeams have fascinated me since I discovered them here our first spring. They seem like God’s special messengers of joy & hopefulness.
Blessings on you in this new stage of employment. May God bring some pleasant surprises & compensations your way to brighten things up a bit! He likes to do that!
Our goldfinches turned bright yellow almost overnight. We have a feeder at our back porch and can see them from our breakfast table. I agree they are sunshine! What a blessing for you to have them now and the experience of enjoying them in so many places.
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement Carolyn. Trusting Him more than ever. 😉
And you make such beauty with your camera, Diane. How in the world did you do that thing with all the rays of light on the windflowers? Lovely. Isn’t it amazing how, when we look–we see?
Oh Laura…thank you sooo much. It really is a creative expression for me. And I’m blessed that you enjoyed the photos too.
Do you use PicMonkey? There is a new function called ‘rays’ (I think) that I used along with a few other settings. I played around with the actions until I got something I liked. I’m so glad you liked it too!! 😉
Absolutely beautiful. We walk with our little dog,Snowball, and yesterday was the first time since returning from Arizona that we made it all around the block. I did see the beginning of shoots in my garden. We had a blanket if snow covering them.
Thanks for linking in the Joy Dare. I also host links on Wed and Sun.
Blessings as we look for God’s gifts.
Janis
Still snow!! I know you made reference to it on your blog, but this has been a long winter. How good to have had the reprieve in AZ.
Thanks for your kind comments Janis. 😉
Wishing you An Extraordinary Day!
Hi Diane
I loved your post celebrating joy.
Two things that I am always grateful for are my names: Anita, which means grace, and my middle name: Joy. Everyday I am reminded of the grace poured upon me, and the joy in my heart
Thank you so much Anita for taking time to stop by and to leave your sweet words! Your name is filled with lovely meaning to live by.
Grace & Joy to you!!
What a beautiful post. Those flowers are gorgeous and definitely shouting out His Glory!!
Thank you for sharing this. I popped over from the Life in Bloom link up.
Thanks Sharon!! Our God is an amazing creator. 😉
Lovely. Thank you for reminding me where my heart’s focus should rest.
Thank you Lyli! God is good! Always!
Diane, what a lovely post!! I have enjoyed your walk because your words are so descriptive! I am so thankful for my husband who loves me, my LORD who died for me, and the blessings from Him who is Sovereign over all!!
Blessings to you!
Doni
Gorgeous… beautiful photo’s! Thanks for taking us along on your walk! (Sounds very similar to one of my routes, as well!)
Then you are very blessed Karrilee! Thank you for you warm words. 🙂
May your weekend overflow with JOY!
such a beautiful post, diane! i love seeing the colors come to life from your walk! still waiting for new colors to show themselves around here! 😉
Oh I hope spring comes soon for you. She surely is slow to appear this year.
I was just going through some photos and noticed I took pictures of my neighbor’s magnolia tree almost exactly a month earlier to the day. 🙂 I guess we were spoiled by spring’s early arrival last year.
So beautiful! I pinned the image of flowers and scripture–too gorgeous not to share! 🙂
What a nice thing to do! Thank you Richella! You ARE extraordinary!