Thanksgiving

As some people in the world celebrate Thanksgiving Day today,

I am reminded of all God's blessings. 

And one of the greatest earthly blessings we have, 

is family. 

God has blessed us with a wonderful family. 

Daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren,

and all the extended family members that God has brought

into our lives. 

God is so good to us and He continually blesses us 

beyond measure. We can never thank Him enough for his goodness to us. 

Psalm 106:1 Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

What a great God! 

And with that in mind, it's high time I shared some photos

of the little, growing blessings in our lives. 

Pretty soon, there will be another precious little blessing

to bring joy into our lives and overflow our cup once more. 

Psalm 92:1  It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:

Psalm 69:34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

Psalm 105:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.

Psalm 118:1 O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.

Isaiah 12:4 And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Psalm 150:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Psalm 150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Psalm 150:3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

 Psalm 150:4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Psalm 150:5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Psalm 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Psalm 30:12 To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Is There Grass on Your Path?

“In one region of Africa, the first converts to Christianity were very diligent about praying. In fact, the believers each had their own special place outside the village where they went to pray in solitude. The villagers reached these “prayer rooms” by using their own private footpaths through the brush. When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very much. Because these new Christians were concerned for each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up. Whenever anyone noticed an overgrown “Prayer path,” he or she would go to the person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass on your path!”

- (RWD Our Daily Bread, November 18, 1996).

I love this story about ‘prayer paths’. I wonder, is there grass on your path? Is your prayer life in such a state that your path has become overgrown with weeds. Weeds of busyness. Weeds of laziness. Weeds of discontent. Weeds of indifference. 

Our lives can become so busy that we neglect to spend much needed time in prayer. Focused prayer. Not just short little ‘help me’ prayers, but ‘get on your knees and beg God to work' prayers. 

We need to make it a priority to find that special place. That ‘prayer room’ where we can get alone and get serious with God. What a blessing it is to know that we have an audience with the Creator of the universe, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! Praise God! 

Psalm 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and

delivereth them out of all their troubles.

Psalm 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud:

 and he shall hear my voice.

God is always near and He always listens. He is there, waiting in our ‘prayer rooms’, calling us to come and meet with Him and learn from Him. And yet, we push Him aside by being too busy to stop and pray. Our path becomes overgrown, little by little, until one day, we find that we can no longer see the path and  we’ve almost forgotten how to pray. What a sorry state of affairs to see our prayer path obscured.

One of my favourite old songs asks the question, “how long has it been?”

How long has it been since you took that path to your place of solitude and spent time alone with God? 

Is there grass on your path? 

How Long Has It Been? 

How long has it been since you talked with the Lord
And told him your heart's hidden secrets
How long since you prayed how long since you stayed
On your knees till the light shone through
How long has it been since your mind felt at ease
How long since your heart knew no burden
Can you call him your friend how long has it been since you knew that he cared for you

How long has it been since you knelt by your bed and prayed to the Lord up in heaven
How long since you knew that he'd answer you
And would keep you the long night through
How long has it been since you woke with the dawn and felt that the days’ worth the living
Can you call him your friend how long has it been since you knew that he cared for you

Beautiful Little Lydia

Well, I have been a very remiss Grandma of late :(

I have been so busy, I haven't made enough time to 

take photos of our grandbabies. 

So, I hope to remedy that as soon as possible, 

but for now, a few snaps I took on Tuesday will have

to suffice. 

7 months old and growing fast!

Lydia is a 'super smiler' and very expressive. 

Lydia is growing so quickly, I can't keep up.

And Miriam is a little girl now. All grown up.

And we look forward to welcoming a new little 

Baby Hockey in December! 

Ain't life grand?!

Road Trip To Queensland

Maddie and I have recently returned from 

our road trip. First time for Maddie to give her 

cruiser a good long run and it did great! 

We enjoyed the travel across the country and 

clocked up 6336 kms. No flat tyres or mechanical problems.

Praise God! 

Some people think the Barkly is boring, but I love

the open plains and beautiful skies. I can't get enough of 

the Australian Outback. 

Anyone wanting to enjoy some of God's amazing creation,

then just take a little trip across the country to the Territory. 

Colossians 1:16

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

Short Getaway - Part 2

 Well, as promised, I've finally edited the last 

of our photos from our short getaway to Dundee

Beach and beyond.

Since moving here, in 2013, we still have yet to visit

Litchfield National Park. I know. Shame, shame. 

It's on my big bucket list. 

But anyway, on our way home from Dundee Beach,

we thought we'd take a short detour through Litchfield

and at least get a quick peek. This is not classed as visiting

the park, in my opinion, as I'm anxious to go just after the wet,

in order to see all the falls flowing. 

Anyway, we were able to have a quick look at Wangi Falls.

It was very busy with swimmers (despite numerous crocs caught 

there over the years), but I was able to imagine what it would look like in the wet at least. 

After our brief iced coffee and short walk, we

headed off and onto the Reynolds River Track 

to check that out. Turns out it wasn't much of a 4WD 

track, at least not in the dry, but was a nice change 

from the usual Stuart Hwy trek. 

A lot of sandy roads and an interesting old mine to

walk around and read about. 

 Then, of course, fire!

We hoped that we wouldn't have to turn around

and go all the way back because of the fires, 

but thankfully, after passing them quite close,

the road veered in a different direction. 

A couple of small creek crossings. 

One of the highlights was a herd ? mob? of buffalo

taking a bath in a dam. They're so ugly. But interesting.

Anyway, the biggest mob I've seen before. 

All in all, it was a nice, brief, getaway for Dave and I,

and another road travelled that we hadn't driven before. 

Life is short. Make the most of those times to 

get away and spend time with those you love,

adventuring together and enjoying God's beautiful creation.

Do the Next Thing