The Sword of the Spirit

I believe God has gifted me with an eye to discern His hidden treasures, & each year, I shoot thousands of images which remain unseen. I teach people they have a responsibility to use the gifts they were given, & yet do not heed my own words. I started this blog to share the Works of God's Hands, which I have been blessed with the ability to discern.
No sooner had I started this witness, than I came under attack by neighbors for simply being. I nearly caved to depression, but I hung in there & continued my witness. Dear friends moved away & those who followed threatened my morning prayer & Bible time. I "happened upon" a few minutes of a preacher saying how the very utterance of Jesus' name, let alone the mention of His shed blood, drives Satan & his minions shrieking back into the darkness.
I sat on the bench near the pond, & in desperation prayed aloud, claiming peace to our neighborhood through the shed blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I felt better & began my day. That night, an amazing miracle of healing began within our community! Though unrelated to the above, it was far more encompassing & pervasive. It truly was a miracle that no one could have ever anticipated.
The witness of my blog grew by leaps & bounds when shared through FaceBook & yet another spiritual attack began. This time, I crumpled up & withdrew under it's weight. I continued to be assaulted from seemingly every direction. Gradually, & for the first time in months, I began to feel a sense of hope & a renewed strength. I spoke of this with several people & returned home to find a hostile letter secured to my bush. As the anger grew within me, I began to crumple, once again. These powerful words were placed afresh on my heart: "We do not wrestle with flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this darkness of this present age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)
When Jesus was attacked by Satan, He used but one weapon: "The Sword of the Spirit, which is the very Word of God." (Ephesians 6:17). I turned to my Bible & was strengthened. As small as bound text on a page may seem, I held in my hands, the very word of God....the VERY WEAPON JESUS USED!!
"I CAN do all things through Christ, who strengthens me!" (Philipians 4:13)
It's all good !!!!!

Peace Turned Upside-Down

Some time after we moved in the little girl who lived on the pond brought home a few ducklings. Her favorite was the beautiful, white one she called, "Megan". Gray & silver foxes, hawks, & even an occasional visit from a coyote kept the population under control. My own eyes have witnessed Great Blue Herons & large fish pick off ducklings as they swam in line behind their momma. The little girl was very protective, as well as creative & successfully kept away as many daytime predators as possible. This resulted in a run away population. 2 years ago, our highest, confirmed & accurate count was 38 muscovies & 2 mallards: far too many for the 2+ acre lake. It was difficult to fish with the muscovies there, but we so enjoyed feeding the gentle creatures by hand. We came to know many of their individual personalities & we named them. We knew the shy ones & the sneaky ones, the bold & the gentle. As we gained their trust some would climb on our laps to eat from our hand.
Fearful people moved in next to the pond & we lived a nightmare for many months. The mallards took flight & the near-flightless muscovies were easy targets. Children were held captive in their homes as rifles fired pellets through our once peaceful corner of the world. Soon, others joined in the slaughter. Even when presented with a copy of the law, the police simply passed us along from one department to another. Ducks were found beaten & kicked to death leaving bloody trails. We feared what sort of person could do this. We shared Bible studies with the little girl, her family & other neighbors. We sought God's guidance on what to do with bullies & how He could bring us out of this. We wrestled with the difference between righteous & unwarranted anger. We prayed communally for the neighborhood & for God's presence here. Over 30 ducks were killed before the terror stopped. Weeks later, the last to be killed, were shot while roosting in the locust tree that once draped in & out of the water. The gentlest of all, they would climb on our laps to be fed. It was late at night & no one knew I heard them killed as a party game. Another neighbor & I retrieved the bodies long before sun-up on Easter morning, before the little girl would find them.
God provides creative solutions & often with great humor. After the terror ceased, a pair of mallards (unquestionably protected by law) joined Megan's 3 remaining descendants. The mallards now number 7, though the muscovy population has dwindled to 3. Nancy, Poppa & Sister roosted on the grated drain, safely away from natural predators. They became a part of my predawn prayer time. Poppa & Nancy have been missing now for several weeks & there remains one final hint of Megan's white touch upon the life of the neighborhood....a little girl's first experience at mothering.

A Tale of Two Turtles

A few months ago, our neighbor found a tiny turtle & gave it to my son, London. "Cody" has since become a beloved member of our menagerie. London even takes him outside to play in a fashioned "hotel" & pool.


Later, I found the friendliest box turtle I have ever come across. "Crush" was given his name as his markings reminded London of orange soda. He stayed in one of our hotel tanks for a few days, feasting on a variety of fruits & insects. One afternoon, we returned him to his forest home. I watched him until he tucked himself away, next to & under some wood.


That evening, neighbors stopped by & the kids played with Cody. The adult topic was self-control. Deb shared that her family uses Eph. 5:18a ("Do not become drunk with wine...") to extend to other traits that Paul advised against, such as boasting, gossip, jealousy, love of money & anger. The notion of being "drunk with anger", etc. fascinated us. Arguing children interrupted us. Oh well, time to head in for the night, anyway.....
Preparing for bed, I shared with London our adult conversation, specifically how anger can take control of us. He really seemed to be putting things together when he abruptly cried out in horror. Cody had been left outside, forgotten in a moment of anger! Flashlights were of no avail in our search. London was terrified for Cody. What a perfect example of the topic, but this was NOT the time to point that out. We prayed for Cody's safety & for London's (self-)forgiveness. We prayed that Cody would find a safe, new home, near water....or, that if it was God's will, we would find him.


The next morning, I went out back just in time to see Crush venturing forth. I said a prayer for his safety & headed out front. Tucked away, next to some mulch, my eyes fell on tee-tiny Cody! It was a miracle in itself that my eyes fell that direction.


Rarely are lessons demonstrated in such a timely & dramatic way. London & I immediately said a prayer of thanks & praise. We discussed anger, self-control & how AWESOME God is.
When Jesus was tempted, (Matt 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13), He used scripture to fight off satan. Paul instructed us to, "Put on the whole armor of God..." (Eph 6:13), which includes, "...the sword of the Spirit, which is the very Word of God" (vs. 17b). Anger & lack of self-control caused Cody to be left out. The Bible is clear that those are both tools of the adversary. Paul instructs us to arm ourselves by reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God, so that will be prepared against the wiles of evil.


A few days later, another fellow joined us...a young, but strangely gentle baby snapper.


(This happened a couple of weeks ago. The other day, we spied Crush meandering around one of our garden oaks).