Welcome to Vermont where the weather changes frequently and the temperatures can plummet to below zero.
It is freezing here and has been for a few days now. I am not impressed. It is what we do here and we some how manage to get through it. As it is in life we don't have to like it but we do have to some how wade through the tough stuff.
The picture below is what my husband and I saw on our morning ride around a loop as we have a coffee and pray together to start our day. It is very beautiful here but you can not see in this photo the brutal cold we have going on. The temperature this morning, with out counting the wind chill, was -15. The sort of cold that will cause cars to freeze up and batteries to fail and on an don it goes. I have been concerned for my chickens and the wild birds I feed. I pray for them, as well as the people who have no heat or live in conditions that are dangerous to their well being in this weather.
This weather is somehow a reminder to me of how life is so hard and at times like the frozen sod we travel on day to day this time of year. No matter how you bundle up you still have to be able to see so you need the vision to be exposed leaving exposure to the elements if you venture out.
I did venture out as my bird feeders were depleted the last couple days with such severe temps. My chickens, bless them, keep laying their eggs and we have to collect them as they freeze. Now I want you to know my hens are safe and warm enough for them. I myself have checked out the requirements for their safety in these temps. No hen was injured in the making of the eggs due to the weather conditions. ;) So I have been watching the birds and seeing how they manage with these severe temps. It causes me to consider how these delicate wild birds dressed only in feathers and little spindly legs can gather outside my windows and with feathers wind blown and fluffed out, survive? They not only survive but chatter and eat and sit upon branches or in the snow on the ground for moments at a time watching and then taking their turn at either ground food or hanging feeders. I am amazed as I think about how God created these birds to be able to survive this and use their bird voices as they do .
Having analyzed these birds and marveled at the way they live in the severity of this winter I am compelled to look at myself and the life situations that come and how I myself weather them. But even beyond that what has God instilled and graciously blended into my being to weather these storms and brutal times of my life? We should be amazed at the power of not only our human DNA but the spirit of man and what God has given us to endure what comes our way in the fallen life we live. The Word of God tells us in Psalm 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. I am amazed at these truths and that I see it in my daily life in what others endure with cancer and chemo and radiation , so many sicknesses and then the survival of horrific things. Truly amazing what our humanness can endure and survive.
None of this is easy of course or without pain and fearfulness thrown in. I have limited knowledge of these of things but have seen the strength of people in these dire situations just enough to see the amazing ways they endure. My belief is that God gives that power and it is truly Amazing! So as I continue this winter journey and watch the birds, collect my hen's eggs and come and go in the extremes of not only weather but life, I place my Hope and Trust in God and the saving power of His Son Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus,
I do not understand all the ways of life but I want to come to understand your ways more and more. I pray for others who are in struggles of life whether health or deaths of financial issues , that You the Savior would deliver them and keep them. I thank you for the way to care for the birds in these extreme temps and I pray you will show us how much more you will take care of us in extreme and quiet times in our lives. For any who do not know you I ask for a wide eyed open experience of your delivering power with in and without. In Jesus Powerful name I pray. Amen
It is freezing here and has been for a few days now. I am not impressed. It is what we do here and we some how manage to get through it. As it is in life we don't have to like it but we do have to some how wade through the tough stuff.
The picture below is what my husband and I saw on our morning ride around a loop as we have a coffee and pray together to start our day. It is very beautiful here but you can not see in this photo the brutal cold we have going on. The temperature this morning, with out counting the wind chill, was -15. The sort of cold that will cause cars to freeze up and batteries to fail and on an don it goes. I have been concerned for my chickens and the wild birds I feed. I pray for them, as well as the people who have no heat or live in conditions that are dangerous to their well being in this weather.
This weather is somehow a reminder to me of how life is so hard and at times like the frozen sod we travel on day to day this time of year. No matter how you bundle up you still have to be able to see so you need the vision to be exposed leaving exposure to the elements if you venture out.
I did venture out as my bird feeders were depleted the last couple days with such severe temps. My chickens, bless them, keep laying their eggs and we have to collect them as they freeze. Now I want you to know my hens are safe and warm enough for them. I myself have checked out the requirements for their safety in these temps. No hen was injured in the making of the eggs due to the weather conditions. ;) So I have been watching the birds and seeing how they manage with these severe temps. It causes me to consider how these delicate wild birds dressed only in feathers and little spindly legs can gather outside my windows and with feathers wind blown and fluffed out, survive? They not only survive but chatter and eat and sit upon branches or in the snow on the ground for moments at a time watching and then taking their turn at either ground food or hanging feeders. I am amazed as I think about how God created these birds to be able to survive this and use their bird voices as they do .
Having analyzed these birds and marveled at the way they live in the severity of this winter I am compelled to look at myself and the life situations that come and how I myself weather them. But even beyond that what has God instilled and graciously blended into my being to weather these storms and brutal times of my life? We should be amazed at the power of not only our human DNA but the spirit of man and what God has given us to endure what comes our way in the fallen life we live. The Word of God tells us in Psalm 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. I am amazed at these truths and that I see it in my daily life in what others endure with cancer and chemo and radiation , so many sicknesses and then the survival of horrific things. Truly amazing what our humanness can endure and survive.
None of this is easy of course or without pain and fearfulness thrown in. I have limited knowledge of these of things but have seen the strength of people in these dire situations just enough to see the amazing ways they endure. My belief is that God gives that power and it is truly Amazing! So as I continue this winter journey and watch the birds, collect my hen's eggs and come and go in the extremes of not only weather but life, I place my Hope and Trust in God and the saving power of His Son Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus,
I do not understand all the ways of life but I want to come to understand your ways more and more. I pray for others who are in struggles of life whether health or deaths of financial issues , that You the Savior would deliver them and keep them. I thank you for the way to care for the birds in these extreme temps and I pray you will show us how much more you will take care of us in extreme and quiet times in our lives. For any who do not know you I ask for a wide eyed open experience of your delivering power with in and without. In Jesus Powerful name I pray. Amen
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