Self-control

Move, but don't move the way fear makes you move.

~Rumi~

This morning, I sat cross-legged on the quilt in the back yard.

I sipped my coffee.

I watched as a humming bird bounced from flower to flower & then settle on a branch across from me.

Two more flew into a vertical dance, as if mirroring each other.

A tiny little wren popped up and disappeared in the grass as it forged for food.

I closed my eyes, took in a nice deep breath, and listened....

the faint crow of a rooster in the distance.

A skippy-mournful howl from the opposite direction.

Otis. It made me smile.

My floppy hound-dog-used-to-be-neighbor.

 He echoes through the neighborhood from 1/2 mile away.

(they recently moved)

I opened my eyes, and set my Bible on my lap,

opening to Matthew 6:33...

"Seek first His kingdom....".

I felt something crawling on my leg...and lifted the Bible to confirm.

A wolf spider. 

Not small.

  It was releasing a string of 

webbing out it's back end. 

" Sorry. No, Nopedy, Nope...

how bout you take the yard, I'll take the quilt,

and we'll share this beautiful morning.",

and I brushed her off into the grass.

Yesterday  I was heading out through the back door to feed the birds.

I face planted into a web built across the top of the doorway.

I backed away and accessed the damage. 

Spider still intact...home in shambles, I decided to take it down. 

She decided to run up my arm.

Not small.

I'll call her Chickpea.

I kept my calm, and gently brushed  Chickpea into the protection of a nearby bush.

One spider encounter would have been just a thing...

but two up-close-and-personal spider encounters back to back?

I'll take it as a sign. (*wink)

"Spider reminds us that the word is woven around us.

We are the keepers and the writers of our own destiny,

weaving it like a web by our own thoughts,

feelings, and actions."

"Weave your creative threads in the dark and then when the sun hits them,

they will glisten with intricate beauty."

"If spider has come into your life, ask yourself some questions."

'Are you weaving your dreams into reality?'

Are you entangled in your own mental productions?

Are you not using your creative opportunities?

Are you feeling closed in or stuck as if in a web?

Do you need to pay attention to your balance and where you

are walking in life?

Are others out of balance around you?

Do you need to write?

Are you inspired to write or draw and not follow through?'

~Animals Speak~

Journal notes:

Trust is a crucial part of living a good life.

God provides everything we need.

Receive what He offers.

"Love isn't something we do; Its someone we become."

"Your life doesn't depend on what you get or don't get

from someone else.

Your life is your own."

Turn your heart toward the interruption.

Look for moments to love.

Each day presents choice after choice.

He is with you. Stay close. Listen. Observe.

Trust. Open. Receive.

'Shattered dreams. A heart full of fissures.

Hopes that are splintered.

A life that feels in pieces, perhaps ruined.

Given time and prayer, can produce something beautiful.

With God, nothing is wasted.

Every broken dream and heart that hurts

can be redeemed by His loving warm touch.'

'Faltering steps of dependence are not a lack of faith;

they are links to His Presence.'

"God made beauty so we'd know how He felt about us."

The only one putting a label on you is you .

be well...

xoxo

💝

"The city of truth cannot be built on the swampy ground of skepticism."

"The god that atheists don't believe in never existed anyway."