The Whisper Space

Skybird is my devoted cockatiel. He likes me and only me & wants me in his sight if possible! Alfie, our newcomer cockatiel, is shy and doesn’t trust me yet.

I began thinking about this a few days ago. Skybird lives for my attention.
Now it took a long time for him to trust me, but once he decided to, he trusts me completely and would be content sitting on my shoulder all day long, just being with me. The perks: he has the freedom to go upstairs with me while I shower or iron or wrap gifts, the freedom to sit on my shoulder while I’m at the computer, and the freedom to perch on top of his cage nearby when I’m busy in the kitchen. Now Alfie doesn’t get that freedom because he hasn’t learned to trust me and therefore won’t come to me even when I coax him over and over.

Isn’t that like faith in the Lord? If we put our trust in Jesus, we yearn to be in communion with Him continually, and in turn, He will take us to places, situations, & relationships, we’d never go on our own. We become free because of being with Him.

I’m hopeful Alfie will gradually trust me; then he will have freedom like Skybird.
Can I be so trusting and devoted to Jesus as Skybird is to me–to be with Him, therefore free?

I’ve found the best time to shop right now is after 9pm at night. Target stays open till 11 pm and Borders is open till at least 10 pm. I had to find a black Sharpie pen for Skye at this strange hour tonight–to finish a class project due tomorrow! What a pleasant surprise to find so few people out and about:) Something to consider for those who hate crowded malls and stores:)
Wishing you a peaceful and calm December, and late night shopping:)

Our McFarland clan has a new addition as of last Saturday.
K.& S. brought home a puppy, a West Highland White Terrier, a gift to one another for their first anniversary:) Well, if she isn’t the cutiest baby I’ve seen in a month of Sundays! She barks rarely, actually makes few sounds, but leaps and jumps, and “kisses” every human face within reach! A ball of “happy”!
And her name?
Three!?
But she’s really number 1 in our books:)

Bah, humbug!
I’m going to complain a little about this weather; too warm, too humid, too close, to be one day away from December. When you put out Christmas decorations it’s not natural to wear flip flops and sweat:( I’m counting on December being a little more seasonal so I can wear a jacket and socks! Is summer trying to sneak in and take over every month?

Ahhh, Thanksgiving dinner has been cooked and baked (& I didn’t burn anything!), eaten and savored, SI. & KA. came early and lingered till mid-afternoon, C. stayed till 6:30 this evening, SC. flew S.’s airplane & played C.’s guitar game over and over, then RK. washed all the dishes, so I couldn’t ask for more (except maybe a caterer):) Tasty leftovers are in the frig, the kitchen is clean & I have a quiet evening to rest. Tomorrow I work all day in the first day of Christmas madness; we’ll be off & running to the countdown to Dec. 25th….but tonight it’s calm and peaceful. Thank you Lord for your good gifts:)

How do I love rain? Let me count the ways:)
I love it when I’m able to sit inside and listen to the patter of the drops on the roof, especially a tin roof—calming.
I love rain when the temperature’s mild and, umbrella in hand, I go for a walk–soothing.
I love rain when it’s wintertime and it lasts for days, while I’m warm & cozy inside with a book or sleeping or computing—relaxing:)
I love rain when it falls gently—peaceful:)
I love it when it’s pouring, washing over everything, cleaning the air and everything in it’s path—cleansing.
Is it my Scottish blood?
I seem to be in the minority on this:)
Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain:)

I love to buy and give presents, so Christmas is an exciting time for me in many ways, especially the giving part. Except my adult children and my husband are so hard to buy for.

My husband K. doesn’t care what he gets and usually has no suggestions! And the kids aren’t as easily satisfied as they were in they were younger. Finding the right thing for them is difficult and it makes shopping pretty tough.
My friends are EASY, my sister and sister in laws are EASY, my mama’s EASY, and I am thankful!

At least Amazon.com is specific and and most of the kids use it for their lists, but you have to be on the ball and order things early!

K. never looks at my wish list that I’m aware of, or, he looks at it the week before Christmas. Isn’t that interesting. This year I bought his gift to me, or the big one, so he won’t have to shop much—wasn’t that nice of me? I know I’m excited:)

On Halloween night I went in to work at Hallmark, excited that I might see some cute ghosts and goblins dropping by throughout the evening:) Instead I spent the entire time decorating a Christmas tree. Evidently all the kids were elsewhere ringing doorbells. (Were they afraid to come in because of the Christmas lights?)

Now, if you know me, you know I enjoy seeing tiny happy ‘trick or treaters’ who are excited about costumes and candy. And, I love, love, love Christmas!!
So it was a STRANGE night for me:(
I felt like Halloween slipped by me.

Hallmark warps your mind as to which holiday is going on this time of year:( We begin displaying Halloween stuff in August, Thanksgiving and Christmas items show up in September…and gradually Christmas takes over before Halloween!
I have plenty of friends who hate October 31st, but I’m not one of them. Then again, I was being PAID to do one of my favorite things, decorating a Christmas tree. But on Halloween night?
93.9 has been playing Christmas music since November 1st! I LOVE Christmas music, but— what happened to Thanksgiving??

Remember back in an August blog, I mentioned how ‘fallish’ my Lake Pine walking trail was then. The weather had been dry, the leaves were turning reddish brown and crispy, falling and swirling around.
But this week, today, it is REALLY FALL, and BEAUTIFUL here in Apex:) Wow, I feel the glory of God in the brilliant colors of the trees. My early morning walk was a taste of heaven:) The leaves painted in bright golds, deep reds, bright reds, peach-colors, orange-colors, burgandy-colors, burnt sennia-colors, and yellows, everywhere!!!
WHOA:)
Makes me joyful, grateful, thankful!!
God’s artwork has no comparison!

Three girlfriends and I are just back from spending 4 days/nights at the same beach house at Emerald Isle that Pastor A. and his family enjoyed the previous week–see his blog for details:)
It is a sweet haven:)

Five of us ladies go to C.’s beach house yearly. C. is so gracious to invite us and is such a wonderful hostess:) One of our group has remarried recently and did not join us this fall since she is still honeymooning–we did miss her!

We began retreating together for prayer a few years ago when we served on our church’s women’s board. We are different ages and have different interests and different talents, but we truly enjoy one another’s company and love being together! Love of the Lord is our bond, and it’s a blessing to spend time catching up on each other’s news, good and/or sad, and praying together for friends and family.

We read, walked on the beach & gathered sea shells, talked, ate seafood, shopped, biked, ate some more, slept in, talked late, played Scrabble, did the cross-word puzzle, worked on Bible Study homework, ate again, walked on the beach again, laughed, read the newspaper, joked, painted birds on a stool, drank coffee, shopped again, and prayed, not necessarily in that order:)

The beach in October is amazing, sometimes calm, sometimes turbulent. The sunsets are amazing, usually brilliant orange, peach, and purple. And the sky is amazing, crystal clear with not a cloud to be seen, or, dark and windy with rain blasting against the windows (that happened on Friday)!

What a refreshing vacation:) We all soaked it in, every minute. I’m ready to order up another one any time:)!! Thank you C., K., and N.:)