Dear Reader:
As I was writing today’s Chapel of Hope Stories post (yesterday) after lunch… the outer bands of then tropical storm Idalia were turning up the rain intensity from the earlier morning rain showers.
I put on my Little Red Riding Hood rain jacket and started addressing the garden securities… like placing hanging baskets off their holders onto the ground, signs off the fence, sofa pillows in the garage, etc.
But my biggest concern is always my bottle tree… it has brought me more joy than anything else as I pull in and out of my driveway.
It is located on a grassy knoll right beside the street and driveway… so if strong storm winds knocked the stake holder over, all the beautiful bottles… would hit the pavement and crash into many parts-it would break my heart!
***I remember last week taking this picture and was so disappointed because just five minutes earlier the slanted rising sun ‘s rays had set it ” on fire.” It was literally radiating with light! But it doesn’t last long which makes the phenomenon more special!
But I will persevere… and one day soon you will see the bottle tree in nature’s finest beauty.
I was thinking about an idea brewing in my mind as my grandchildren have started summer camps- that asking each camper to bring a colored empty bottle to camp and then erecting bottle trees throughout the camp, especially at Vespers gatherings would be so meaningful in nature’s beauty.
The other reason I associate bottle trees is with the Ya’s since we all started providing bottles and stakes to build a bottle tree …to each other on our birthdays one year.
Today we, historically, associate bottle trees with the Gullah culture and later with using the decorative bottles as secret espionage message holders during different wars and conflicts.
This time, however, I really lucked up and discovered a book about Edisto Island and a bottle tree scavenger hunt an author has created ( 16 secret sites scattered around the island with a magical bottle tree … found by following the clues in the book.)
I, of course, immediately ordered it to take to our Ya Ya retreat in October.
So until tomorrow… Dear Father, You are our REFUGE in the storm, our PROTECTOR, our SHELTER and our ROCK. When the winds rage and the rains flood, we have safe retreat in YOU through FAITH. Amen.
Today is my favorite day/Winnie the Pooh
I hope everyone affected by Hurricane Idalia, especially our Florida residents, came through the storm unharmed… that is my prayer! 🙏🏻
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
Good morning Mrs.Dingle! I hope no harm from the storm found you or your garden or home. I had to stop watching the coverage of the storm when it was obvious it was coming our way. The rains came in a deluges and I thought well here we go again, the winds are surely not far behind. So I got comfortable in my faithful recliner with reading materials and thinking, this will keep my mind off of what’s coming. Well I thought about it again and thought yeah I’ll go off into the magic of reading that takes you into the places and characters in the reading materials, or into the story of the Writings. But, I thought where am I putting my faith? Into words on a page? So, my dread was that the yard front and back would be covered in leaves and limbs large and small, and I can’t pick them up, I am still on strict Doctor’s orders of no bending or twisting and carry nothing more than 10 lbs. my back surgery still fresh in my mind. So I got up put all the reading materials away and picked up my Bible got back in my recliner and said to myself a prayer very similar to yours in today’s writing, and started reading my Bible. After a long stretch of being lost in the ancient times of the Bible, and thought it’s still raining but not like it was earlier and I haven’t heard wind. So, I put my back brace on, grabbed my walking cane, looked through the windows at the back yard then onto the front porch to see the front yard, and it didn’t look like we had any wind. So, I said a thank you Prayer and went back to reading the Bible again, noticed the time and had to get my nighttime medicines and take them all. Got back in my recliner and remembered getting stuck in my electric recliner once before and didn’t recline far just in case power goes out. Another long stretch of reading my Bible I realized I was getting very sleepy. It was nearly 10:00 pm, so to bed I went thanked the Lord again and fell asleep. I woke this morning walked out on the deck in the back and the porch on the front and my yard didn’t look as though a hurricane had ever visited us. So, right there on my porch I said a prayer of hope that no one was injured and that their losses were minimal at the worst. And another Prayer of thanks for the safety of all of us here in the Summerville. I believe there were lots of people in Summerville that Prayed a Prayer similar to the on in your writing this morning and the Lord heard us! I am so thankful and in a joyous mood this morning. Thank You Lord for your protection throughout the storm!
You are right… we have had more winds and rain from thunderstorms this summer… the yard looks exactly the way it did yesterday. God is good… Summerville was passed over. Praying your back continues to heal and your overall health steadily improves!
Prayers for those who were affected… God will get them through this latest storm -no doubt!
Sent from my iPhone