Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Newsletter - 5/1/12




Hello Dear Friends!

I've been trotting around the world as I scan in my print photos to digital format.  It's hard to imagine that we have been blessed with so many wonderful trips we earned from working a job we both totally love.

Marabou Stork Doing His Mating Dance
Jurong Bird Park - Singapore
When you're your own boss, life goes a lot easier.  You don't have to worry about dress codes and commutes.  Lunch has no hassles of waiting in line or bad food ... we get make our own and enjoy it viewing the wildlife habitat we created between work and play.

Funny looking back at the beginnings of owning our own business ... a lot of hard work and slow growth, but when you are determined to make dreams come true (I wanted to be able to stay at home with our child and eventually homeschool), you get the motivation to keep on going.

Not that we still don't work.  God only blesses what we put our hands to, so we have to be laboring in some fashion since we're not in full-time ministry, so we get plenty of work time, but it's nice that we can pretty much schedule it the way we want it.  

Many of you are customers of TheHerbsPlace.com and we appreciate every one of you.  We've never taken any of our customers for granted.  We know God provides the seed for the sower and we're grateful He's blessed us with such a large group of people.

I take three days a week off of the computer so that's when I've been scanning in my print photos on a little gadget.  In the last issue of this newsletter I gave you a lot of links to various trips we've made since it's that time of year when families plan summer vacations.  Since then I've added a few more albums to my online gallery.

United States

• O'ahu & Honolulu, Hawaii
 

We have some crazy squirrels. We call them Seal Team Squirrels because they sure do train extensively for their missions in our backyard. We have a hammock where they've chewed some of the ropes so that they hang down. 

They will jump up on those ropes climb to the top, drop back down and begin all over again, and then climb across the bottom of the hammock upside down till they jump to the tree, go down to the ground and begin all over again. We have such a laugh watching them. Since the hammock is too far back in the woods for my zoom camera to get a good video, I've never bothered.

However! One day one of the team got extra workout time. Must've been a naughty boy. They had him under him a holly bush/tree that is much closer to the house, so I took a video through the breakfast window as he acted like a crazy squirrel with his bounces, jumps and rolls on the ground. It's only a half minute, but it's so cute. View very short Crazy Squirrel video.

As for my health, my big news last week is that I wanted to vacuum the baseboards and entire house and mop the bathrooms, dining room and kitchen floors. Randal helped move things around, but I did it all in two days ... got a bit of a room done at a time, would rest or even nap when totally exhausted, and get up and continue. I'm sure it has helped me build up some muscles since mine have been totally wasted.

Maple Tree With Diseased, Rotted Trunk
I'm so thrilled to have been able to do it. We have a central vac, so I didn't need to lug an actual vacuum around ... which is a good thing for somebody who was barely able to carry her own plate to the screened porch not so long ago.

It really is all about attitude.  What we think on seems to be created in our lives.  Our fears become reality just as our faith can become reality.  It's believing that God's Word is TRUE more than anything we see, hear, taste, smell or touch.  It's so easy to get distracted with what we see in the physical realm which certainly seems like reality, but we have to believe that God is bigger than anything, after all He created all of this.  If we have faith, we can move mountains.

The problem is not our faith though since the Bible says we all have some and Jesus told us it takes a mustard seed size of faith to move mountains, so we don't need more faith.  We need less doubt and unbelief.  That's what stumps our faith and nullifies its promised effectiveness ... and that leads us to think that God doesn't care.  He's set a law of faith in place and just like the law of gravity, it's how things work.

Same Maple Tree Alive and Well
We have a maple tree in the front yard that is an example of faith.  Half of the trunk is eaten out and rotten, but it's not paying any attention to what it sees or feels or what people say when they walk by.  It has decided it's going to be a maple tree and continue to live.

As you can see from the photos, if you look only at the trunk you figure the tree is dead.  But when you look up (oh, how I love looking up), you see that it looks just like every other healthy maple tree around it.  That's incredible!

© Donna L. Watkins - Rufous-sided Towhee
in Holly at Front Porch
I've been off oxygen for a couple of weeks but still have a big problem with being out of breath, so I'm seeking God's wisdom on that. My energy levels are good. I am sleeping better also since I decided the devil was not going to steal my sleep. He's a thief and sometimes we just let him clean us out without a challenge, but after months of getting up 7-9 times a night, I had enough! Now I've been waking up 3 times a night which is the time of day my body uses to move off the excess fluids.

I've had the same righteous indignation on my diet which was so limited by 200 mg. of sodium a day and that included natural sodium that's in foods like peas, carrots, etc. The devil seems to have wanted to steal my nutrition from the day I was born since I was told they couldn't find a formula I could keep down.

So, having that thought made me realize that I don't have to take such limitations. My Good Daddy in Heaven wants me to be blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3), because we are united with Christ. So I quit accommodating the devil in that area also. I'm now eating what I want at home (even using Redmond Real Salt) and I am scheduled for a meal out on Friday with a friend. The last time I ate out in March I gained 5 pounds in 24 hours.

Now I focus on the Word: Psalm 35:27 says, "Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant." It pleases God to minister to us. God has pleasure in meeting our needs. I will believe God, not the doubts of the devil.

© Donna L. Watkins - Dragon Fruit for Dessert
Malaysia
Now if I could only figure it ALL out and be totally healed. I don't like the gradual progress but I will not despise all the advances I've made while seeking His face and the Truth of His Word. I'm seeking more and more revelation on healing and God's law of faith, and He is a faithful God. It will happen!

 I focus on all of the little 'hallelujahs' I have every day! And it's really all about loving on and trusting God. So much of me thinks it's all about me DOING something ... but His promises are for us no matter what, without conditions. We are just not geared to receive that much love and I believe that blocks our healing.

The House Finch nest in the arborvitae outside Randal's office window now has babies in it.  With the chilly nights we've been having, she's been staying on the nest for some of the morning and Papa has been coming to feed the babes.  How precious to see life begin and continue on for House Finches.  I think of all the lost species that God made for us to enjoy.  It's so sad that we have condemned so much of His artistic works.

Isn't it amazing how God made everything to continue on.  He didn't just create a tree or trees, but he made them that their seed would reproduce its own kind.  Everything being set in place for continued life.  The sun and moon, the stars ... all dependable.  The laws of the universe are solid, as is God's law of faith.  When we truly believe, without wavering, we have a powerful law in use.

Front Yard View From Porch - April
May is a perfect time to make your yard more wildlife friendly. Whether you're a gardening novice with a small balcony or gardening veteran with a few acres, you can provide for local wildlife by creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat.

Welcome birds, butterflies and other local wildlife by providing the four elements animals need most: food, water, shelter and places to raise young.  It's really that simple!

Enjoy life!  Every moment is precious and full of many blessings!
Donna

P.S.  If you enjoy this newsletter and The Nature In Us website ... share it with somebody else!  Maybe you know of somebody who needs something in this issue.  Thanks!


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The photo(s) and article are copyrighted. You may use either of them if you include the following credit and active link back to this website: © 2012 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com. The link to use is: www.TheNatureInUs.com.

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