Love

 

Shakespeare said, 

"Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds," 

 

 

 Tennyson said,

"Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.”

Jane Austen said,

"There is nothing I would not do for those

who are really my friends.

 I have no notion of loving people by halves,

 it is not my nature."

 



 

Robert Frost said,

“We love the things we love for what they are.”

 

 

Sophocles said,

"One word frees us of all the weight

 and pain of life:that word is love."

 

 

 Charlotte Bronte said,

"“All my heart is yours, sir: it belongs to you;

 and with you it would remain,

 were fate to exile the rest of me

 from your presence forever.”

 

 

God said,

"Yeah, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:"

(Jeremiah 31: 3)

 

The world's writers

can use all the words our language offers:

I still prefer this centuries-old sentence -- amazed and humbled.

It still applies to me.

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Amy

 

 

 

Birds of a Feather

 

 

My son's fourth grade science curriculum

introduces different state birds with every chapter.

 

The intent of the publisher is that the student 

learns to identify the twenty-five different state birds.

 

 

I put out a feeder this past fall so that

we could observe the birds we were studying.

 

I didn't realize how much joy this act would bring to us.

 

In addition to the saucy blue jay above,

 we've had visits from

this lovely cardinal and his friend.

(I haven't yet identified this yellow visitor.)

 

The cardinal is West Virginia's state bird.

I've loved these pretties for a long time.

 

 

This female cardinal definitely rules the feeder. 

 Look how much bigger she is

 than the little chickadee and purple finch.

 

I'm not too sure about this yellow cutie. 

Is it a female goldfinch?

 

 

Now that winter has settled over my backyard,

we don't see these welcome guests.

 

For the most part, our feeder only has one

daily visitor -- a tiny sparrow.

 

I love to watch her as she visits.

Sometimes, she sits in the feeder 

and hides behind the rim.

The only evidence of her presence is

the bobbing up and down of a little feathered head

and the flying seeds that she's flicking about

as she searches for the perfect one.

 

 

Her visits remind me every day

of the words of my Saviour in Matthew 10. 

Jesus is giving encouragement

to his disciples before they go out

 into the world to share the gospel.

He tells them that a sparrow doesn't fall to the ground

without His knowledge.  If He cares this much for the

little sparrow, imagine how much He cares for you.

 

"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value

than many sparrows."

Matthew 10:31 

 

 

The cardinal is also the state bird for six other states.

Can you name one?

 

 

 Amy