CONSIDER THE SWEETGUM TREE
by Julie Lavender

I’ve watched for weeks as many of my Facebook friends have bragged and boasted, gloated and crowed. Words and pictures piqued my jealousy. It’s just not fair. Everybody else has them …. why can’t I enjoy the splendor, too?

CONSIDER THE FIREFLY
by Julie Lavender

I love watching the fireflies this time of year! It’s fun to watch their twinkling lights at dusk. 

Fireflies, sometimes called ‘lightning bugs,’ are found on every continent except Antarctica. They like warm, humid places and only come out in the summertime.

CONSIDER THE ANHINGA

by Julie Lavender

On my walk with God today, I spotted the long-necked and beautiful Anhinga. 

Sometimes called a Snakebird because of the way it swims with its whole body submerged except for the neck and head, the Anhinga typically feeds on fish, but will sometimes eat snakes and small turtles.

CONSIDER THE FIREFLY
by Julie Lavender

A sure sign of a summer evening is the dazzling display of flashing lights at the edge of the woods or in the grassy back yard. The seemingly-synchronous twinkling dots that I see on my after-dark walk with God are throngs of fireflies out on a warm night in search of a mate.

GUEST BLOGGER

My guest today is a new writing friend, Michelle Adserias, who lives in and writes about God's beautiful world in rural Wisconsin. Our hearts and blogs are similar in that we love learning lessons from God's wonderful creations. I've admired her delightful posts on her website, www.godponderings.com, ever since I 'met' her through the Facebook group, Blue Ridge Bible Study Writers. 

Enjoy her words below, and then jump over to godponderings.com and read some of her previous posts, too. You'll be so glad you did!    

Work’s Blessings
by Johanna Daniel

Tonight I sneak into the barn and check on the bat regiment living in the hay mow. About 50-60 of them hang in upside-down clusters from the now defunct hayfork rail. Such strange little creatures… flying rodents with furry bodies and leathery wings. All day long they hang there, in deep, deathlike sleep.  But very soon their  high-pitched squeaks will fill the air. One by one they’ll pop through a little hole at the peak, where barn wall almost meets barn roof.  Each soldier will begin its nightly Battle of the Bugs, honing in on tiny sound targets like a missile, in hopes of curbing its hunger.

CONSIDER THE THISTLE
by Julie Lavender

On my walk with God today, I came around a curve and saw a gorgeous display of flowers ahead. Trouble was, with these contact-encased eyes that don’t see as well as I’d like, it became clear to me that the beauty ahead was indeed the blossoms of thistles.

Though still beautiful to admire, they’re off-limits to bare, human hands or skin for certain. What with the sharp prickles covering the outer edges of the leaves, the flat parts of the leaves, and the stems, too, one touch causes pain and irritation that lasts way longer than the brief encounter!

CONSIDER THE JUNE BEETLE
by Julie Lavender

The month of June brings sightings of June beetles on my walk with God, and this morning’s walk didn’t disappoint.

I love the iridescent and thick, green bodies of the beetles. They look almost like a jeweled-pendant my grandmother might have worn on the lapel of her coat when she dressed exquisitely to go to church … which meant every time she went to church.

CONSIDER THE LAVENDER
by Julie Lavender

My walk with God this week took me to Black Mountain, North Carolina, where I quite deliberately walked past shrubs of lavender plants. The piney floral scent enveloped me and made me smile.

Partial to Purple

You see, I’m kinda partial to the lavender herb (and, quite honestly, anything purple since the day I fell in love with my sweetie and ultimately took his last name).

CONSIDER THE HUMMINGBIRD MOTH
by Julie Lavender

I hurried out the door on my walk this morning with the items on my to-do list flitting about in my head. Pick up my mom and get to niece’s graduation before all the parking spots are gone. Order a bridal shower gift and pick up the paper goods for next week’s shower. Make a grooming appointment for two too-furry furballs. Bake brownie treats for college kids out for the summer.

CONSIDER THE APHID
by Julie Lavender

I took a different path on my morning walk today that led me past the ditch in our back yard. A couple of ladybugs, or as my biologist husband would correctly identify them, ladybird beetles, caught my eye and I looked closer at the weeds growing near the water’s edge.

“Aphids. Lots of them.”

CONSIDER THE MOUNTAIN LAUREL
by Julie Lavender

This week’s walk with God led my feet along mountain paths at Ridgecrest, North Carolina, where I attended the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. The lodge where I slept – only a few hours per night because I was pondering POV and marketing and fresh angles and such – had the moniker, ‘Mountain Laurel,’ named for the exquisitely beautiful shrub native to the Eastern United States, but not often seen in my neck of the woods in south Georgia.

Before I left the retreat center, I set out on a prayerwalk and found several mountain laurel shrubs displaying God’s glory.

CONSIDER THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY
by Julie Lavender

A springtime walk with God in the south is often graced with the fluttering of butterfly wings. God’s creativity is evident in so many of His masterpieces, but I often feel like He ‘outdid’ Himself when it comes to butterflies.

I spotted a monarch butterfly on my walk today. Black and orange with white spots along the tips of its wings, the monarch flies farther than any insect during its short life on Earth.

CONSIDER THE LUBBER GRASSHOPPER 
by Julie Lavender

On my walk with God this morning, I saw a large grasshopper that I first thought was injured. He walked so laboriously, deliberately and slowly that, from a distance, I thought it must be hurt. A few steps more and I could see its size and then even closer, I realized it was a lubber grasshopper.

CONSIDER THE ROBBER FLY
by Julie Lavender

On my walk with God this morning, something zoomed past my face and landed on a nearby leaf. Closer inspection revealed a robber fly.

Robber flies are fast-flying, beard-faced, six-legged creatures that feed on other insects. Quite often, robber flies choose to attack insects much larger than themselves.

CONSIDER THE HONEYBEE
by Julie Lavender

     

A walk this time of year sometimes gives me the sniffles, but that same pollen that tickles my nostrils is much sought after by many of God’s itty bitty creations.

One of the most fascinating pollen-seekers is the honeybee.

When a honeybee discovers a flower, it attempts to collect and pack as much pollen onto its hind legs as it possibly can before returning to its hive. The pollen and nectar the honeybee collects is used for food for the honeybee colony.

CONSIDER THE VINE
by Julie Lavender

A walk outdoors this time of year pleases the senses unlike any other season. Blossoms in every color and hue decorate my surroundings like a used artist’s palette. And every shade of green carpets the ground and embellishes recently-bare trees.

SOUNDS OF SPRING

The melodious sounds of birds chirping to welcome the morning and the cacophony notes of spring peepers and other frogs ending the evening tickle the ears with springtime fever.

CONSIDER THE LOBLOLLY PINE TREE
by Julie Lavender

When I walk with God, I intentionally explore His handiwork surrounding me. I’ve always been in awe of God’s creations for their beauty, but in recent months, I’ve asked God to help me learn more about Him through His masterpieces. Or, to teach me life lessons through the world He created.

In fact, that’s how this blog was birthed. I enjoy sharing what God reveals to me about nature, and I especially love to capture photographs of His beautiful world.

CONSIDER THE TOAD AND FROG
by Julie Lavender

It’s that time of year when I’m serenaded on my evening walks by a cacophony of amphibious calls. One of the first sounds of springtime.

CONSIDER THE SPANISH MOSS
by Julie Lavender

                                                                                       

My family lived in various parts of the country when my husband served as a medical entomologist for the United States Navy. Several of those duty stations took us far from our home in the southeast corner of the country.

Each time we came home for a visit, silver drapes of Spanish Moss on oaks and pines waved a welcome. Few things said ‘you’re home’ quite like Spanish Moss.

CONSIDER THE SLIMY SALAMANDER
by Julie Lavender

       

With the warm weather we’ve had lately here in south-Georgia – no, let’s face it – HOT weather – it just really shouldn’t be in the 80s in February – I encountered the first slimy salamander of the season.

They always frighten me initially because of the way they slither. They look so much like a tiny snake scooting across the road ahead of me.