Be a Blessing

click for largest size, free facebook cover

Eliza Hewitt wrote the hymn - Somebody Else Needs a Blessing

Here are some of the words:

We’re counting the blessings, our joys we record,

The wonderful mercies like sunbeams outpoured;

But let us remember while praising the Lord,

Somebody else needs a blessing.

If anyone needed a blessing, it was Eliza Hewitt. She was born in 1851, became valedictorian of her class and a school teacher in Pennsylvania. At some point in her teaching career a student struck her on the back with a piece of heavy slate. This left Eliza in a cast for months, confined to her room.


During this time of painful confinement, Eliza was determined not to be bitter, and started writing hymns. Many of them were praise hymns, such as: Stepping in the Light, Singing I Go, Victory in Jesus and many more.  

Despite her circumstances, which left her an invalid most of her life, she was blessing others!


The top "Be a Blessing" graphic is a facebook cover, free for you to use. It can also be used on your blogs or web pages. A link back would be nice but not required.


Have a lovely day, and be a blessing to someone today.
This post may be linked to one or more of the following:
Tell His Story, The Art of Home-making Mondays, Mondays Musings, Roses of Inspiration, Growing in Grace Thursdays, Word Art Wednesdays, Counting My Blessings, Fellowship Friday, Wednesday's Prayer Girls, 

Blessed, Not Lucky

My friend and I were tweens when she was given a birthday card by a youth leader.  The card had the words "good luck" crossed out.  The woman told my friend she didn't believe in luck. We thought she was a little wacky for thinking that.  

About 38 years have passed since I was a tweenager (you're doing the math aren't you?) and I can tell you the trials have been many.  Have I been unlucky? Some might think so.  If I were to compare blessings vs. trials in two columns, the blessings would far outweigh the trials.  I've been blessed beyond measure.

Look for your blessings today, write them down.  Look for your blessings tomorrow, write them down.  Do this everyday in a special notebook.  I guarantee your spirits will be lifted.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Johnson Oatman, Jr, 1897

free facebook cover

The graphics in this post were made for you.  Free for personal use or sharing. Click on image to open to largest size, right click and save to your computer. Have a blessed day friends.

Winter Photos & Free Facebook Covers

Greetings from snowy, stormy, freezing cold Maine.  Definitely an old fashioned Maine winter this season.  Here are a two facebook covers I've made for you, free for personal use or sharing.  They can be used for other purposes if you don't have a facebook account. Click on each image for the largest size, right click, and save to your computer.

This photo above, was taken from inside my porch window.  I love the frost pattern that has formed.  It makes the perfect natural background for shells I've collected.  The little white porcelain bird was given to me by my friends' young son.  He picked it out especially for me because he knows I like birds.  Sweet! 

I took this photo of sunrise on an extremely cold day. The smoke or fog you see on the water, is known as "sea smoke".  This forms when very cold air moves over "warmer" water.  Be assured though there is nothing "warm" about this water in the winter.  I thought this sunrise to be majestic, so coupled it with the scripture from Psalm 19:1 ~

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

This winter photo is of our church steeple.  I took this the morning after a snowstorm.  The sun had just started to rise and cast a pinkish hue on the steeple.  Lovely! 

Thanks for visiting my blog today.  I hope you are staying warm wherever you are.

Lovely Free Vintage Facebook Covers

Hello friends, I have some free Facebook Covers that I designed for you.  You'll notice a pink theme to them as it's Saturday, and I'm linking this to Beverly's Pink Saturday.  Some of these covers you may recognize, others may be new.  Either way, I thought it would be fun to put them all together today.  The one below was made from a vintage postage stamp quilt that I scanned.  I'm somewhat partial to this one. 

Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
John 16:24b

To save to your computer, click on image for largest size, right click and save to your computer.  These Facebook Covers are free for your personal use, or sharing.  They may be used for other things as well, such as on your blog or website.  Please link back if used in this way, it's nice to share.  

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future
to an all knowing God.
Corrie Ten Boom

Count Your Blessings

Untroubled be thy Days

Huge Pink Rose

Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings. 
Psalm 63:7

.....But the greatest of these is Love.
1 Corinthians 13:13b

These were all made using vintage images or materials from my collection.  I hope you enjoy them.  You can find me on Facebook here:  Little Birdie Blessings on Facebook

I hope you all have a blessed day.

Free Facebook Covers and More

There is grace to help in our time of need,
For our Friend above is a Friend, indeed;
We may cast on Him every grief and care;
There is always a blessing, a blessing in prayer.
~ Eliza E. Hewitt ~

The quote on the beautiful graphic today is a verse from a hymn by Eliza E. Hewitt.  You can read more about her **here** on a previous blog post.   Her trials definitely made her faith stronger, and through them she wrote some beautiful, comforting, soul stirring hymns.   This particular hymn is titled A Blessing in PrayerI've made a couple of facebook covers for you.  I've left one blank so you can add what you'd like.  The graphics featured in this post are yours free for personal use or sharing.  I designed them using some of the beautiful graphics generously offered at The Graphics Fairy.  Click on each image to get the largest size, right click, and save to your computer.

There is perfect peace tho’ the wild waves roll,
There are gifts of love for the seeking soul,
Till we praise the Lord in His home so fair,
There is always a blessing, a blessing in prayer.
~ Eliza E. Hewitt ~

Thanks for stopping by today friends.  If you are receiving this via email you can view my blog here:  Little Birdie Blessings.


This post is linked to:  Monday's Musings, The Graphics Fairy, Clever Chick Blog Hop,
Make it Pretty Monday,  Return to Loveliness,

Free Facebook Cover & More

Rejoicing in hope,
patient in tribulation,
continuing steadfastly in prayer.
Romans 12:12

Keren at Free Pretty Things For You, has the most delightful graphics that she designs and shares.  I made a facebook cover using one of her backgrounds.  I added a vintage image I had of two little children on a donkey.  Yours free for personal use.  Thanks Keren. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

This & That ~ and some Freebies

Restlessness and impatience change nothing
except our peace and joy.
Peace does not dwell in outward things,
but in the heart prepared to wait trustfully
and quietly on Him who has all things
safely in His hands.
Elisabeth Elliot

Hello friends.  I have a little of this and that to share with you today.  I have a new facebook cover I've made for you.  Free for personal use or sharing.  Hope you enjoy it.  If you don't have facebook, the graphic can be used in other ways.

Megan from Lilac & Lavender is a digital artist who offers beautiful freebies on her blog. She recently used one of my graphics to make some freebies for you. One of them is shown below.   You can click on the picture below for more freebies like this one.  You'll love what you find.  Thanks Megan, these are a beauty. 

Compliments of Megan from Lilac & Lavender

My friend Mary has four little ones who have been quite ill with asthma, respiratory illness, and RSV.  In particular her infant Micah is very ill at this time with RSV.  Please pray for this little baby, his sisters, mom Mary, and this whole household.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated. 

If you're interested in my sprained ankle update you can read below, if not you can skip past the pictures and on to the next paragraph.  For those who don't know, I took a bad fall last week on the ice an sprained my ankle.  I'm still unable to bear weight without the air boot/cast but I can see some progress being made each day.    You can read more about it here:  Thanks for the Blessings I worked it into a Scripture Thursday Devotion.  Here's a couple of pictures from my week.

I had an incident recently where one of my personal family photos was pinned.  The person who had pinned it wasn't responding to my messages.  I was able to have it removed by Pinterest.  I quickly learned how to protect those photos I didn't want pinned, by inserting a simple HTML code the photo.  Please take my advice and put the code in at the time you insert the picture, otherwise you'll be looking through code for a long time trying to figure out where the picture is.   If interested in a brief tutorial on how to do this, click on the image in this paragraph, or click **here**.


You can find me on Pinterest here:  Little Birdie Blessings Pinterest

That's all for now, I'll close with a few vintage Easter postcards from my collection.  You can click on each image for the largest size, right click and save to your computer. 

Scripture Thursday ~ Thanks for the Blessings

In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18

 
We must realize that thankfulness is not based on emotions or a situation’s outcome. We can be grateful, even during trials, because the Lord has promised to work everything for our good (Romans 8:28). That means He has a purpose for every experience, pleasant or difficult. A big problem stacked against our small resources sends us running to Him, thankful He has committed to work it to our benefit.  Charles Stanley

free for personal use or sharing

When I first started blogging, one of my goals was to encourage women to focus on their blessings.   We’re surrounded by blessings, but sometimes our view of them gets dim as we focus on our demise or troubles.  Little did I know that some of my blessings for the week would include an ambulance ride and some nifty geriatric equipment.  Let me back up a bit ....

It was a typical February Saturday in Maine.  It had snowed a little bit the night before but the skies were clear.  I left my house early in the morning to meet my mother and sister, however I never made it.  When I stepped down on the walkway, my foot hit the dusting of snow which was on top of a thin layer of ice and the next thing I knew, my foot very awkwardly twisted underneath me and I was on the ground with some serious pain in my ankle. 

I was unable to bear weight on it, so my husband called our very capable ambulance crew, who somehow managed to get me into the ambulance ~ I’m still trying to figure out how they did that.  X-rays revealed that it wasn’t broken.  I came home the same day with crutches and an air cast, and am still unable to bear weight without the use of the cast.

free for personal use or sharing

What’s the story in all of this?  I don’t know, but I’m sure God has a plan.  He knew this was going to happen before it did.   Our plans can change in an instant – an injury, a health diagnosis, car accident, death of a loved one.  

My trial is small compared to some of the trials you may be facing, but I have learned something through this and previous trials in my life….. look for the blessings.   They are there!   God loves you more than you can comprehend, and He promises to NEVER leave you.  Deuteronomy 31:6  and Psalm 139

One of the definitions of blessings is defined as:
A favor or gift bestowed by God, thereby bringing happiness.

Our natural tendency is to focus on our problems and how to solve them rather than focusing on the blessings and giving God our problems to solve. 

We’re told in Psalm 68:19 that God LOADS us DAILY with benefits.
Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits.

There are countless blessings I’ve received this week, but here are a few that stand out to me: 

all that could have happened in the fall, and didn’t
a friend climbing into the ambulance to pray with me
Encouragement and prayers from friends and family
Watching my grandson’s faces light up when I let them squeeze air into my robot cast
 A loving husband (or home health care aide as I call him) who unselfishly cares for me
an elevated toilet seat and shower chair (don’t laugh, these are real blessings)
Hearing my 4 yr old grandson pray that God would “restore nana's ankle like a child’s ankle”
having my teenage Sunday school class come to me in my home, as I couldn’t go to them
hearing my son in law say “give nana her walker back” – wait, is that a blessing? 
Laughter – yes, laughter – it feels good to laugh


Each trial I've faced over the years, I could feel God closer to me than ever before.  It wasn’t until later in my life that I realized, He’d always been that close to me, I just needed to reach out.  

Here’s some lyrics to a sweet song titled I Just Keep Trusting My Lord, written in 1962 by John W. Peterson

I just keep trusting my Lord, as I walk along,
I just keep trusting my Lord, and He gives a song;
Tho the storm clouds darken the sky, o'er the heav'nly trail,
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail!

He's a faithful friend, such a faithful friend;
I can count on Him to the very end.
Tho the storm clouds darken the sky, o'er the heav'nly trail,
I just keep trusting my Lord, He will never fail! Many blessings to you dear ones.  May you look for your blessings today and count them. 

This post is linked to:
A Sheltering Tree, Monday's Musings, Word Art Wednesday, Hearts 4 Home,
Clever Chicks, Encourage One Another, Teach Me Tuesdays, The Alabaster Jar,

Free Facebook Covers & a Peaceful Poem

I've been having fun playing with some graphics and have made some more free facebook covers for you.   Although their size is specific to facebook, you can use the graphics for digital scrapbooking, blogs, print them out for your collage work, or whatever (personal use).

I've dispersed a poem by Helen Steiner Rice between the graphics, titled The Peace of Meditation.

So we may know God better and feel His quiet power,
Let us daily keep in silence a meditation hour.
For to understand God's greatness and to use His gifts each day,
The soul must learn to meet Him in a meditative way.

For our Father tells His children that if they would know His will
They must seek Him in the silence when all is calm and still.
For nature's great forces are found in quiet things
Like softly falling snowflakes drifting down on angels' wings

Or petals dropping soundlessly from a lovely full-blown rose. 
So God comes closest to us when our souls are in repose.
So let us plan with prayerful care to always allocate
A certain portion of each day to be still and meditate.

For when everything is quiet and we're lost in meditation,
Our souls are then preparing for a deeper dedication
That will make it wholly possible to quietly endure
The violent world around us, for in God we are secure.

I designed these covers using my own personal graphics and some from The Graphics Fairy, who generously offers free vintage graphics every day.  They are free for your personal use or sharing, and may be used on your facebook pages.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I'm happy to say that I'm featured this week at The Clever Chicks Blog, thanks Kathy. 

You can find me in two different places on facebook.

Little Birdie Blessings ~ Quotes, scripture, links to other devotions, encouraging and helpful thoughts, vintage images, photography, scripture graphics.

 

Little Birdie Blessings for Moms ~ Humor, devotion, graphics, helpful ideas, encouragement and so much more.  Geared for mothers, but all welcome ~ grandmothers, caregivers, aunts, people who work with children.

linked to: Word Art Wednesday, The Clever Chicks Blog, The Graphics Fairy, http://www.whatjoyismine.com/   A Sheltering Tree

Pink Valentines & Facebook Covers Free for You

free valentine postcard

“I think of the love of God as a great river,
pouring through us even as the waters
pour through our ravine at floodtime.
Nothing can keep this love from pouring through us,
except of course our own blocking of the river."

~Amy Carmichael ~

free valentine postcard

I've been having fun making some facebook covers.  Click for the largest size, right click and save to your computer.  Ready to upload to your timeline.  I may offer some free blog headers in the near future.  Let me know if there is any interest in that. 

The original graphic of the roses below is
compliments of Dawn at The Feathered Nest

You can find me on Facebook here:  Little Birdie Blessings

and here:  Little Birdie Blessings for Moms

Have a wonderful day my friends.  Remember to:  Count your Blessings.... Name them one by one....and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

 Linked to:  Pink Saturday