"FIRST LOVE" AND FEEDING MY FEATHERED FRIENDS

It sure is good to be back posting something after a whole week! I just had nothing to say for a change! Imagine that?! I really did though, because meanwhile I was writing up a storm on my series!

Here are some pictures of me making homemade bird food. I ventured out today and went to one of our local stores that specialize in bird feeding supplies. I purchased some cracked corn and a suet holder, a finch-feeding sock and some thistle seed. We are in the midst of a huge snowfall here in southern Michigan. I knew the birds would be hungry and having a hard time finding food once it really hits. I've been meaning to make up my special recipe suet all fall and winter and never did it. Today I finally go to it. Our church has a sausage sale each year for our bazaar. The by product of that is lard. I buy a few tubs of that each year and mix with cheap peanut butter. I add to that whole wheat flour, wheat bran, cornmeal; whatever grain-based stuff I have like that. Then I usually add old jelly and freezer burned fruit. The birds love it! I freeze the stuff in hamburger-patty style molds on a wax-papered cookie sheet. Today's recipe included strawberry jam, pear jam, sour cherry jelly, sweet cherries, strawberries and dried cranberries! It's kind of like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for birds!

I taught a friend how to make the suet and since she has been doing that her birds have become very choosy. They much prefer the homemade to any other kind. She rations it out to them because they are so eager for the stuff that they go through a cake a day! The last picture is right after I put out the food. A few little birds came immediately to indulge! However, I must tell you, they went to the store bought cake first. I'm not sure if they don't like my cooking this year or what. I suspect it had something to do with the fact that the cake was not yet hardened and I placed it on wax paper that was rustling with the wind. It usually takes a few days for them to get used to something new, I've noticed. Aren't we people even a little like that?

A few thoughts on first love......Since we are nearing Valentine's Day, I thought it appropriate to comment on "first love." This phrase was going through my mind today as I prayed and pondered. Of course, immediately the Bible verse from 1John 4:19 came to mind. "We love Him because He first loved us."

Jesus was the perfect example of love. He first loved us even when we were unlovable. Isn't that a great thought? It's a rare person that doesn't want to experience the excitement of finding out that someone is "in love" with them. I kept thinking about the kind of love we term "first love"--a romantic sort of love that most everyone has experienced at one time or another in their lives. Of course, since I write courtship fiction, I do try to encourage believers to wait for God's choice of "first love." Still, we most all can identify with that in one way or another. It's a really wonderful feeling to find out that someone is attracted to you. Remember?

Well, as I pondered this scripture, I thought about how very wonderful it is that Christ has a type of "first love" for us. He is pursuing us. He longs for us to give Him our heart. It is His initiative that draws us to seek Him. Even when I feel rejected by others, (and believe me, it does happen!) I can remember that I am wanted and loved by Christ who is the most perfect example of love.

As you think of Valentine's Day, think of love and dwell on Christ's love to you. The Bible speaks so much about all kinds of love. God is love.

Hey, just a little note--one of the exciting things of late is that I recently read my new copy of "A Sturdy Fence." How exciting for me! There's alot about love in that book! Blessings, LORI