Fleur de Lis Homeschool Blog: May 14, 2019

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Nature and Bible Verses about the Woods May 3, 2019

Nature and Bible Verses about the Woods

May 3, 2019, Grand Rapids, MI

Good Ol' Henry---my walking buddy!!!

Hello Friends!

Just a little peek into what is going on in our woods in early May, near Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Pileated Woodpeckers have been especially active and even more visible than normal, and that is saying something since they are very present on a normal basis!

The May Apples have opened up and are getting taller. Soon the pretty bloom under their umbrella will appear.

I've come across one dead and one alive snake so far this month. The moss and lichen have had perfect weather! The ferns are coming up left and right! I've been diligently searching for Morel mushrooms, but haven't found any YET! The leaves are slowly appearing and the pollen has invaded. The deer are looking so much better and their ribs aren't so visible any longer, thankfully!

There are bits of green showing, especially on the ground.

It is very hard finding a sunny day to take pictures! It has been raining and raining and these gray pictures are an accurate portrayal of the normal day this time of year. These pictures were taken in the morning.

The groundhog has been out to say hello a few times. The Barred Owls have been making lots of noise and talking back and forth to each other. It seems like there are three owls chatting, but hard to be sure.

My favorite thing has been the few times I've been blessed to see the Wrens! They just bring me such joy! It has been a really lovely spring so far!

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."
Job 12: 7-10

One of my all-time favorite things---Fiddleheads! I love watching the ferns slowly unravel to welcome a new season!

"Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy."
Psalm 6:11-12

I'm still working on adding branches to my trails. It will be nice when the poison ivy appears and my trail will be a safe place to walk, for the most part.

Henry scouting it out! He is very attuned to birds and will often chase after and bark at them---I've never had a dog so attentive to birds before. I think in this picture he was keeping an eye on some crows that were making too much noise.

It always amazes me just how vibrantly green the moss gets!

This is one of the piles of thorns I've stacked this spring. I think I've made about five big stacks already---PROGRESS!

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters."
Psalm 23:1-2

"In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land."

Psalm 95:4-5

"How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number--living things both large and small."
Psalm 104:24-25

"The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen.."
Isaiah 43: 20

"In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and in trust shall be your strength."

Isaiah 30:15

The base of this tree has a special treat for Henry---it is usually full of rainwater and he loves to run by it on our walks and get a little drink.

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"

Psalm 8:3-4

Lichen here there and everywhere!

"And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"
Matthew 6:28-30

This is one of the five little evergreen trees I've been watching over in the woods all winter; shaking the snow off it's young branches. This week I pulled up all the weeds and scrub seedlings surrounding it so it would have a better chance of success.

"Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy."
Psalm 96:11-12

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Romans 1:20

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Psalm 19:1

It's fun watching the leaves start to appear in our sky photos!

"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

Isaiah 55:11