Hello everyone! ❤️ If anyone would like to watch my videos  on my YouTube channel, the link is 

https://www.youtube.com/@sparrowchirpings

Sending hugs and smiles to everyone! 

    I had the hymn on my mind the other day that says : “Leaning on the  everlasting arms” It comes from the bible verse Deuteronomy 33:27 which is 

 “The eternal God is your refuge, 

and underneath are the everlasting arms” 

  I was thinking about our loving Lord Jesus as a little baby in the manger at the stable, and he would have reached out His arms to his loving parents in love. Those little arms would again stretch out in love, but this time on a cross❤️Our Lord has His arms carrying us each day 💕

  Dad has played the piano and organ for sooo many Christmas services, programs and Christmas catatas over the time! Each service or program involved lots of enjoyable Christmas music for him to play and for people to listen to. His fingers must have got quite tired from all the playing! I think though that he really enjoyed playing the Christmas themed music that could especially be played at that time of year. It is very lovely to listen to and sing Christmas hymns and carols. They are special ways to praise our loving Lord for the greatest Gift of all!  We rejoice in our hearts❤️

 Last week, the U.S.A. celebrated Thanksgiving Day. It was a special time when families and friends gathered together to enjoy time with each other and a meal. It is a good reminder to us that we have  soooo much to be  thankful for.❤️We have the beautiful loving care and love of our Lord Jesus and our Heavenly Father, and the special love of all our loved ones both those who are still with us here and those who have passed away and are waiting to see us. May we continually give thanks!! 💕💖

   As it is nearing the end of November, I was thinking about the many years that Mum and Dad spent many days and weeks preparing for and buying for the Annual Strathalan Kiosk Christmas sale that was held every year at the end of November. They spent lots of time visiting lots of different shops to buy lovely Christmas products, biscuits, chocolates tins, sweets,decorations, etc at the lowest price so that the Residents had lots of lovely items to choose from and buy for their Christmas shopping at the cheapest price possible. It was sooo much fun when Mum and Dad would come home from their shopping and spread the bought  items out in our loungeroom so that I could enjoy looking at them too! 🎄They would them need to be priced with a tag and put in boxes, ready for the Sale day! They are very special memories  ❤️ Most of all, I know that Mum and Dad did the shopping because of their love for the Residents and wanting to bring them a touch of Christmas joy ❤️ May all that we do and say each day be done in love for our beautiful and loving Lord and in caring for all His loved ones💕 

 At the moment, we are getting quotes to have our roof gutters cleaned. We have been reading adverts describing each of the companies, and one specialises in removing birds nests! I feel soooo sorry for the birds and their little baby birds! The birds would have also put in so much special time and  work into creating a snug birth place for their little babies.  

  Our loving and beautiful Lord Jesus and loving Heavenly Father loves us and watches over us like a protective bird. Through the stormy weather of life, they are with us to comfort and encourage us. They are with us all the time and gently hold us close to them,in their arms ❤️

  I was watching a tv show the other day and someone was playing a calliope musical instrument. I hadn’t seen one before and it was very interesting! It has pipes which the music comes out of and is played a bit like an organ or a piano.

    There are lots of different types of musical instruments that we can play to enjoy making music! They all sound different but are all lovely. It is wonderful that our loving Lord has given us lots of ways to use music to praise and glorify Him. We can’t all play music very well, but we can all praise in in our hearts with tunes of love ❤️

 Dad had quite a job last week when buying a carton of eggs at Coles! Before buying the carton of eggs, he opened it up and found that 3 of them were already cracked, with yolk running out of them! He then opened other cartons up, and found that they had broken shell eggs in them too! Eventually he found a carton with 12 full intact, unbroken eggs! Dad was also telling me the other day about a lady who he had heard speaking on the radio. She had rang the radio program to say that she had bought a carton of eggs and each one of them was a double yolk! That was quite amazing!     We are nearing Christmastime now. But each day of the year we enjoy the special significance of both Christmastime and Easter in our daily lives. Eggs are a symbol of new life, and our lives are filled with the love of our Lord as we trust and rest in Him, as day by day  we live in  and for Him. He will protect us under His wings ❤️

  Dad was so very surprised the other day to find in our backyard a pot of little “Johnny jump up” flowers that must have self sown from last year, as Dad hadn’t planted any in a pot where he found them! Johnny jump ups are very little flowers that cause much cheerfulness to everyone who sees them. Sometimes when we are in pain or feeling a little sad or tired, we need  something to “jump up” ourselves. It is very special that our loving Lord Jesus and loving Heavenly Father have given us beautiful  flowers to look at, as a reminder of their precious love ❤️

  We have been trying out all sorts of varieties of apples lately! My usual favourite is Royal Gala, but over the last weeks we have also been “testing” out Modi, Envy and Eve apples! They all have their own special taste, bite and flavour. It is quite amazing that apples are still apples but they all taste a bit different. It is just like us. We all live together in this world and have eyes, ears, nose and bodies, but we are all different. We like different things, have different things that we are good or not too good at doing, have different ways of doing things, but we have all been lovingly created by our loving Lord. Our loving Heavenly Father and loving Lord Jesus uniquely knows us, loves us and cares for us, and has a loving plan in our lives day by day ❤️

  Butterflies are pretty. They are very colourful and bring touches of joy and delight when you see them. They don’t live a long life but spread beauty wherever they fly. It is special that our loving Lord knows all the days of our lives. We are secure in His loving hands. May we give out His love to others each day ❤️

 Daylight Savings starts next weekend. As the saying goes : “Spring forward, Fall back” which means that we put our clocks forward an hour.  Sometimes life feels quite hard, tiring and painful, but we are comforted that our loving Lord Jesus and loving Heavenly Father are with us and watching over us every moment and minute. One day there will be no time,hours or minutes. We will spend eternity in loving love with those we love so much❤️ 

        I was reading an encouraging story the other day. It was about a time during one of the wars, and a small amount of a Christian hymn book compiled by Ira Sankey called : “Sacred Songs and Solos” were sent to the battleground, where the soldiers were fighting. “ As soldiers met fellow soldiers that were members of another fighting company troop that they knew, they would say :   “Four-nine-four, boys; four-nine-four;” and the salute would invariably be answered with “Six further on, boys; six further on.” The significance of this was that, in ‘Sacred Songs and Solos,’ a number of copies of the small edition of which had been sent to the front, number 494 was ‘God be with you till we meet again’; and six further on than 494, or number 500, was ‘Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine’”  (Hymnal  article) 

   It brings much comfort and encouragement to our hearts that yes, our loving Lord Jesus and loving Heavenly Father are always with us, and we rest in the triumphant assurance that “Jesus is mine” and loves us ❤️

     Dad was telling me the other day about when dollars notes were introduced after the end of pounds, shillings and pence. He was working at the Commonwealth Bank and he was in charge of training the bank tellers how to hand out the new one, two,five, ten, twenty,fifty and hundred dollar notes. For practising they used “play money”,not the real actual money! 

Life is worth more than money. Love is the most important thing. To be loved by our loving Lord Jesus and loving Heavenly Father carries us through each minute of the day, through the joys and tears. May we rest in their loving care❤️