A YEAR-END SURPRISE!

This Downy Woodpecker was at my feeder all day - flying back and forth to the oak tree nearby. Each time I tried to take a picture of him through the window he flew away. I asked the Lord for just ONE PHOTO - and one photo was what I got! This is it! The RED on his head is actually much brighter than it looks in the picture.

Psalm 103
Of David.

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise His holy Name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all His benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

22 Praise the LORD, all His works

everywhere in His dominion.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

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Father God--------

You do satisfy us with good things...

May we never forget all your benefits -

nor take for granted Your daily presence in our lives!

Thank you for this past year - for the good circumstances and even for those that were not so easy to deal with. Thank You, because in Your Sovereign plan You have our BEST in Your Heart for us!

Thank You for sustaining us over the last 365 days!

As the New Year rings in on January 1st -

would you usher us into Your Presence

where there is fullness of JOY abounding?

May our hearts be full and overflowing with the Love You have bestowed upon us through the forgiveness we have freely been given at the Cross where Jesus died!

May our lives be in full surrender to Your will and Your ways in this coming year ahead as we depend on the Living Christ who leads and guides us now!

We bless You, our God...

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!"

In the Mighty name of Jesus ~

Amen and Amen!

Merry Christmas from Shepherd's Walk

KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS!

Let your heart be light!

Holy Father---------

Let us rejoice this Christmas

in all that you intended His life to be!

May we know and love the Lord Jesus Christ -

with a heart - fully devoted to Him in the coming year!

May Your Favor rest upon those

who whole-heartedly obey Your will

and Your ways!

Amen!

SNOW in SHEPHERD'S WALK

The Sign Welcomes Those Who Trod Here!

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Confession Station #2 = Washed White As Snow!

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Along the path where the fork is located.

Take the narrow path - the way everlasting!"

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A Little Shepherd Boy with his staff!

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Walking Toward The Sanctuary Circle Jeremiah 6:16

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it!"

The Banquet is Served

The Gathering of Strangers!

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The Men Gather to Get Acquainted

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Many Smiling Faces

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In my apron - showing off all the snowflake cookies that our group effort produced!

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Bonnie and Donna preparing the Gift Bags ahead of time!

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You will wish you had SMELL-O-VISION when I tell you the food was spectacular. There are several chefs and bakers in my Sunday night Bible study and all of them made the best dishes.

We had Chicken Breast in a Golden Mushroom Sauce [Miss Bonnie's specialty] - that melted in your mouth. Our man, Skip, made Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with his own recipe of apples and cranberries tucked inside. Skip also made a Vegetable Lasagna for the non- meat eaters! Others made Double Baked Cheese Mashed Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, Veggies and Sauteed Golden Delicious Apples [with skins on] - A Garden Salad and a Variety of Biscuits. - That was after the appetizers!

Our hit of the night was the dessert. Our man, Tom, baked a famous [shhhh!] recipe of Bread Pudding with a Special Secret Sauce poured over the top - and it was still warm after baking in the oven for two and a half hours! Yum!

[I had a piece for breakfast this morning!]

I only took a few pictures when people [our strangers] began arriving because I was busy bringing all the food out to our new

Banquet Room

[thanks Alleluiabelle for the title].

So you are only seeing a few of the guests.

We had 31 in all who shared a night of becoming friends!

It was so special to see who God brought and who knew each other from long ago.

At least 6 of the guests knew other guests or other people that were there

but had not seen each other in years.

We've also had another very Special visitor to Shepherd's Walk. I have no picture but... if you 'google' her description you can see her. The day of our first snowfall here in NJ - December 5th - at 2:30AM in the early morning I was awakened and looked out my bedroom window and down below was a White Deer. I had never seen one in my life - and there she was just outside the new Banquet Room windows below. I ran downstairs and put my glasses on because I thought that I must have died and gone to heaven - surely I was in a dream!! A White Albino Deer had come to Shepherd's Walk. I watched her for 30 minutes as she grazed outside all my windows eating acorns. THEN... the night before our banquet as I was still setting up some things I opened the back door [of the new room] - it was already dark and there she was again. She was a little further back toward the woods where SW begins. I got some apples and lettuce cores and said to the Lord, "Lord, You brought the animals to Noah - two by two - surely you can bring this deer closer to me now." I walked outside in the dark with only one spotlight on dropping the apples under a big oak tree where I had last seen her. I began to ponder, "Lord it would be the most special thing if our White deer would be IN Shepherd's Walk along the path one day." Then I walked toward the tree house where the entrance is. I thought I saw her out there but it was just the background of the white sign for SW. I picked up some of the Shepherd Staffs that fell over from the wind. As I leaned them back up against the tree house I heard a noise and as I looked down the path --- there she was!!!!!! Oh my, right there she stood and did not move. She was not spooked, nor did she run away. I walked a little closer and called to her, "Come closer, Girl, it's OK. Don't be afraid, I brought you some apples." We were about 50 feet apart but she just stood there and I stood there talking more with her. [Yes - surely people will want to carry me away to the nut house] But I tell you this white deer is a sign of God's Presence. She is a reminder of the purity we have only in Christ when our sins are washed away - as white as snow. She is a gift that God has given me! Since she first arrived - on the day of our first snowfall - I have appropriately named her

SNOW ANGEL.

Everyone at our dinner was intrigued by the story and many looked out back to see if she was there last night. I know she will be back again! God gives us good gifts - even something as special as a white albino deer who had beat all odds of living [without camouflage] in the wild - exposed to danger and all the elements and predators - yet God has protected her from all harm. He has done that same thing for me.

Perhaps one day I will get a picture of her - when the time is God's timing! Until then... visit this website [not my video] YouTube - Albino Fawn and you can see a younger version of my deer that looks like Miss Snow Angel!

Isaiah 1:18-19
18 "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; ..."

Where STRANGERS become FRIENDS

Psalm 139:13-14

13 For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

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Luke 14:15 NLT

Parable of the Great Feast

15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed,

“What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”
16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests,

‘Come, the banquet is ready.’

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Matthew 25:34-36 (NIV)
34"Then the King will say to those on his right,

'Come, you who are blessed by My Father;

take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you

since the creation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,

I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,

I was a stranger and you invited me in...

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A group of us from my Sunday Night Bible study

[that meets here at Shepherd's Walk]

have planned

a special banquet meal

to serve to our guests we have invited over the past few weeks

- many of them strangers to us.

Our desire is to simple make them feel 'special'...

uniquely made by God - as He sees them

and to cultivate relationships where there were none.

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Our theme:

SNOWFLAKES

Like a snowflake - God has made us each unique!

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Father God ---

As we have planned this banquet will You bring those we've invited from the grocery store, the barber shop, the bank, the gas station, from work, our neighborhoods, the strangers.... so that we can become friends?

Would you bless this special time of year as we celebrate the birth of the

Living King - JESUS?

In Whose Name I pray, Amen!

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Will YOU pray for our STRANGERS to FRIENDS banquet meal?