Unexpected Surprises...

Greetings, Dear Friends!

I'm wondering if you could help 

me with something today...

This lovely flower

surprised us unexpectedly

behind our chicken pen...

And I can't seem to identify it.

It has a beautiful bell-shaped

purple blossom...

And grows on a big stalk

with pointy leaves...

Any ideas???
 

Seems as though this has been

the summer for unexpected surprises

around here...

We also have quite a bit of corn

growing behind the chicken pen

which we did not plant

but must have come from 

some of the cracked corn 

that we feed our "ladies"...

And then there is this

amazing pumpkin patch...

Which seemed to have sprung up

overnight from some seeds

I threw in the mulch pile...

It appears to be taking

over our yard!

Unexpected surprises can feel

that way...

They just seem to "take over"

our lives...

Sometimes the surprises

can be truly wonderful...

But, at other times,

they can be heartbreaking.

The kind of surprise where

you feel "bushwhacked"...

Your spirit is wounded,

and you just don't understand

how or why this happened...

In times like these...

there is so much comfort

to be found in the Psalms...

"God is our refuge and strength, 
a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear,
 though the earth be removed,
 and though the mountains be 
carried into the midst of the sea;
Though the waters

 thereof roar and be troubled,

 though the mountains shake

 with the swelling thereof."

Psalm 46: 1-3

God is here to help us through
these tough times...
To hold us...
To guide us...

And as difficult as things
might seem right now...
God does have a plan for us
and a purpose for everything
that happens to us...

"The steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord: and he 
delighteth in his way."
Psalm 37:23

God truly does know what is
best for us...

"For in the day of trouble
    He will keep me safe in his dwelling; 
He will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
    and set me high upon a rock."
Psalm 27:5