How a Garden Grows

I had the privilege of spending time with my friend Fran in her garden yesterday. Even though the house is in the city, you would not know it because of the expansive garden, pond, sheep and pets, and a feeling of being in another time when people grew what they ate. They planted, pruned, picked, and prepared. There was a connection between good soil and abundance.

I am fortunate to be able to go to a place where I can connect with the earth and smell the dirt. I will be there, as promised, to help pick, cook, eat. It is a good thing to remember and practice the principles of how a garden grows.


I always go down the path of relaxation with self examination when I am walking the land. I see the preparation to receive the seeds or young plants. I see the forethought of planning where to put each row of seeds. I see the weeding and tending of the gardener. I see the pruning that must come in order to produce the best crop. I see the moving of a plant to a new place if it is not thriving in a certain spot, light, or soil. I see the monitoring of daily growth to determine the best time to harvest. I am grateful for the sharing of the bounty, the life produced in the garden.

I heard the parable of the sower (Matt. 13) last night that also stirred up the smells of the verdant crops I had experienced during the day. It was a pleasant reminder of personal inventory of myself being fertile soil, bearing fruit, sharing fruits of my gifts and labors, tending to my garden, willingness to be pruned, and so many more facets of how a garden grows.

Our Earthly Tents

After a conversation with a dear friend this morning who is walking out a painful time with her dog, I went searching for a picture of myself with my wonderful doggy, Doo. I found one of us together on her last Christmas with us. I also found pictures of falling barns that reminded me of our temporary time on the earth.

The bad news is that our earthly tents, whether made of skin, wood, or fur, will fail us. The good news is that as we have partaken in the death on the cross, we also will partake in the resurrection.

~~~~~

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2 Corinthians 5:1

Hope

He is Risen!

For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
Hebrews 7:19

~~~~~~

This cross is a sculpture that my brother-in-law made for his and my husband's grandfather. We were able to use it for my daughter's wedding. Though a valuable family treasure, our real hope and treasure is in our hearts, and heaven.

He Maketh Me...

He maketh me to navigate through many green pastures today.
He leadeth me to the drawer with the allergy medicine so I can stop sneezing and go to bed.

But it was worth it to notice all the less showy, smaller wildflowers in the city today.
The small ones that are not so noticeable are quite stunning when viewed up close.
Their unassuming size does not diminish how each can reveal God's love for us in His creation.

A Patch of Pink

This morning I was out at a few garage sales shopping for my coming grand daughter. I luckily, just on a hunch, put my camera in the car. I came upon a yard literally crowded with pink primrose. Guess they don't have a neighborhood association in that development! ha! ha!

Anyway, they did make me smile!

Try this tongue twister:

I passed a patch of pink
that prompted praise to Papa!