Gardens along the way….revisited…and new…
Last year as all the gyms were closed, I did much more outside walking…this year, I am back at the pool early and it has been really hot, so not much outside walking…
I realized I missed the walks to see all the sights along the way, the gardens, the animals, the people…so have tried to include some early morning walks…before the heat sets in…
Just simple observations….
…Someone had trimmed the mulberries so they don’t hang out over the park area for picking…now so high only the birds can reach them…
…The chokecherry bushes are loaded again, so maybe they will be available later in the season…
….the yards are back to maintenance modes, not so much extra flowers as people have not been restricted home this spring…not so many home vegetable gardens in some areas, bigger in others…
…just as many cherry pickers at the orchards…
How easily we fall back into the “regular “ mode , the complacent one when things feel “normal” again…we gear up for emergencies, and then retreat as soon as we can to “comfortable “…
We want the day to day normalcy, not the everyday “flexibility “ that this last year seemed to be…as more and more information changed and morphed into new regulations and restrictions…and then out of…
I like to be comfortable as a Christian also…no surprises, things my way…but, that isn’t what usually happens….
It seems that if comfortable, there is not growth, no stretching of those spiritual “muscles” or lessons…no risks or beckoning of new horizons ….no tilling of new soil…digging deeper into the Word…
So I tried two new gardens yesterday….first, the lavender fields, where you pick as many bundles as you want…the buzzing of bees, the choices of lavenders….the enticing scent of the clumps of the thousands of stems…
Second, a dream come true for a retired serviceman…a farmland patch turned into a winery and layer upon layer of flower gardens…a widow tirelessly tending the thousands of seasonal plants…keeping her late husband’s legacy tended and beautifully maintained for others, as well as herself, to enjoy…
Long term growth, steadiness, perseverance….characteristics we need to grow, not only in our gardens, but life itself…digging into Word, producing fruit…that list of love, joy, peace, etc….spreading each to those around us…and keeping our heart, soul and mind true to the One who fashioned us…in our gardens along the way…thank YOU….
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalm 139:1-6,17-18,23-24
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:25
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:20-21,24-25
No comments:
Post a Comment