SHARING FROM YOUR GARDEN

During wheat harvest, Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrake plants, which he brought to his mother Lea.  Rachel said to Lea, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” GENESIS 30; 14

     Sharing from the garden is just as much a part of gardening as is planting. watering or fertilizing. God created us equally, in his eyes, however each of us have been given different talents. Therefore, it behooves us, as Christian, to share of our bounty, gardens and lives.      

     A couple lived next door to a widow who lived alone in a large house.  Many times when they were cooking, an extra portion was shared with the neighbor.  Soups, chili and spaghetti were often moving from one house to the other.  And delicious cookies often made their way back as well.  Give of what you have and of who you are.

     Jesus said, “If you have done this to the least of these, you have done it also to me.”?  Find someone, today, with whom you can share.  Share of your blessings and share of the way God has changed your life.

Gardening Tip: In your water garden, tropical water lilies add a riot of beauty especially if you have selected a truly tropical lily.  Hardy lilies bloom only in the day while tropicals will stay open longer and bloom later into the season. Night blooming tropical water lilies open later in the day and will remain until early the next morning.

     

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FRIENDS UNAWARE

“So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. Nehemiah 6:15

     Scripture calls Christians by many names; saints, servants, disciples, followers, and believers. But my favorite is friend. And because we are friends, we need to live, love and work together in harmony.  Nehemiah successfully gathered the Jews together, and the rebuilding of the wall was accomplished. Their differences were set aside in favor of the commonality of their goal.

     Where is that friend that you may have thought God placed in your garden as a ‘weed’?  Seek out that special someone that desperately needs your love and encouragement, maybe even your forgiveness.  They are closer than you think.

     Be united with other Christians. A wall with loose bricks is not good.  The bricks must be cemented together.  Corrie ten Boom

... you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35

Several more days of inside weather might well be spent getting the garden tools ready for spring.  Sharpen and oil tools like shovels and shears. Some power tools could benefit from a good tune-up.

EVERY MORNING THERE IS SOMETHING NEW

 

 “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning . . .” LAMENTATIONS  3:22-23

     One of the most exciting things about gardening is there is something new in the garden almost every morning.  From their naturalized beds, new jonquil burst forth in daily riots of yellows that make the sun look pallor.  A tulip tree lifts new boughs of blazing white blossoms against an azure sky as clear and pure spring water bubbling crystal clear down a mountain side.  Quinces pierce the landscape with blooms of brilliant salmon pink. It may not always be a beautiful new bloom of your prized specimen plant or a blush of beauty from a perennial border but somewhere in your garden God has planted your gift.

     Every day, in our garden of life, our God, through his never failing compassions, has planted or planned a sweet new experience.  Often because of the speed of our lives we do not have time to see His footsteps but none the less, His pathway has been laid out before us, we only need eyes that see.

"It is always wise to stop wishing for things long enough
to enjooy the fragrance of those now flowering."       

                                                   Patrice Gifford

     "See how the flowers of the field grow.
          They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you
              that not even Solomon in all his splendor
                 was dressed like one of these.
                                                 Matthew 28b-29