I had such a wonderful day! Today Clint and I were able to drive through a little territory that we don't go through on a regular basis. The area reminded me of the terrain I described in "The Fields of May." I saw so many pretty flower gardens, serene-looking old farms and rolling hills.
While we were out, I realized that I need to take some pictures for the cover of my next book--and real soon! I want to have hollyhocks near a fence pictured on the front cover and now is hollyhock time. They will quickly fade and the opportunity will be lost for the year. I will start taking my camera with me on car trips in the next few weeks, hoping to find just the right flowers. With all the hollyhocks I raise, none are near a fence as I have pictured in my mind for the cover. So taking photos of my own garden to use is out of the question. Speaking of my own gardens, the mystery flower is looking more and more like a yellow yarrow! How exciting. I purchased two new plants today at a discount. One was a coreopsis--I used to have some, but they disappeared for some reason. One little lonely one appeared this year again. The second flower I bought was a pincushion flower. Same story with that only they never re-appeared!
Didn't get much else done today besides running around. Rhiannon met me at the library and we took a little drive looking for--hollyhocks! I talked to a lady who had a nice stand of yellow and peach colored ones--colors I crave and haven't been able to grow with success. I had seen the flowers a week ago at this house and decided to stop and ask for some seeds. Today I got back to this house and turns out I knew the lady! She said she's glad to give me some seeds when the plants dry up in a week or two. A hollyhock lover's dream.
When I got home I picked about 3 more quarts of black raspberries. They are swiftly drying out. We so desperately need rain. I have enjoyed eating some of the first few I picked. The rest will go in the freezer to be made into jelly.
While reading my devotions this morning, I was touched by a verse in Ephesians chapter 6. Near the end of this epistle, Paul makes his closing comments with a blessing. Verse 23 reads: "Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Isn't that the most poetic, gracious blessing? I noticed especially that love and faith are united in this verse. There are other verses in the Bible where love and faith are coupled together. Consider Galatians 5:6, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anyting, but faith working through love." 1Corinthians 13, the great love chapter, ends in verse 13 by saying, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." And I'm sure there are others as well. I am intrigued by the relationship of these two. It seems from the Galatians verse, that faith works when love is exercised. How interesting. I need to practice love and see my faith become stronger. In the Ephesians verse, love with faith is the blessing that Paul desires for his flock. I think it is easier to walk in faith when you walk in love because love draws you closer to God. When you are close to God, faith results. When we focus on Him and not ourselves we are strengthened by the glory of His greatness--and faith results. No wonder they are often coupled together!
I hope you enjoy pondering these thoughts with me. They seemed a lovely end for a lovely day! Blessings, LORI
No comments:
Post a Comment