My favorite month is upon us! I just love May. I always have. I remember my mom helping me to make May baskets for the first day of May. I loved putting the little paper baskets together and then leaving them on neighbor's doors. We would have great fun ringing the doorbells and then running and hiding in the bushes, waiting to see their reaction to the bouquets.
I guess I love May the most because of all the wonderful flowers. I enjoy all the seasons for each of their unique beauties, but this time of year holds such promise and day to day change. My second favorite flower appears this month as well; hint, hint. When I wrote my book, "The Fields of May," I so enjoyed writing the several scenes that took place this time of year when the lovely flower were appearing. Spirea are some of my favorites and when we get down to "second favorites" the list becomes clogged. Actually there are several vying for second place, spirea among them. I have a treasured picture of Clint and I in 1980 all dressed up and headed for the prom. We had our picture taken in front of his Grandma Sal's humongous spirea bush. I have always loved those flowers and the romantic memories associated with proms, graduation, and all that this season represents.
Yesterday I planted the last row of potatoes while Rhiannon mowed the lawn. Then I headed to the English garden and planted all the perennials I'd purchased over the last few days. I hope they will be alright out there. We had a warmish day today with almost constant rain. This should give them a healthy start. I did alot of weeding, placing of more rocks, and general garden duties yesterday and it's a good thing since today was not conducive to garden work.
I noticed yesterday after clearing the weeds from a few flower beds that I actually need more perennials! I have several in the beds, but many are identical and once they are done blooming that leaves holes and gaps in the entire look of the garden. I am overrun with shasta daisies and they are early bloomers. It's intersting how the face of the garden changes with each summer month. This time of year little flowers and pastels are predominant. Tiny wild violets and forget-me-nots give a misty appearance to the edges of the beds. Soon the shasta daisies will give the garden a predominantly white appearance broken up only by the lavendar irises. By the end of June or early July the garden will take on a carnival-like color with the oranges, yellows, and burgundies of lilies and purples and hot pink shades of phlox and other flowers. A few pastel roses will linger but the reds and purples of certain varieties will be ablaze with color then as well. I have never striven to create a garden of constant bloom, but by choosing flowers I love and accepting donations from friends, it has worked out that way. There are very few dull times out in the English garden clear til frost.
Soon it will be time to haul all the garden ornaments out there. I have benches, bent willow chairs, wicker tables, and lots of wire ornaments I've collected. I've got this thing for ornate wire stuff. I have a bird cage that sits out there, a few bird feeders, and even lots of broken or chipped china plates that I use to edge the beds or corral certain groups of flowers. The beautiful dishes sunken part way in the ground really give the garden a formal and elegant look, adding color and serving as a curioddity.
While I was down on my knees weeding yesterday I was reminded of the parable Jesus told in Matthew 13. He spoke of the weeds and wheat growing up together. The owner of the field said to leave the weeds until the time of harvest and then he would deal with them. Aside from other lessons this parable has to offer, I am reminded of the truth that if you pull certain weeds before they or the plants are big enough, you may uproot the plant as well. It's sometimes better to wait to pull weeds lest you damage the precious little plant in the process. I think it's that way with us sometimes. We want immediate change in our lives and the lives of others. We think that new Christians need to shape up immediately and sometimes we older Christians can be hard on them, not allowing them time to grow. We need to be careful not to uproot them while we're trying to point out and pull up the weeds in their lives. It is better to let the Holy Spirit deal with them and convict them of things that need "weeding" out of their lives. I learned this lesson from gardening. and each time I pull weeds I think of that. It's amazing how much the everday tasks of life can teach you.
Another favorite flower clue: Like the hollyhock, it has a stalk laden with several flowers. Blessings, LORI
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Favor of the Lord
"For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield." Psalm 5:12
I felt like this verse was appropriate for the kind of day I had today. It just seemed the favor of the Lord surrounded me in many very noticeable ways today. It was one of those days when everything seemed to go right.
My mother had a rather rough winter, health-wise this year. Yesterday her doctor prescribed a new medicine for her. It was very pricey stuff--unbelievably expensive in fact. But we found out today that she was able to get the medicine covered, Praise the Lord! That felt like God's favor right there.
I tried something new today that will just astound you! I drove in a city--yes, a city! For any of you that know me very well, you know I do not drive in larger cities. I did learn and had much practice driving in all kinds of places, cities included, during driver's ed years ago, but then did not ever go much of anywhere when Clint and I were not together. He was always driving and so I gradually got out of the habit of driving in places larger than the towns in St. Joe County. I know it sounds weird in this day and age, but it's true. It kind of scared me to take off alone to a larger city. Today I drove in a city, all by myself and had absolutely no trouble and to top it all off, I wasn't even sure where I was going. The place was a bit unfamiliar to me. That felt like God's favor to me! I'd try it again now--gaining confidence!
I went to yet another greenhouse today while I was with mom. She was having to do a long wait at the doctor's and so I decided to redeem the time with a trip to a market that has an extensive greenhouse and store. I found the plant I'd been looking for an hadn't been able to locate. It is a "santolina" or lavender cotton. I had seen it in the many garden books I'd been reading lately and thought it sounded like a plant that would do well in the conditions we have here. I had searched quite a few places and finally found about 8 little pots of it today. I bought only one because I think it spreads. I hope I will not be sorry I didn't buy more.
Mom and I got home early in the afternoon. I noticed that Rhiannon had made food for supper and had it in the refrigerator. That's always a blessing! I was able to get a little power nap in before Rhiannon and Clint arrived home. When Rhiannon came in she said she had a present for me. I followed her out to the barn where the present was waiting. I suspected she had purchased another perennial for me, but much to my delight and surprise, there were 8 bags of mulch for the garden! What a wonderful gift. We loaded it in the tractor and she helped me--actually she did the work!--put it in place out in the English garden. It covered about half of the pathways. What an instant miracle difference mulch makes for the looks of a garden! Suddenly the garden was transformed and much of the black plastic that was exposed after the hard winter was covered and the pathways now look so neat and orderly. I quickly weeded the paths as she placed and raked the mulch. That meant that alot of garden work got done in a short time. This was work I had not expected to do today. I did alot of weeding, replaced a few disorderly perennials and then she and I decided to try to haul more large rocks out of the fencerow. We got some beauties and put them in the tractor bucket. We placed them around the flower beds. What another big difference that made! That garden is getting the transformation that I never thought was possible a few weeks ago when I assessed the post-winter needs out there. I am actually well on the way to fixing all the problems that I was wanting to correct to make my dream garden! Thanks, Rhiannon!
I also got to do a little sewing on the 70's dress and it went together so nicely again. Working on the sleeves currently. While I was shopping today I noticed an interesting little book. It had lots of pictures. Lo and behold there was a picture of someone wearing the very style of dress I have under construction. It was a different color, but same basic pattern and from the same era. How interesting!
This afternoon I called the vet and found out that Daisy got through her surgery amazingly well. The doctor was able to fix her torn ligament and she woke up nicely and went back to sleep comfortably. I was glad for that blessing too!
Tomorrow we plan to get the lawn mowed and do alot of planting. I am so encouraged by the unexpected work we got done today, that everything seems do-able now instead of a big, never-ending project. My second favorite flowers are poking up through the black plastic in the pathways in places. I tried to pull them to transplant and they just snapped off--oops. They spread because they are a ground cover! Hint, hint.
Back to the verse of the day, God's favor surround the righteous as a shield. Wonderful thought to keep in your mind as your go through your day. But you may say, Lori, are you suggesting that you are righteous? Isn't that a bit proud and arrogant? Well, no, actually Christians are righteous--made right--by the sacrifice of Christ. Righteousness is a state of being for the Christian. It's our new identity. Check 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Ponder that today if you feel defeated. Now that's real favor! Consider God's favor around you. Consider Christ's righteousness transferred to you as an act of His grace. As many of our parents used to say to us, "remember who you are."
Blessings, LORI
I felt like this verse was appropriate for the kind of day I had today. It just seemed the favor of the Lord surrounded me in many very noticeable ways today. It was one of those days when everything seemed to go right.
My mother had a rather rough winter, health-wise this year. Yesterday her doctor prescribed a new medicine for her. It was very pricey stuff--unbelievably expensive in fact. But we found out today that she was able to get the medicine covered, Praise the Lord! That felt like God's favor right there.
I tried something new today that will just astound you! I drove in a city--yes, a city! For any of you that know me very well, you know I do not drive in larger cities. I did learn and had much practice driving in all kinds of places, cities included, during driver's ed years ago, but then did not ever go much of anywhere when Clint and I were not together. He was always driving and so I gradually got out of the habit of driving in places larger than the towns in St. Joe County. I know it sounds weird in this day and age, but it's true. It kind of scared me to take off alone to a larger city. Today I drove in a city, all by myself and had absolutely no trouble and to top it all off, I wasn't even sure where I was going. The place was a bit unfamiliar to me. That felt like God's favor to me! I'd try it again now--gaining confidence!
I went to yet another greenhouse today while I was with mom. She was having to do a long wait at the doctor's and so I decided to redeem the time with a trip to a market that has an extensive greenhouse and store. I found the plant I'd been looking for an hadn't been able to locate. It is a "santolina" or lavender cotton. I had seen it in the many garden books I'd been reading lately and thought it sounded like a plant that would do well in the conditions we have here. I had searched quite a few places and finally found about 8 little pots of it today. I bought only one because I think it spreads. I hope I will not be sorry I didn't buy more.
Mom and I got home early in the afternoon. I noticed that Rhiannon had made food for supper and had it in the refrigerator. That's always a blessing! I was able to get a little power nap in before Rhiannon and Clint arrived home. When Rhiannon came in she said she had a present for me. I followed her out to the barn where the present was waiting. I suspected she had purchased another perennial for me, but much to my delight and surprise, there were 8 bags of mulch for the garden! What a wonderful gift. We loaded it in the tractor and she helped me--actually she did the work!--put it in place out in the English garden. It covered about half of the pathways. What an instant miracle difference mulch makes for the looks of a garden! Suddenly the garden was transformed and much of the black plastic that was exposed after the hard winter was covered and the pathways now look so neat and orderly. I quickly weeded the paths as she placed and raked the mulch. That meant that alot of garden work got done in a short time. This was work I had not expected to do today. I did alot of weeding, replaced a few disorderly perennials and then she and I decided to try to haul more large rocks out of the fencerow. We got some beauties and put them in the tractor bucket. We placed them around the flower beds. What another big difference that made! That garden is getting the transformation that I never thought was possible a few weeks ago when I assessed the post-winter needs out there. I am actually well on the way to fixing all the problems that I was wanting to correct to make my dream garden! Thanks, Rhiannon!
I also got to do a little sewing on the 70's dress and it went together so nicely again. Working on the sleeves currently. While I was shopping today I noticed an interesting little book. It had lots of pictures. Lo and behold there was a picture of someone wearing the very style of dress I have under construction. It was a different color, but same basic pattern and from the same era. How interesting!
This afternoon I called the vet and found out that Daisy got through her surgery amazingly well. The doctor was able to fix her torn ligament and she woke up nicely and went back to sleep comfortably. I was glad for that blessing too!
Tomorrow we plan to get the lawn mowed and do alot of planting. I am so encouraged by the unexpected work we got done today, that everything seems do-able now instead of a big, never-ending project. My second favorite flowers are poking up through the black plastic in the pathways in places. I tried to pull them to transplant and they just snapped off--oops. They spread because they are a ground cover! Hint, hint.
Back to the verse of the day, God's favor surround the righteous as a shield. Wonderful thought to keep in your mind as your go through your day. But you may say, Lori, are you suggesting that you are righteous? Isn't that a bit proud and arrogant? Well, no, actually Christians are righteous--made right--by the sacrifice of Christ. Righteousness is a state of being for the Christian. It's our new identity. Check 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Ponder that today if you feel defeated. Now that's real favor! Consider God's favor around you. Consider Christ's righteousness transferred to you as an act of His grace. As many of our parents used to say to us, "remember who you are."
Blessings, LORI
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