Tend Your Garden - Post #4 - Growth

"Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there."

 Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

It has become my daughter's and my daily ritual to examine the new growth in the garden. We log the details in our minds as we scan each plant, it only takes a moment but much data is recorded.

Things we noticed:

1. Some critter thought our garden was the perfect digging playground. We suspect a squirrel liked the soft, dark, rich soil to hide his winter stash of nuts in.
2. All the seeds sprouted except the basil.
3. The new growth was too tempting for bugs. A caterpillar was found guilty of chewing on the spinach, plucked off and flicked across the yard. One beet fell prey to another devouring bug.
4. The dog managed to upset the potted strawberry plant, leaving dirt clod trails as a "bread crumb" path to make sure I found the evidence of her discontent. Thankfully, she controlled her temper tantrum on the strawberry enough so I could salvage the plant and re-plant it. I wish I could get my points across as well as that dog!
5. A few nut grass weeds made their way in the bed.

The owl did a decent job keeping the birds away...so far!

The thing that irked us the most was the pesky insects. We couldn't see them having their banquet on our goods and we didn't want to spray pesticides to get rid of them so we are attempting to rid the garden of them by planting marigolds. If the bugs have to have a buffet I hope this distraction works long enough to let the new growth mature.

Needless to say, I always like to get back to the quotes I use in the post. Thomas Fuller's quote, "Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there," applies in our daily lives as well. We live with a sin nature, it is something we battle our entire lives. If we don't tend our spiritual garden on a regular basis those things that we don't like tend to take a little more of the bed then we intended and we know what happens when a garden is left alone for far too long, the weeds take over and choke the nourishing plants out or the pesky insects eat them to a nub. 

How important it is to take the time daily to scan our "spiritual" garden, assess what is lacking and ask the master gardner (The Holy Spirit) how to handle it. There are times He even tells you about a problem before you are even aware of the fullness of it. The beauty in this relationship is the trust that is built through active obedience and submission. When The Holy Spirit points out a weed (sin)  that needs pulling or even tells you to prune a healthy branch (restraint and shaping) on a maturing area in your life, you come to know that it is for your benefit. 

Spritual gardening "tools" to live by:

Hebrews 12: 11

James 1:2-26

Thank You Lord for helping me tend my spiritual garden!

Why The Incredible Hulk Would Make A Great Politician And Take Care Of Business

photo by: flashbacks.com
The Late Bill Bixby

While searching for something good to watch recently, I ran across The Incredible Hulk Season One episodes on Netflix and added it to my queue. I clicked the add button with a passing nostalgia for when I was a kid in the 70's watching TV shows like The Dukes of Hazard, The Love Boat, Wonder Woman and The Hulk. I admittedly thought this is bad TV but it would be fun to go down entertainment memory lane just to see how bad that TV was.

I called my daughter Alex down from the computer virtual webworld she was playing in to see some good old fashioned entertainment. I told her watching The Hulk was a not to miss event when I was growing up, even though the only thing I remembered about the series was the picture of David Banner and Lou Ferrigno being split down the middle and The Hulk got angry a lot.

So I dared to click the watch button and needless to say we were sucked in and blew through the first season in record speed as my husband sat through a few episodes shaking his head at the absurdity and not from the kind on screeen but from his two girls. We were laughing yet still sucked into the story, high fiving every time David Banner transformed, predicting why he'd get angry and how many times an episode he'd Hulk Out.

Which led to us making a list of things that got The Hulk angry, (I know we have too much time on our hands)  As the list grew I noticed some parallels to the feelings flying around the all too unstable political realm and found a little parody gave a humorous relief of sorts. Ahh, the Seventies the decade looked back upon as comical fodder for so many genres found its use in entertaining me once again.

Alas, The Top Ten Reasons Hulk Would Make A Great  Politician And Take Care Of Business was born

Reason Number One: 
He would be able to run his campaign on the Family Forum. (Season 2, Episode 5: A Child In Need)

Reason Number Two:
He would be a Tough Union Buster (Season 1, Episode: Murder On The Waterfront)

Reason Number Three:
He has a messy relationship with reporters (All Seasons)

Reason Number Four: 
He understands the ramifications of a messed up health industry by personal experience, The congressional insurance package would cover his treatments to recovery.

Reason Number Five:
He loves the babies (Season 2, Episode 11: Life and Death :Minute 2:48)

Reason Number Six:
His National policy would be backed by his transient travel

Reason Number Seven:
Whiners and Bullies don't push him around in the end (Whiner: Season 1, Episode 1/2: Death In The Family: Minute 1:33)

Reason Number Eight:
He isn't Politically Correct (Season 2 Episode 3: Ricky Minute 1:40)

Reason Number Nine:
He's a true Altruist, although a misunderstood one (All Seasons)

Reason Number Ten:
He takes Action NOW and get's RESULTS

He even has his Campaign tag line ready to go...
Don't make me angry, You don't want to see me when I'm angry!"
And his ad for campaigning

HULK 2012

Note: He'd have to work on his gun control

Tend Your Garden - Post #3

"Why try to explain miracles to your kids when you can just have them plant a garden."  ~Robert Brault

If you've read the previous tend your garden posts this video finally tells what we decided to plant and is presented by my daughter Alex. She was enthusiastic about this family  project so I decided to let her introduce this years crop. She helped pick the seeds from our favorite garden shop, The Natural Gardener, and she chose each one according to what our family eats the most of. I'm proud she was attentive to what we all like or maybe it was drilled into her by yours truly. I find myself unintentionally lecturing at almost every dinner how important raw vegetables are for your body so I'm glad some of my words are rubbing off in a good way. 

This style of gardening is a mixed experiment. I took the French compact style gardening and added a Texas flair. I just made the box slighlty bigger and rectangular than the standard French square style. I let my daughter plant what she wanted so she could see how big certain plants get, what they will need, how they grow and if they will grow. Peas will need a support, squash can become huge needing more space. This is definately a learn as you grow garden.  I want to see how she approaches the challenges and I have no doubt she'll come up with solutions and strategies to make it work. 

We already have squirrels trying to plant their own bounty and she came running inside to tell me we need to get a cover for the top of the garden bed. She has put in the effort and wants to see success in the first growth popping through the soil.

Now we must wait.... time, daily attention and care is where our patience resides....

  

When It Comes To Being Adorable- By Alex Brown

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Cookie and Odie

in Flowers;

Pink and Blue

Happy Spring!

Love, Alex

Tend Your Garden - Post #2

The garden is the poor man's apothecary. ~German Proverb

I have been wanting to plant a garden of my own for months now. The idea had been eating at the back of my brain in my spare thinking time and I found myself vacillating between the "should I" or "shouldn't I" and the cost versus time and management talk. Alas, from the pictures and post title, you can see that I decided to go ahead with my little pet project.

Every Garden Needs An Inspiration:

My grandmother had a plot to garden and I remember my young Summer's visiting her house in Durand, Wisconsin as ones with her in a sun hat and garden gloves holding a large basket to harvest her vegetables in. It was a pretty sight now that I am thinking back on the scene. The vegetable I remember most was the corn; shucking the stalks on the back porch made a kid feel good. My parents carried on the tradition in Colorado. A small garden just runs in my blood.

Not only do my childhood roots digging in the dirt give me inspiration, but the desire to give the best to my family has spurred me to at least try.

This next inspiration may not fit in the feel-good category that usually prods inspiration into action, but it definitely has merit in this new venture. The realms of economy and health have made a sound argument for trying my hand at the ol' farm gal routine.

The above quote, "A garden is a poor man's apothecary" certainly makes sense for the times at hand. It isn't hard to find articles regarding the tough economy and skyrocketing food costs. Health issues are constantly in debate and the future of healthcare is up in the air. I like the idea that my backyard can be my personal pharmacy and grocery store.

There comes a time when an idea can only be thought about for so long, turned around and studied in your mind so many times and then it is time to get off the tuckus and put that idea into fruition. As you can see we made this a family affair, something to do together, to learn, work, tend and enjoy together and as we watch our idea grow into something we can be proud of, use and share with others I'm hoping some life lessons and memories will rub off on all of us like the dirt stains ground into the grooves of our hands preparing the soil for seed.

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station,

through which God speaks to us every hour,

 if we will only tune in.

~George Washington Carver

This small 8' X 4' garden bed took patience, planning, time, sweat not to mention a few knuckles falling prey to bloody scratches and all before the seeds could be planted. We tilled and amended the soil, took precautions to keep the wild animals (or not so wild-Odie) from stealing from or destroying the bed.

I opened a pack of carrot seeds to see what they look like and I was amazed at how small they were. "I'm going to get carrots from those?" I thought.

Will Mr. Owl Keep The Pests Away?

A thought came to me just as I was writing this. "We prepare and take extraordinary steps to keep our ideas and the outcome of the action of those ideas protected so we can reap the benefits of our work. How much more should I tend to my 'spiritual garden'."

Hebrews 2:1-3 is my first lesson from this garden experiment, Pay close attention, do not neglect what you've heard and learned so that you may endure to the finish line (Hebrews 12:1-2)

James 5:7-8 is my second lesson from this garden experiment. Be patient, and strengthen your heart. "Behold, the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains."

I'm tuning in....








 



Tend Your Garden- Post #1

"Peach Blossom" by Chandra Brown

It often happens to children - and sometimes to gardeners - that they are

given gifts of value of which they do not perceive until much later.

- Wayne Winterrowd

I'm looking out my daughter's bedroom window and can't take my eyes off the buds and flowers of the ornamental peach tree. The pink, delicate petals have a mesmerizing effect as your eyes rest on them gently swaying on the light Spring breeze. I see my daughter playing under the pink canopy, sun shining in her hair. She captures a flower in her hands as the breeze gently shakes it from its place on the branch and I watch as she studies its' detail.

I smile when I see her delight in the beauty she holds in her hands. She touches the silky petal and I wonder what she is thinking. Is she contemplating the cycle of nature? Does she see the picture of death and new life? Does she see God's laws at work as she studies the delicate features? 

Probably not yet, but she will. I see myself in the little girl holding the Peach blossom in the backyard. I too remember playing in my fathers garden observing the ways of nature. 

Now that I am grown, I smile at this mirror glimpse I am afforded because I have come to know the Creator behind the beauty and can see the seeds of truth being planted for harvest in her maturation.

The Lord using Nature to teach us:

Isaiah 41:17-20 ..."That they may see and recognize, and consider and gain insight as well, That the hand of the Lord has done this, And the Holy one of Israel has created it." 

"Daisy" By Alex Brown

Job 12:7-10 "...In whose hand is the life of every living thing.."

Psalms 19:1-8 "..The Law of The Lord is perfect, restoring the soul."

"Viola" by Alex Brown



The Earth Is Eternal

Photo Credit: Nasa, Apollo 13
"The Earth in the Age of Grace"

Here I go again bugging my friends and family with something that I’ve learned and just can’t keep to myself. Have you ever felt compelled to share some news that you’ve learned out of sheer excitement?

I am elated when a wrong doctrine I have held from previous religions teachings or a wrong thought from my own fleshly devices has been brought under the scrutiny of Jesus’ truth and revealed to me so I can submit and change to what He says is true. (Colossians 2:8)

I want to share this specific encounter with God’s truth because the thoughts I had seem to be a main theme talked about in current times in both religious circles and secular circles as well. It is a big topic; this phrase comes with a lot of emotion backed to it. People take this very seriously and many sermons and articles have had countless hours put into them about this subject, and it is one that can keep you from experiencing the full joy God has intended if it is not understood correctly.

The big topic on many minds and has been a recent subject many discuss especially with the current events in the Middle East is “The End Times”.

Let me tell you the wrong thinking I had about this subject and then you can decide if you relate and can read on. Maybe I am one of the few who thought this way and you’ll think, “Where did she get this concept, duh, Chandra how could you think that way”? But I have a feeling many people may have had the same problem I have, so I’ll just explain and go from there.

Anytime I heard or read or listened to preaching about “End Times” I would get this feeling of doom and gloom. It seemed so “final” and I would envision the hobo standing on Times Square in New York with his sign stating “the end of the world” is near. Somehow the phrase “end times” and “end of the world” inter-meshed to mean one in the same. When I heard anyone talk about this subject I would feel fear and hopelessness, wouldn’t you, when you thought the earth was going to be done and gone and void of human life? I would equate this with the end of the human race, the oblivion of the earth and any one who died just lived in heaven or hell, but there was still a nagging sadness at the thought that the earth was no more. I’ve always struggled with this and always thought something was missing.

I’ll throw a jab at myself here, a few brain cells must have been missing. Ha! I’ll blame my youth, it’s the easiest target, but something WAS missing and it was the full truth. The nagging feeling, I should have known was the Holy Spirit trying to get me to let Him show me what that full truth was. Ya know, He does have your best interest at heart.

Then during a discussion about this subject, a light bulb came on. Have you ever had a very slow computer, one that slowly loads information and then you call the Geek squad out and they get it going to full speed and you wonder how in the world did you get anything done on that old, slow version? Well, this is how the full truth finally hit me. I have been studying biblical passages, tweaking things along the way that the Lord has shown me needs changing. This discussion was like the Geek Squad because as I began to talk about what I was learning the thought hit me, “the end times is just that, the end of a time, the end of an age, it has nothing to do with the end of the big physical ball we call earth. In fact, the earth is eternal.”

This is where explanation is due, how can I say the earth is eternal when 2 Peter 3:10-13 talks about the heavens passing away and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up? (This is where a good teacher in the language of the Bible comes in really handy and I’m glad I have someone like that.) The more I study the Bible the more I understand the importance of context, history and original word study.

In order to fully grasp what Peter is talking about, one must also look at Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22-24. In the New American Standard verse 65:17 reads, “behold I create a new heavens and earth, 66:22 read, “which I make” verse 17 had a little mark at the top of the word create, so I looked it up in the Greek/ Hebrew lexicon. The word was ‘Asah’ the basic meaning is “to do” or “make”; in creations context ‘asah’ is a broad scope and deals with refinement. This word is used to define God’s creative activity. BINGO, did that explanation hit you between the eyes like it did me? It doesn’t mean a complete, new act of creating something from nothing, it means an act of refinement, taking something that is there and making it better.

Not only did this help me understand this intense heat that melts the elements isn’t going to annihilate the earth, just change it; the following verse solidified this notion, Isaiah 66:24 talks about man going forth to look on the corpses of the men who transgressed against The Lord after this intense heat is finished. If believers are able to see the corpses on earth the earth has to still be here.

Then a more complete picture comes into view as you read Revelation 21:1-8. Awhile ago I thought when we die or are raptured we go to heaven and stay there. The Holy Spirit dissolved this wrong thinking in verse 2- 3, in verse 2 The Holy City comes down out of heaven, and in verse 3 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people.” The earth is eternal because God changes it so the city can come down from heaven and He dwells with men here. There has to be something here for the city to come down to.

And then what about Hell, it is a place on Earth. If Earth is utterly gone, a void in space, hell would be gone too, but that is not what scripture says. Revelation 21 verse 8 describes hell as being still here as a warning and reminder.

Another word that helped me see the full truth was the word for “world” is kosmos. Kosmos is “social system” and is used to describe a culture or race. The end of the “world” is the end of all the man manipulated systems that involve our daily lives and have nothing to do with God’s social system. It will be a breathe of fresh air when all the systems that hinder us from knowing God will be burned away forever. And sadly, men will die and their soul’s sent to the Lake of Fire because they chose to rebel against God’s plan, now that is something to look at with doom and gloom. A believer’s perspective should be one of rejoicing.

Can you imagine the sigh of relief, the extreme weight lifted off my shoulders knowing that Jesus the author of history, planned time down to the last detail and it included changing Earth into a place where tears are wiped away, no mourning or pain, death is overcome and God resides among men. (Revelation 21:4-6)Yes, “heaven” (or at least its attributes) will be a place on Earth, a place I speculate is hard for us to truly imagine in our finite mind.

Maybe you read this and think, ‘Duh, why would you ever have been so confused?” Or maybe you can relate and can now rejoice that when you hear the all too familiar phrases, The End of the World is near or, The End of Days is upon us, you will understand that yes, a time is coming to a close so another can take its place. And the next age is always moving towards Restoration of God’s original plan.

I have been reveling in the Joy of this truth. Christ’s message is always one of hope for mankind.
Romans 8:28-39… “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”