Searching for that Green Thumb.

During the dead of winter, my husband began to entertain the idea of a garden. It may have been birthed from the simple fact that our souls were getting frost bite.  We were desperately longing for summer. We were open to anything that would take our mind of our frozen fingers and toes.  I was officially over the winter and for the first time in my life I wanted summer.  I wanted the Sun.  I wanted the heat, the sweat, the humidity, and the sunburns.  I was to the point that if I saw one more snowflake I was going to absolutely lose my mind.  There are aspects of winter that I do enjoy but I was ready to move on. 

I tried to picture myself hunched over a flowerbed with my gardening gloves on.  I visualized myself showing off flowers and various pots of greenery to my friends and announcing "This one's name is Betty and this little guy over here is our beloved Thomas".  How most people visualize cat hoarders is how I visualized myself as a gardener.  I also pictured my Grandmother.  She has/had the biggest garden I have ever seen outside of a corporation/small business.  My mother and her work this garden all by themselves.  We are talking HUNDREDS of tomato plants, as well as a few hundred pepper, jalapeno, carrots, potatoes, squash, okra, cucumbers, onions, and so on.  After the extensive long walk through the vegetable garden you find yourself in the flower garden.  Hundreds of flowers as well as trees and bushes my grandmother planted herself. Did I mention that she is in her 80's?  I feel I also need to mention that my mother is handicapped.  I also begrudgingly should say that my grandmother is in better shape than I have EVER been in my life.  She absolutely can run circles around me physically and mentally. Needless to say, I was a little intimidated by the garden.

Richard brought up the Garden almost every day for three weeks, I finally surrendered and told him I would plant him a garden in the Spring. So began the hours of research and shopping around for the best prices/ideas. My grandmother's blood flows through my veins so I know my green thumb is somewhere deep down.  I just had to find it.  I decided to start in March.  As in March 1st. The first day the temp was about 40 degrees.  (40 degrees = spring. Right? No. A most definite no)  I didn't know that most people plant their plants Easter Sunday or after. I also didn't realize that it would still snow.

Our seeds came in and we got started.  We decided to start simple. Just to see what would happen and if we could do it. My heart sank when I opened the first package of Lobelia seeds.  I thought the package was empty.  It had a tiny plastic bag in it and what looked looked like dust. One hundred specks of dust. How in the world are we going to plant 100 specks of dust? After fiddling around for an hour, I got tired of it and poured the whole thing in one pot and swirled it around with a spoon. THERE! Done!  On to the Coleus. We graduated from dust specs to flakes of pepper. When I saw those seeds I pretty much gave up on the idea that we would actually grow anything.  On and on we went until every last seed was planted. We ended up with starter kits of marigolds, zinnias, coleus, lobelia, tomatoes, and peppers.

For 2 months garden starter kits littered our home. They were everywhere.  At every window because it was still too cold to leave the plants outside.  I had/have no idea what I was doing. We watched every day and after a week things started to grow.  Everything except the Coleus and the Lobelia.  (Big surprise there...)



Day 5 of the Marigolds.  Which has been our most successful flower. We grew every single seed.

 

I have spent many hours in our Garden since March.  I have come to love it.  I have loved watching these plants grow. I have made so many mistakes and my grandmother just laughs and says "That's the only way you'll learn"  So far we have lost 23 zinnias and 2 tomatoes.  I have gained so much insight in the character of God.  The next few blogs will about those lessons and truths I have gained.  I am a very visual learner and sometimes the bible doesn't make sense to me until I see it laid out in front of me. I can see God so much clearer in the smaller things than in the larger big picture things. One thing has been made clearer and clearer. I cannot make these plants grow or thrive.  It is entirely out of my hands.  Just as the seeds we plant spiritually.  I can do my part such as, pulling the weeds, providing the soil, sheltering them, and nurturing the seed.  I can't make it grow or produce fruit.  Some plants just will not produce fruit.  They look like they will and maybe they start producing but then it withers.  Some of the flowers started out very weak and almost died but they ended up being the most beautiful of the bunch. 

 

Our neighbors love our patio garden and it has opened the door with so many of them.  The entire complex knows who we are.  All we have to say is "we are the apartment with all the plants" 

 

Here is our garden today:

 

Patio Garden 6.24.2015

 

Patio Garden 6.7.2015

Until Next Time,

 

Amber

 

 



Trusting God and Not in what God has Done.

 “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” Psalm 125:1

Trust in the Lord. Trust, trust, and more trust.  How many times have I heard trust in the Lord? How many times have I sung the lyrics “Trust and Obey. For there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.”   Every single day I tell somebody to just trust in the LORD.  Every single day I have to tell myself to trust.  A few months ago, I began doing a study through the Psalms of Ascent.  To be perfectly honest, I had never heard the term before and Richard had to explain to me what the Psalms of Ascent were.  Psalms and Proverbs are not books that I gravitate towards. Ever. I struggle through those chapters and quickly find my way back to the stories.  This time I am sticking them out and really learning their significance.  More than once have the verses floated to my mind randomly throughout the day. 

The ways I trust the LORD:

• He will provide my every need.
• He is faithful and true.
• He will keep his promises to His children.
• He will never leave us or forsake us.
• He cares and loves me
• Nothing I will ever do will make the LORD love me less
• Nothing I will ever do will make the LORD love me more.
• All things work together for good for those who love God
• No matter what happens in/to my life, He is in control and He is good.  All the time.

I look at this list and I know it should be longer.  My list fluctuates with my spiritual life. Sometimes it is much shorter.  There have been several times in my life where only one thing was on this list. Days where I only had the strength to whisper “God is good.” Some days the list is much longer.  Why is that?  Shouldn’t my list be the same no matter what is going on in my life? No matter what state my spiritual walk is in?  God never changes and His word never changes.  His promises to me never change either.  Why then do I sometimes struggle with trusting the Lord will all my heart?

As I type this blog my car is currently in the shop.  If you know anything about us you know that this is not unusual.  It seems like we always have a vehicle in the shop.  I have the uncanny ability to break everything I touch. Not intentionally of course.  Since we have been married, every appliance in our home has had to be fixed or replaced. Even the handle on the oven door fell off.  I am extremely tired of conversations that start with “Honey, I am very sorry but I broke…..” This is exactly the reason we do not purchase brand new things.  They do not last. I would spend $20,000 on a brand new car and something that wasn’t covered under the warranty would break.  This ability is not exclusive to inanimate objects either.  The precious tiny kitten I picked out 7 years ago came with all sorts of medical issues.  

 “As for me, I said in my prosperity, ‘I shall never be moved.’ By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.” Psalm 30:7

How do I know that I can trust God through these trials? I trust because He has seen us through every single one of them.  He has provided our needs through every single crisis.  Psalm 30:7 is where my brain has been camping out the whole day.  Do I trust God because of who He is or do I trust God because of his provision in my life?  Is there a difference?

If God had not seen us through all those trials would I still trust him?  What if I woke up tomorrow and everything I own was gone? What if Richard was gone? What if my health was gone? What if God never blesses us with children?  What if he blesses us with children and then takes them away? Would my mountain still stand strong?

“Even if our security is something God has given us—our gifts, talents, loved ones, church family, consistent victory, passion for His Word—our seemingly secure mountain ultimately will fall into the sea.  We can grow secure in the favor God has shown us, but God’s favor and His person are not synonymous.  If our trust is in manifestations of God’s favor rather than God Himself, we will crumble like dry clay when He calls us to walk a distance of our journeys entirely by faith and not by sight.” ~Beth Moore, Stepping up: A Journey through the Psalms of Ascent.

So how do I transfer my trust from His provision to Him?  I am still working that out.  I am going to let God’s word speak for itself:

“To you, O LORD, I cry, and to the LORD I plead for mercy:  ‘What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit?  Will the dust praise you?  Will it tell of your faithfulness?  Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!’ You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.  O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” Psalm 30:8-12

Renew us by the transforming of our minds Lord!  

In Christ,

Amber