There is just something about nature which causes me to smile.

Today the sun is taking a break and the rain is slowly falling upon my garden. Last evening I spent a blissful few hours outside taking in the lovely sights and sounds of nature. My kind neighbor came over to cut down a dead crepe myrtle tree which I had been using as a plant display prop. Another idea popped into my head as to how to better use the space, so off went the dead tree and in came a pretty urn with a pink flowering bush planted in it which is sure to attract the local hummingbird my late husband Dan and I enjoyed watching. We named the creatures as part of our adventures in gardening. A chipmunk is also a daily visitor. I gain lots of peaceful respite in the place which once only existed in my notebook design drawings.


Something about nature causes me to smile! Maybe it's the knowledge of God creating it for us to enjoy that causes a stirring in my soul. The connection with what God called good. Designed in His image as a place in which we can dwell with Him. Although today the rain drips from tender shoots and the bird are singing oh so softly from branches soaked with drops of water I am still wishing to be in this place I call mine. One day I will move to a place where there will be a garden tended by others...still my little garden will always be a part of who I am.


Perhaps a few scriptures will help give you hope today. Psalm 121: 1-3 I lift up my eyes to the hills
where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
John 15: I am the vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me which bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be more fruitful.
John 15: 5 I am the vine; you are the branches, If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.




Take a few moments to look into the garden of your heart. Imagine what the God of the universe can grow within the debts of a heart which lingers with Him. I promise you, fruit comes after the ground had been prepared...the gardener rakes and prepares the soil with nutrients, fertilizer and adds the little seedlings with a prayer for them to reap a harvest worthy of the time he has taken to prepare it. Some gardens take a lifetime to prove the gardener worthy of the harvest. Others, bloom much sooner. Whatever path you are given always remember...if you do not take the time to prepare for the
storms of life, your garden may find you missing out on the joy the Father intends for you to find there. With a prayer and a pack of seeds a whole world of creativity is yours for the asking. Blessings, R.B.