If We Had No Winter....

If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet, 'Meditations Divine and Moral,' 1655

 

 

Hopefully Spring has reached you wherever you are....

Spring is in the Air

I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.  ~Ruth Stout

It is March.  The garden is coming alive.  This month signifies growth, change, and newness of life for me.  March is the month that my daughter was born.  I had prepared the garden ahead of time so that I wouldn't have a thing to do but focus on her.

These photos were taken after we came home from the hospital as a new family of three.
It is now four years later and I am so excited that I can share gardening, one of my favorite past times, with my daughter.

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold:  when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.  ~Charles Dickens

I acquired some Hyacinth Bean Vine seeds from my mom (who is also a gardener). Here is the gardener in training counting out the new seeds...or beans...

We found the perfect spot to try growing our vine...the arbor that Dave made for me last year.

Digging the hole....

Ready to plant!

Doesn't this photo just make you want to stick your fingers in the dirt?  This is the best time for planting....soft, moist dirt just waiting to sprout new things!

This is the vine in bloom....Hopefully we will successfully replicate it.

Happy Spring!

A New Year, A New Direction?

This time last year I was just starting my second second semester back at school.  I was taking three classes and feeling like I had purpose, a goal.  Summer came and went and at the end of August Dave started his Doctorate program.  I felt like it would be too much to try to go to school at the same time and, so, I decided to take the semester off.  Now, here we are in January and I, once again, feel like my purpose is but a vapor that I am trying desperately to grasp.

Purpose: Something set up as an object or end to be attained.

I seem to find myself always searching for something outside my reach.  The titles of Mother, Wife, Daughter, Friend, Sister don't seem to foot the bill.  I feel a yearning to be better, do better, to feel a sense of purpose. That is why, while sitting in a Bible study last week, the speaker said something that I cannot forget.

"Be obsessed with the Gospel and you will find your life's calling."

Obsessed?  Oh, I know how to do that....I can be obsessed with anything for a fleeting moment; what shade of paint will best compliment my curtains, the bedding that I had to have and no longer want, BLOGGING, reading blogger comments, my favorite TV show, exercise, healthy food, etc, etc, etc....And, when I am really honest, the things I choose to be unhappy with.  My husband, my daughter, friends, all those expectations and blaming someone or something other than myself.

While I would like to say the thought of being obsessed with Christ comes easy to me, I cannot.  In fact, my past habits show that I want there to be something tangible, something real I can do.  I want there to be any other answer to this feeling of vacancy other than not spending time in the Word.  Because if that is the answer....

I have a lot of work to do.

"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:3-4