Thankful Thursday

This morning I am thinking about all the things I am thankful for. Deeply thankful. With as much of a “spirit, but in a human body” understanding of exactly how Faithful God is.

Underpinning everything is always my faith, and my trust in the Triune God, and my salvation from eternal separation from God. That only Jesus could provide – and did. No way would I want to do life without that.

And there are so many things – provisions, answered prayers. Not always in the way we wanted, but with faith that He’s got us. In tiny little things as well as monumental. Consider the lilies. Matthew 6: 28-30

In the garden, specifically this week, I am thankful that the sprinklers are fixed. It is novel, and nostalgic to haul out the hose, but so much nicer to walk out in the morning and see the water on the ground, and the gardens.

I am thankful the new plantings are doing well. Those 20+ year old hollyhock seeds that, amazingly, went to seedling are enjoying their new home. I am excited to see what they bring to Sandy’s Corner.

I am thankful the squirrels and bunnies are leaving the shamrocks alone.

I am thankful for the bloom of the beautiful Weigelia, and how that 23-year-old has rebounded.

I am thankful for this time of year, and for time and energy to play in the various gardens, and for the physical and mental challenges the various gardens bring. It keeps me researching and documenting and analyzing … and writing.

And I am thankful for the time to just enjoy the gardens, at the townhome and at the historic cemetery. The birds, bees, butterflies, the very squirrely squirrels, and the human and canine visitors, in person and online. Wonderful!

Blessing to you!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

He restoreth my soul

Merry Christmas Eve! Our snow has been plowed from the blizzard yesterday here in Minnesota, our sidewalk is shovelled, and I have had my first cup of coffee. I’m finding myself wondering if we should have kept our travel plans to go to the little house up north today, but one never knows. We’ll keep it as is, to stay back and savor some rest. I don’t have any control over weather, but I know someone who does. Even the wind and the waves obey Him. I will take this time to trust and rest.

Today we continue prayers for so many people. What a year! A lot to be thankful for – and to fervently hope for.

I am reminded after a very busy, and at times super stressful, year, it is time to rest. The internal work at the little house up north is at least 3/4 done. Along the way we have been blessed with relationship gifts. God has a plan, and I have a feeling we don’t even really “get it” yet. But I do know I have grown. I have gone from searching for a place we could eventually retire in an environment that restores us, into what I hope is a much fuller person. When we walked in that house I was thrown back 50 years. I was faced with a real wringer washer stored in the basement, rusting metal kitchen cabinets, and one of those metal mail holders that every kitchen I knew while growing up had. There was shag/sculptured carpet, 80s wallpaper, and the light fixtures of the 50s. I WANTED that house, not because I liked all that, but because it warmed my heart. It brought back wonderful memories.

Along the way, we discovered that a family of 5 lived in that home. Mom & Dad raised their three children there. Dad worked at a nearby steel mining plant, the steel that built America, and even the world. And they lived in that tiny little house. Such a big contribution those workers made to the growth of this country, even the world, with provisions that many would balk at today. It confirms in me that somehow we need to find a way to remember what is truly important – people over stuff. And I am sad that somehow this year we find ourselves in a world that restricts in person time in the hope of reducing disease. It is a very tough time where values of family time is being reduced to digital images, and results don’t seem to make sense. I have this persistent feeling we are somehow missing a large piece of the puzzle. Still, we hope and pray, and do our part.

Along the way on this little house up north journey we have met some incredible people – people who survive on way less material things and who lead much simpler lives than what we are used to seeing – and are resilient, and confident, and peaceful. It reinforces in me that more stuff doesn’t mean more happiness. It means more to maintain, and less time to find soul rest.

In a conversation with a new friend we’ve made as a result of our little house up north journey, he shared that he sometimes has to remind himself that Psalm 23:2 says “He MAKETH me to lie down in green pastures”, not he suggesteth or recommendeth, but he MAKETH. Interesting point.

So today, we make time for soul rest, and we pray, and trust.

Forward

It seems that “Poof! There went the daylilies!” Not totally, but last week started a big wind-down. There were lots of “lasts”. Each day we said good-bye to some of our favorite blooms for the year. The ‘Just Plum Happy’, the ‘South Seas’, the peach daylily, the ‘Hush Little Baby’. I miss them already. Even the hosta blooms are winding down and some of the leaves are already starting to look tired.

This is the time of year when looking at the garden could make me sad. I have to discipline myself, to regroup, be thankful, and get my thoughts on how to make the garden even better next year. And we are adding little touches already. More on that in the next few days.

Yesterday morning I committed to our garden donations. The two Aureomarginatas that are 5′ wide each deserve better than the crowded space they have overgrown into. If we ate hosta greens I would keep them, but we don’t. I may save a small division, but that would have to go up north and be put in chicken wire. Much more joyful is the thought of them maybe being divided to share with many and absolutely being primary specimens in neighboring gardens.

I also decided to harvest the daylily seeds again this year, and they are plentiful.

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Above are the ‘Purple D’ Oro’ but almost every daylily formed seeds this year. (The peach daylily is our exception.) Those seeds will be my early April seedling project next spring.

Today we were cleaning the garage, going through things. Some things with many fond memories were put aside to donate. We don’t use them anymore, but we know others who are very excited about receiving them and will really enjoy them. So it is with the garden. We grow, we enjoy, we improve, we share, sometimes we pass things on, all with the hope the joy will continue. We can be thankful. We can remember fondly. We can continue to move forward and improve.