as planned...

Don't you love it when a plan goes kerplunk kerplewy? That is how I was feeling a few moments ago.  Pups woke me up super early so I've had plenty of time to get the inside chores completed.  My brilliant self decided that I should get busy and get the outside chores done so that I could dig back into the business of the day.  I have a lot to work on after all. 

A few minutes into things, I realized that simply wasn't going to happen.  The grass was so crazy wet that my feet are literally soaking wet and for a change I am actually wearing shoes and socks.  Since I have to wait I decided to wrap up the great potato experiment of 20203.  I still had two bags to harvest. I learned a lot, definitely didn't harvest a ton of potatoes, basically two meals worth.  I think I got lazy and put far too many starts in each grow bag.  Shame on me.  I also learned that I am not so sure I want to grow potatoes, although I now know that if things get crazy, I can. 

judgy much?

I'm almost finished sifting through the dirt and will add in some coffee grounds, egg shells and epsom salt and plant the beets that I am trying this year. Fall planting is definitely underway.  The rain in July and the first few weeks of this month have stressed the tomatoes and most of the original plants are starting to finish up.  This weekend I hope to get the garlic bulbs that I am going to plant for the spring harvest.  So many new experiments in gardening.

As I was out there pruning and praying, I found myself thanking God for the blessing of the squirrels.  I can't believe I even just said that, but it's true.  I have about 6 new tomato plants that are growing like crazy, they are already starting to flower and will soon put out tomatoes.  I have no idea what kind they are, so it will be a surprise, but we will be blessed with more fresh from the garden tomatoes to grace our meals this year. 

As I was praising the blessing, I was pondering how many times God steps in and meets our needs. We don't see him working, we don't necessarily even know we have that need, and yet he steps in.  I definitely do not have the ability to feed a family out of my little garden. Shoot I will never even can from it, except for a few jars of jalapeno's or jalapeno jelly.  But all together the veggies have contributed to months of fresh, healthy food that we know what was used in it's production.  We know when it was harvested and how it meets our needs. Before I started dehydrating our tomatoes we were even sharing those with friends. 

God might not give us everything we want.  But the needs... are bountiful. Just yesterday I was telling Hubs to be a bit careful in the budget, my trip had dipped into our funds and we didn't want to make ourselves short.  Especially given that almost every utility had increased in the past month or so. God heard our concerns because when we checked the mail yesterday a refund check we had forgotten about showed up.  

sunbathing pup

How many times do we get wrapped up in the unnecessary and feel overwhelmed?  How often do we worry about needs, feeling humbled and lacking?  It isn't even always with finances.  Although I know many that are struggling. Sometimes it's in relationships or health.  It might be a feeling of being less than or struggling with depression, feeling overwhelmed with work, home, school, oh the list could be endless.  There are simply so many times that we have to make a choice between letting satan steal our joy, taking the blessings that are abundant and twisting it into a sense of lack. Mark 4:15 describes that so clearly.

Our words are powerful.  So is our self-talk.  I find in the silence I am finding wonders that I never knew were there. 

If the grass hadn't been wet, I wouldn't have had time to sit for a few and type, I wouldn't have harvested the potatoes today because I was weary. The changing of plans allowed me to space things a bit more, so that my body wasn't sore from the tasks at hand.  The day promises to be pleasant, so holding out for a bit isn't going to be horrible or cause heat exhaustion.  I am working on finding the blessings in everything. 

I find Hubs and I are both shifting into something bigger than us, we are both finding peace and joy in this transition.  By surrendering, we are finding something that has truly been just out of reach. We are spending more time stepping out of the secular world. More time in the Bible, in his word. As we lean harder into God and his word, we are both leaving so much man made doctrine, drama and destruction behind.  The feelings are indescribable. 

Well... I am getting cozy in this chair and could waste away the day, but the grass is needing mowed, there are a few random weeds in the flower beds and time is precious.  One more sip of hot coffee and I am back to work. 

love and prayers, b