September 11 remembered

Classes at the potting shed, Great Dixter in England 9-11-01 right before we heard

9/10/01 Christopher Lloyd teaching us to not be "subtle"

I remember the morning after 9/11 in England visiting Beth Chatto in her garden. She was quite concerned over our welfare and county and I replied truthfully, "We couldn't be in a better place in times of distress, if not with family, then in your garden,"

 As I place our tomatoes to ripen on our window sill, I remember these at Great Dixter..

We were there for an "in the garden week long seminar" through Horticulture Magazine. I thought this might be a way for my husband and I to get on the same page as far as a common understanding of gardening. Ten years later, we now both garden in harmony. As we wonder about the winds of change in our country, we still know that the very best place to be and to commune with our maker is in the garden. May you find solace there as well, or here from these pages.

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Four Frustrations Turning to Encouragement

Blog originally published January 17, 2010  edited

Cement for footing finally delivered. (click video link)
 Pump waiting 20 years for hook up and trough 3 months.

If all things work for good for those who love the Lord, here are some frustrations experienced and how God used these 4 frustrations to encourage.

God also often uses our frustrations to point out a new view of ourselves.

1.     The frustration of navigating holes and piles of dirt while waiting three months for workmen to show up and finish the work.  In the end it was worth the wait.                                                       

    God’s Point: “Why are you frustrated with others, when you have not finished   what I asked of you.”                                                                                                      Encouragement: “Just show up and get to work.” The wall workers arrived the day after I started back to write.  

2.     The well water comes out of the kitchen faucet in a slow trickle. When the plumber shows up, he removed the sediment blocking the line.                                               

God’s Point: “You have much sediment in your life that blocks the flow of what I   want to do through you.”                                                                                            Encouragement: “Bring to Me the sediment of life that prevents you from doing my work and I will set you free.”                                                                                 

3.     The paths are muddied by the rain, making trips to the laundry room difficult.

I heard about someone who needed work, asked her and she helped me the next day to complete the gravel path.                                                                                         

Point: “You need a God-sized covering so you don’t become so stuck.”                  Encouragement: “I will continue to send what is needed to keep you from being  stuck, if you just ask.”                                                                                              

4.     Heavy rain found a way through the sun room glass roof, landing on the hatch door and dripping down to the wine cellar. I put two buckets out and use them for collecting rain water for the plants stored there for the winter.

Point: “The overflow of my Holy Spirit is available, you need to know that.”

Encouragement: “Capture regular time too, to fill the bucket with a flow of writing to nourish others.”

Paul tells us we are not alone.

“I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time....Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real questions? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.” Romans 7:18-20; 24b-25 The Message

What are the frustrations in your life? Where might they point? How is God trying to change you?

Sore spots

Yucca at the patio edge

From last time’s blog, I continued to think about what traps me in life. I thought of how often I get too busy, a trap, and don’t ask others for help. Often if I do ask for help, those I ask are too busy and I can’t get the help I need. So I asked God, “What can I get rid of in my life and who could help me with what is left?” The first thing to go was the predisposition to expecting others won’t help me when I ask. “Forgive my "bitter root" expectations. Take them away, Lord," I asked. The very next day I ran into two people who offered to help in the future and another friend that showed up to work in the garden. I seized her and my husband, Neil, and we tackled a job I have wanted to do for at least seven years, hide a sore spot. It is easier to grab my husband when there is another person willing to help.

We targeted to move some sun loving Yuccas that multiplied with too much fun beyond their space to a new place and purpose. The two of us rounded up the long spikes to tie them up with twine so we wouldn’t lose an eye over it or get injured elsewhere. We cleared out the area underneath and cut the connecting roots with a pruning saw, so the surrounding plants would not be damaged when we moved the few. Neil dug them up and moved them below, three of them as well as babies to a dirt mound he had been preparing to hide the generator, the eye sore in our view. I love the way it softens and we hope the yucca love it there as much.

Again, in these weeks of Lent, I look at sore spots. I am thankful, Lord, that you have the answer to dealing with them. All I need to do is ask. Thank you for the quickly answered prayer, the encouragement of a friend arriving at just the right time to convince Neil to help. Thank you for moving me to another spot in life for your purpose, protecting me and keeping me out of the traps.

Matthew 7:7-8