What's Growing in the Yard?

Spring has sprung in the yard!

I have been anticipating new growth this first Spring season in our yard. Besides Grandma's peonies, which are coming up beautifully I might add, there are things popping up all over the place. I know the names of some of the blooms, but will have to wait until the others decide to show their pretty faces before I can name them.

The peonies by the front step are the tallest so far.
However, every one on the divided plants is growing like crazy!
I'm so excited to show you more when they finally bloom.

Can anyone out there give me a good reason to keep this yucky yucca that's growing at the front fence?

We discovered this moth just emerged from it's cocoon.

It was about four inches from antenna to wingtip.
I waited and waited for it to open it's wings,
but it was being private.

Having always admired redbud trees in other people's yards,
I was thrilled to find out this beauty was in my own backyard.

I woke up one morning to find the bunch of sticks beside the
porch had burst into yellow blooms!

Nothing says "Hello Springtime" like forsythia.

Plants aren't the only things growing at A House and Yard.
Bonnie and Clyde are getting bigger every day.

Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. 

They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon 

in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 

And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today 

and thrown into the fire tomorrow, 

he will certainly care for you. 

Matthew 6:28-30 NLT

I hope this Spring finds you happy and blessed!

Beauty for Clutter

A couple days ago I bemoaned the presence of clutter.


Part of the reason for the accumulation of clutter is the fact that I've been directing our church's Easter play. We have dress rehearsal this afternoon and it will be performed Palm Sunday morning. Of all the things I do, theatre work is one of the most satisfying to my soul. 


There is absolutely nothing like taking a bunch of words on paper, assigning flesh to speak those words, adding simple furniture from daily living, and weaving the emotion of music throughout in order to bring the printed matter to life.  


Our congregation is in for a real treat tomorrow morning!


But anyway, back to the clutter. Really? We have to get back to the clutter? Well, we all deal with it, right? Here's something I do. When I simply can't conquer it at the moment, I add something pretty. For me that means fresh flowers. My flowers usually come from Walmart, the city market, or my yard depending on the season. All that looked good a few days ago were the carnations. Oh, and I scored on some pansies as well.

YIKES! 

(Yes, I watermarked this because I know you're totally going to want to Pin my clutter.) 

Now, just so you know, the kitchen has since been tidied up. But still - see my carnations on the right? Flowers just make me feel better.

Sitting next to my carnations, are the duct tape roses my son made for me. Aren't they lovely, too?  He's so creative!

At the moment my little mantel is extremely random, but the stems that were too short for the other arrangement went into my new bud vases. Aren't they cute?

At the entry way there were clothes baskets, paper, towels and mussed up pillows among other things you can not see in the picture. However, see the pansies peek-a-booing at the window?

Hello there, pretty pansies!

I don't know. There is just something about placing the living in the middle of the dormant. Something beautiful next to something ugly. It can make the transition bearable. 


Until I could get to the cluttered mess, it helped me to have something pretty to look at.


A little like life, don't you think? There's always a bit of clutter, but there's usually some beauty to focus on in the midst of the mess. 

Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT

Saved By Love

Where has this month gone? What have I been doing?

I haven't the faintest idea!

Everything. And nothing.

This morning I sat in my livingroom, watching today's forecast (severe weather in the Midwest) and pondered my day. 

There's clutter. Clutter everywhere. In the livingroom. In the kitchen. In the dining area. In the yard. In my mind.

I had coffee with my Bible and My Utmost for His Highest. Did anyone else read today's?

"Jesus rarely comes where we expect Him; He appears where we least expect Him, 

and always in the most illogical connections." -Oswald Chambers

"You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour and a moment 

when you do not anticipate it." Luke 12:40 AMP

Thanking God for His Word and asking for focus for the day's tasks, I moved on.

After lunch, I determined to tackle the offending areas. First, I gathered my necessary tools: iced tea and music. This afternoon's selections? Black tea with blueberry. Amy Grant Greatest Hits.

Imagine my surprise when not too many songs into the album, Jesus met me right there in the kitchen. I don't mean in the flesh, but in the song, streaming from my computer speakers. 

The song spoke of family love and the love of Jesus. I was overtaken right there in the kitchen with the knowledge of Jesus' love for me.

My reading this morning rang true. You don't know when Jesus will appear in your everyday life, but be encouraged He is there.

Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” 

Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? 

You have the words that give eternal life. 

We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” 

John 6:67-69 (NLT)

Book Review: "You're Already Amazing" by Holley Gerth

   

Book Review: 

You're Already Amazing

Embracing Who You Are,

Becoming All God Created

You to Be

by Holley Gerth

I have to admit.

This is not a book I would normally choose to read.

However, I must say, although I had intended to skim through

and give a little overview of the content,

I found myself stopping to consider 

the truths I found on those pages.

Truth about God.

Truth about me.

At the time of this writing, I'm about half way through

and looking forward to continuing at the same leisurely pace.

Holley uses loads of personal stories, as well as other

real life examples from her work and life.

There is also plenty of Scripture.

Each chapter contains exercises to help the reader

focus on the topic and examine herself.

I found these helpful in order to make

personal application.

This book would be appropriate for individual or group study.

 

 These cards were included

 in my packet for review, as well.

Colorful and pretty, they're high quality card stock as you would expect from DaySpring. I have a list of friends I know will appreciate getting one of these.

Read more about Holley Gerth's You're Already Amazing 

and encouragement cards here.

I received this book free from DaySpring to review and all opinions stated are my own.

Next Step: House For Sale

Once the dust settled after moving, Brian began working on the old house getting it ready to sell. It went on the market last Thursday.


Earlier that week I spent some time putting the finishing touches on a few things and meeting with our realtor (and friend) for pictures and necessary paperwork.


Throughout this whole process I've had friends ask me, is it sad to leave your house? The house that you guys built? The house that you brought home three out of five babies to? The house that you lived in for over twenty-one years? The house where you have good friends and playmates in the neighborhood? Not to mention the best mechanic ever right across the street!


So many people asked me these questions, I was starting to wonder if something was wrong with me because I wasn't sad. Obviously, there is a bittersweet part to it all, but sad - no. However....


To everyone who asked me, I want to let you know I finally had my emotional moment.  Isn't it funny how these things will sneak up on you unawares at times? My moment came as I watched my realtor friend pierce the soil with the for sale sign. Suddenly, I found myself choking on lungs that had jumped up into my throat. I blinked back tears as I realized this was it. We are giving someone else permission to buy our home. Strangers will let themselves in, walk through, and scrutinize. The home we built. The home where we raised our kids.


Just to put this into perspective, my moment only lasted about five seconds and I didn't command my friend to remove the sign from our yard. It's good to know that we are in a new season and to acknowledge that God has provided and guided us to where we are now. The home we are leaving will be a blessing to somebody else as it was a blessing to us.


And now, as a pictorial tribute, here are few of my favorite things about the home we are leaving behind....

We're leaving behind our mark in the driveway. (Only had two kids in June, 1990.)

These two rocks came out of the hole we dug for the basement.
Our friend used the backhoe to move and stack them in the front.

The weeping mulberry tree came from my friend's house. She hated it and was going to get rid of it.
I loved it, so our husbands dug it up and replanted it for me in the front next to the rocks.
It was only about 4 feet tall at the time. It now stands a proud 12 feet high!

Every year we had two pair of cardinals nest in the weeping tree.
In fact, we saw the males when we were there a couple days ago.
They must have been nesting, because they sure did complain while we
were standing the front yard.

I'll miss the custom cabinetry that was made by our friend's dad. I stained and polyed every piece of wood in that house. 
But, not so much the peach countertops - what can I say?
It was 1990 and we didn't have a ton of money. :-)

Now that he doesn't have to spend so much time back at the other house, 

Brian started messing around in the yard last weekend.

We're now ready for a nice, safe bonfire.

Silas and his friend, Cameron, drove the mower & trailer around the yard gathering rocks for the border.

There's lots of wood left for this.....

Source

Isn't that cool? We need a path from the front to the back of the shed and 

I'm thinkin' this might just do the trick.

Organizing - To Pitch or Not to Pitch...

...that is the question.

Our old house is cleared out and I have more boxes to unpack. Now we are into the stuff that isn't as pertinent to everyday life. The stuff that's collected. Sentimental stuff. Or it was in the schoolroom, but I don't have a room set aside for school anymore. School is getting done all over the house.

It isn't hard to decide where most of the things should go, if they should be kept or not, stored or kept out. However, there is one collection in particular that's giving me pause.

My notebooks. These (and more) are the storehouses of my thoughts, prayers, rants, raves, studies, memories, life. I very rarely look at them. I'm not sure I'd even want anyone else to read them. But these pages hold the chronicles of my life and times. I can't bring myself to put them in the trash. Yet, I am asking myself if they are important enough to box up and use space in my already crowded closet.

What would you do? Do you keep every single journal forever and ever amen? If so, how do you store them? In a sealed box with instructions posted on the outside for your family to destroy the contents upon your untimely demise? Or have you pitched your used up journals?

Post Valentine's Day Thoughts

I had an epiphany. The light bulb turned on. The scales fell from my eyes. And now that I've broken the rule about using over-used phrases, let me just tell you what's on my mind.


A couple weekends ago my husband and I attended a marriage retreat with several couples from our church. One of the key points many of the women came away with is the fact that women are historical in nature, while men tend to be event-oriented. Normally, I shy away from putting men and women in totally separate boxes in the Venn Diagram. There is usually some overlap when it comes to generalizations about behavior, preferences, characteristics, etc. However, I can definitely see where the speaker was coming from with this one.


We girls get annoyed about something our man does and we remember how he did it two days ago, last week, two months ago, three years ago, AND the first time he did it - five days after the honeymoon was over. In fact, that's when we realized the honeymoon was over. (Just for the record, it's usually something that's not really a big deal either. Simply annoying.)


On the other hand, while our man might remember the incident from two days ago (if we brought it to his attention at the time), he doesn't remember last week, last year, and certainly not five days after the honeymoon was over. He thinks the honeymoon is still going! (Bless his little heart.)


I found myself struggling with this concept. If that's how we are...and I can see that we are...how do we make it work? Knowing that God knit each one of us together in our mother's womb and He made men to be men and women to be women, I believed He had a solution for the historical vs. event quandary. I just didn't know what it was.


A few of my friends and I were discussing this again Sunday evening at Bible study where I voiced my struggle. I was gently reminded of First Corinthians 13, the love chapter, and the part about "love keeps no record of wrongs." I know. I know I'm not supposed to keep a list, but we've been sitting agreeing that we are list-keepers! Then, I let it drop. However, the Holy Spirit didn't let it drop.


That's when the light turned on. At some point in my sleep I awoke with the thought, "I can keep a record of rights!" My historical nature can keep all the records it wants as long as the list is about the good things. As for the annoying things? God's mercies are new every day. I claim that for myself all the time. Perhaps it's time I follow the Lord's example and let my mercies be new every morning as well.

Summing it all up, friends, 

I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and 

meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse.

Philippians 4:8 MSG

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