a little is good but a lot can be deadly

Just thought I would share a gardening food tip.  

Plants love to be fed and our garden this year is incredible because my husband feeds it every week.  We use a product called Milorganite because it comes in a large 40lb bag for only $14.  It can't hurt the plants or the grass.

However, yesterday I was reading a really good article about the benefits of vinegar in the garden.  It said to use a 1 to 5 ratio of vinegar to water as an excellent plant food.  I must confess, I haven't tried this with vinegar because my own use of vinegar in the garden is for a different purpose.

Full strength vinegar is a weed killer!

I empty a gallon of white vinegar into my pressure sprayer and go to town.  This is 1 day later.  After a couple of days, no weeds!

Exactly like vinegar, a little is good but a lot will kill, so too is wine.  A little is not only good, but highly recommended.  However the drunken state of too much wine will disqualify us from eternity.  Nothing is worth that.  

We must pay attention to our Father's commands.

1 Timothy 5:23 Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

fruit of TRUTH

Ephesians 4:11 So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Recently, we bought 125 acres of land in Oklahoma to begin farming.  While we still live in Atlanta, getting back to our roots and learning to grow food is a vision we have for our future.  Many others just like us are being prompted to do the same.

While we are in transition I am reminded of a lesson from our current blackberry bushes here in Atlanta, Georgia.

Some of my blackberries are trellised in a very tidy area of my garden.  But others are sprawling everywhere on the ground and up the side of our chicken run.  

Neither are suffering.  While one plant looks well kept on the outside, the other plant looks messy.  The messy plant sends out runners that proliferate into new plants.  The tidy trellised vine is much more limited in its effects.

However, both are kissed by the sun, deluged in abundant water, well fed with good food, pruned to remove any dead weight and both thoroughly produce delicious, sweet berries.  Despite their outward appearance or their varying environment, what is true for both is that inside, they are nourished to maturity by the same elements.

Similar to our walk with Yehovah, we all look different.  We all have different backgrounds. We grow up and live in varying environments.  And we each have special talents and gifts uniquely created for us individually.  

However, all of us are taught by the same Creator from the same Word.  And all of us are expected to grow to maturity from that Word.  If the WORD is missing, it is like the missing elements that make a plant grow.  It won't matter where it's placed or how it's supported or what it grows next to.  Without the life-giving sun, food, and water, my blackberry bushes will not produce.  Without God's WORD, we will not be walking in truth to produce fruit of that truth.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

sing the blues

Num 15:37  Yehovah said to Moses, 38 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel. 39 You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of Yehovah, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes. 40 Then you will remember to obey all my commands and will be consecrated to your God.

I LOVE BLUE in my garden.  Not many colors evoke such emotion with me as do blues and deep purples in my garden.  I'm not sure why I love it so much but I search for plants in the blue family in all my landscapes. 

I have the dusty blue leaves of cabbage sprinkled about.  Magnificent blue hydrangeas everywhere.  And blue trailers tucked into most of my pots. 

If I can't find it in blue, I try to find it in purple.

Evan my blueberries scratch the itch....

I think our Father is partial to blue as well.

exposed to the sun (Son)

I showed you a picture of our gravel pathways that run through our garden the other day.  They were overrun with weeds when we returned from out of town.  That blog post revealed a valuable lesson in the garden to not let anything undesirable (like sin) gain any traction in our lives.  If we do, we will soon find it overtaking us.

So....I did a little bit of much needed weeding.  And I left these weeds and their root systems sitting out in the sun (Son) exposed to its harsh rays.  What happened?  DEATH


Isaiah 40:24-25

No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 
“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

just breathe......

Speaking of the intoxication of fragrance from my star jasmine I told you about the other day, and as lovely as that is, it does not compare to my gardenias.  They are in full bloom indoors and out right now.  I planted them in my shade garden years ago and loved them so much, I put only two plants inside my greenhouse.

All I can say is WOW!

Their fragrance is unmatched with no competition whatsoever.  In fact, this year I decided to add roses and lavender inside my greenhouse to extend this olfactory experience.  First the roses bloom, David Austin’s of course.  Then the lavender opens up to release their bouquet of scent.  And just when I think I‘ve died and gone to heaven, the incredible petals of my gardenias announce their arrival with one of the sweetest fragrances on earth.  Truly this gift from above should not be missed by any gardener.

2 Cor 2:14 But thanks be to God, who through Christ, always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in every place.

...but the seed that fell on good soil

garden update

we have "blue"  (blueberries)

plum trees

zucchini

one of our many tomato plants

carrots gone crazy

blackberries

cabbage

 

squash

more blackberries

hey varmints, you missed one (strawberries)

more tomatoes

zinfandel grapes

oh... the fragrance of a star jasmine

Years ago a dear friend of mine gave me some cuttings from her climbing jasmine.  I planted them immediately and to my surprise, they took off and smelled incredible.  When we moved from Bixby to Atlanta a few years later, I bought the same plant to remind me of the fragrance we left behind.

Here we are 15 years later with an absolutely gorgeous display of scent and sensational growth.  

As I was pondering this beautiful scene, I noticed how abundantly my jasmine has grown, simply because it is supported by the whole side of our deck staircase.  The vines trail up two stories reaching for the sun with the assistance of a sturdy foundation to aide and assist.  Much like how our Body of Believers is supposed to function, this principle was not lost on me.

When we recognize the gifts of the Spirit in each other, give room for their use and support their function without envy or criticism, the result is magnificent.  

We are not all alike.  We are not all gifted alike.  We each have a unique contribution to the Body and we should support our differences as long as we are speaking the same biblical truth leading to the same end.  Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Our Messiah displayed all gifts of the Spirit throughout His ministry yet most people only concentrate on a select few.  Probably those few are the very ones they see in themselves; certainly I am guilty of this.  But what we should be keenly aware of is how our Father is building a beautiful temple with each and every one of us who are part of that ministry.  

Celebrating His plan and supporting each other along the way has the potential to make the greatest and most spectacular impact on the world just like my jasmine does every year.  If only you could smell what I smell when I walk outside my house!

1 Cor 12:12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. 

faithfulness is not accidental

We have a very visually beautiful garden.  This was intentional. We didn't just want to learn to grow food but we wanted to end up with something spectacular that would please the eye.  I think we achieved it.. at least we completed our vision at the time.

But what does a little neglect do for us?

Recently we left town to visit our family and this is what we returned to find.  We have beautiful pea gravel pathways that mimic the sights and sounds of a parisian estate.  But you can't see them now.  They are covered with weeds.

Not only is our garden very fertile for growing food, it is ripe ground to feed the weeds as well.  Neglect will surely cause the weeds to grow prolifically; similar to our walk of faith.  If we neglect our relationship with the Gardener, the weeds will eventually take over.  

Therefore, we must be proactive in the garden of life.  We must learn what our Father hates and eradicate it from our lives.  

Assuredly, our faith will not be accidental.  We won't stumble upon faithfulness.  It will require intentional work on our part to be pleasing to God and a vessel He is able to use for His glory.  



But the effort will be worth every minute.

BIG picture

A slight departure from my normal blog post.  Today, I feel compelled to give an overall viewpoint of where we might find ourselves in this timeline of world history.

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Does anyone wonder why farming, gardening and homesteading seem to be exploding onto the scene in the last few years and certainly gaining popularity daily?  I do.  In fact, a few years ago, I watched a video that I cannot seem to find now.  It was a wonderful testimony from a husband and wife who prayed about getting some land and beginning to learn to grow their own food.  They made the correlation between the events we read about in the Bible pertaining to end times, with the desire of people to move out of the cities onto farms to learn about gardening.  I was intrigued as I listened because I had already been watching Paul Gautche, Back to Eden videos and as I've already written before, I loved his desire to give glory to our Father.

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The testimony of this couple though, stuck with me.  It made perfect sense.  Our Father took the time and great detail to warn us of our future in the scriptures.  He didn't do this to scare us.  He did this to equip us; to make us discerning people, prepared, building our faith now before we are tested.  Indeed, hundreds are moving out of the cities onto land or rethinking the use of their backyards for growing food.  A vast community of YouTubers have sprung up to aid and assist.  It's really been quite incredible.

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More than just learning to grow food and raise animals, is the need to return to our Father before it is too late and the horror that is coming, overtakes us.  Yes, that sounds like doomsday and heavy but it is true.  Nothing like we have ever seen or read about before in a history book is headed our way.  The only way we will be prepared, not just physically, but spiritually, is to be a part of the prophecy of "returning."  It is found in Deuteronomy 30 and I'll post it here.

Deuteronomy 30:1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever Yehovah your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children RETURN to Yehovah your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then Yehovah your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there Yehovah your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 Yehovah, your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 Yehovah, your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.8 You will again obey Yehovah and follow all His commands I am giving you today.9 Then Yehovah your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. Yehovah will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey Yehovah your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to Yehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

This is a Torah scroll that my husband and I were able to purchase in Jerusalem a few years ago.  It is precious to us because of the gravity of the prophecy and the new life we have in Him.  May He speak truth to all of us as we RETURN to obey the commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and RETURN to Yehovah with all our heart and all our soul.

a treat in my garden this morning

Matt 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

As I walked in my garden this morning to make sure things were as they were supposed to be, I was greeted with the opportunity to eat a healthy breakfast.  The snow peas are so sweet.  The asparagus is winding down and the beans are winding up.

Thank you Father for being our Sustainer of life and teaching us about You in a garden.

a rose is not just a rose...

If you look closely, the beauty of a rose bush comes with the danger of getting stuck by its thorns.  I've grown New Dawn roses for many years because they are absolutely the most stunning display of blooms every Spring.  At my house, they trail up this iron gate hiding my secret garden.  I also have them spilling over an arbor in my vegetable garden as well as on striking display at my front door as they cling to our 20ft fireplace.  Almost nothing compares to the New Dawn rose.

HOWEVER........

As with almost anything worth doing or having, they aren't a walk in the park to maintain.  I don my long sleeves and thick rubber gloves every year to tidy up their limbs.  Every single year, I pay a heavy price for it.  There must be some kind of poison in their thorns because my hands ache for days everywhere the thorns penetrated by skin.  I say I will never grow them again....but alas, I know I will.  They are worth it.

In fact, they remind me of a verse.  

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it