In The Garden

I've been trying to get in the habit of reading a devotion in the afternoons and spending a few minutes outside each day. Ya know, 'getting rid of the day' before settling into the night. It's amazing how quickly we can take on responsibility and pressure that doesn't belong to us. And it's equally amazing how only a few little minutes can reset the tone.

Long gone are the days that 'I need a drink' to unwind. -I mean I probably need to unwind more often, but for the most part, I've been sober for almost three years now. (Minus very few exceptions.) The new habit didn't necessarily coincide with exchanging the old but multiple adjustments allowed for one thing to completely replace another- or perhaps what I hoped the other would provide.

Last year, I started tinkering in my uncle's garden. I've never been a gardener before. But it seemed a shame to let something so beautiful sit unused just because he wasn't with us anymore. Especially, when he loved it so. -LOVED US so, and being able to provide for us, through it.

This year, it's been calling my name, and I couldn't wait to get started. Having this place so close to home is easier to find my way to. I can't tell you the peace I feel simply being near it. A new significance already seems to be blooming. -What a way to honor him, by making something of it.

And as my mind wanders over the details that I'm sharing, I can't help but notice that you have to look at your past and where you've come from, to see where you are and how it lines up to the path to your future. There is a connectedness in progress and in becoming.

I sat on a bench in the garden tonight and read the devotion below. I originally intended to share the pictures with a short caption, but again the connection evolves... into something else.

The truth is, I see a lot of similarities in my uncle's garden and our Fathers. Out of his great love for us, he hath provided and promises us his own kind of rest under that provision. In a sense, HIS realm is your garden. We may have to choose to leave one thing in order to accept another. But even the smallest change on our end can produce something so unexpected and so gradually in the making that you might not notice. --And then all at once you do.

Again there is honor in believing that he is able to do just what he promises. You may produce something as a result of your time there with him but somehow all the while it is YOU that does the growing.
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“THEY will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” ‭(‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬) -Thank you Father.

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I supposed you can save the pictures below for tomorrow. Will you find another 15 minutes?

Certainly, you could spend your quiet time anyway that you feel led to but if you need a little direction, try this: Go somewhere outside. Read a devotion or passage of scripture. Then set a timer and put the phone away. Do nothing. You can take a picture before or after if you'd like but it can't be part of the timed session. Do no other task. If you pray during this time, I would even limit that to only thanking God for the things that he's taking care of. 

Blessings to you!