It Has Been Awhile

I sure have been busy!! I didn't mean to neglect this blog for so long but one day of farm work led to another and the next thing I know it is July 8th!! The garden is in and growing, minus a few tomatoes and cucumbers from the frost that snuck in. The first hay crop is in the hay shed and the irrigation is going full force on the hay field. We have planted trees, mowed the massive lawn many times, weeded the garden, fixed fences and tractors and now, it seems, there is a bit of breathing room.

Even though I have been quiet on posting, the Lord has kept me busy praying and praying for those whom He led me to on Facebook. If you have an account and would love to join me in praying for those Father leads my way, send me a friend request on Facebook and I would be glad to friend you there. My link in on the right hand side bar.

There hasn't been a lot of prayer requests for those who I follow on this blog until today. Phoebe is having headaches and for a person suffering from brain tumors that is always a red flag. Here is what came in over Phoebe's page, An Atypical Miracle, today...

Asking for prayers for Phoebe; she is having headaches that won't abate with Tylenol and that makes me nervous of course. Her labs checked out fine this morning, and I was really hoping that the pain would be easily pinpointed with an electrolyte issue. Unfortunately the headaches are unexplained. Her oncologist said no need to worry yet since there are a great many things that cause headaches, but that doesn't offer much solace to a brain tumor parent. Next MRI is due August 5th, but will be moved up if we don't see improvement.

Please keep Phoebe in your prayers, thanks!!

Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 

Sr Douglas Mt, Canadian Rocky Mountains

Blessings in Jesus Christ,
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Bringing In The Harvest

 Proverbs 17:22 NIV

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Today is Thursday and that means The Sunshine Project!! Summer is not putting the link up, it is her friend Kimberly from Kimberly's Korner who is helping her out by hosting it. If you have some sunshine that you want to share, why don't you link up with Kimberly and hopefully Summer will read it and be filled with some joy.

Garden 2012

As most of you know this spring my kids and I planted a garden. Now, the end of August, the garden is really producing. We have peas, beans, cucumbers, onions, swish chard, carrots, zucchini and tomatoes (green still) coming out of our ears!! Corn will be ready in a couple of weeks and the birds will be feasting on the sunflowers. The mint, catnip, chives, sage and oregano seem to be doing fine but I may just have to move them next year as I think the soil is not the best where they are.

Corn

Next year, I will have to reconsider what we plant and just how much we plant as I have zucchini coming out of my ears! I mean there is only so much of this vegetable that one can eat even if processed, froze and saved to put into banana bread and fritters. I do believe I will be giving it away to some of the people at my church. ;P

Stuffed Zucchini

Herbs

Tomatoes! There are SO many green tomatoes and not a red one yet. I sure do hope they start changing soon because here in the north our growing season is short and I am expecting some frost during the night time very soon.

Tomatoes

Stew with fresh garden veggies!

I'm linking up with Kimberly, Kimberly's Korner for Summer's The Sunshine Project. 

Psalm 65:9-13 NIV

You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.

You drench its furrows
    and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
    and bless its crops.

You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.

The grasslands of the desert overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.

The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

God Bless!

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Sunshine Project

Ecclesiastes 11:7 NIV

Light is sweet,

    and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. 

Today I am linking up with Summer for the Sunshine Project and the object is to post something that makes you smile. Well, my garden makes me smile. You see last year I was just too sore and stiff to plant a garden and this year well I dug, planted lifted and placed lots of the rocks you see here. :) I am in remission from RA and so very pleased!! My kids and husband helped a lot in the garden as well so this just totally makes my heart sing. 

Spinach 

 The only part of the garden that is taking off is the spinach and the sunflowers. 

Slow growing :s

The weeds have taken over the rock wall and the tomatoes froze but that's okay as things are growing, slowly but surly. We have had a super cold spring with the most rain ever recorded and I have had the fireplace on almost every day so far.  

Berries

Here are some of the berries planted. There are raspberries, blackberries, currents, blueberries, strawberries and another two that I am not really sure what they are. :)

How about grabbing the button and joining in. Visit Summer at Summer's Story to get the button and link up.

Matthew 5:43-45 NIV
 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

God Bless,
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How does your garden grow?

Man's garden

This past week has been a week full of prayer for people in need and there have been times that I felt I wasn't praying enough or in the right way; I felt inadequate. Yesterday I was at a loss and was feeling very overwhelmed by the weight of my brothers and sisters who are suffering. To top it off I was having a few family issues to deal with and as I prayed my mind was flying from one prayer request to another without even completing the previous. Seriously, I was stopping mid word to only start praying for someone else. I cannot say that I felt the responsibility of the weight on my shoulders, no; it is on God's shoulders but I just didn't feel like I was praying properly.

God is so faithful and He reminded me that it was the Spirit of God leading me in prayer for those He loves and cares about. Romans 8:26-27 NIV

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. 

Really how could I forget this?! Satan and his sneaky ways came in and aimed his fiery arrows at the right spot in me to make me question myself. He made me feel inadequate with myself in prayer so I would give up and focus on me and feel bad about myself! But, God is in control and He showed me that this was His leading and His Spirit took up where I left off and jumped into another urgent prayer. I have been in prayer groups where the Spirit is thick and when I start praying He will lead me all over the map and someone who is a bystander would think me a little more than scattered brained but God knows exactly what I  am saying for He is the one directing.

God's garden

Abandoning ourselves to God can be a very scary thing as we let go of control and give it to Him. I love how Paul Young, author of 'The Shack' likens it to a wildflower garden planted by God as opposed to a flower garden planted by man. This image, for me, is very powerful in trying to understand how God directs and leads. People like to have things organized in straight lines and patterns but God doesn't do things the way man does. Just look at nature and you see the wild beauty of God. God likes to come in and dig up man's garden, which by the way really can hurt, then when the soil is well worked He throws a handful of flower seeds everywhere. When they take root and grow the beauty that beholds the eye far surpasses the beauty of a well planned, organized garden. The wildness of God's garden is thrilling yet scary at the same time.

I am so thankful that God cares enough about us that when we are willing to give control to Him, He will step in, tear up our lives and plant His seeds. If we are patient and willing to leave the control in His hands then the garden that grows will be unique and all together exotically beautiful beyond belief.

God Bless,
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                                     Photo courtesy of Nikon Sniper: Mount St. Helen's