He Plants.

I am so inspired by my sister-in-law, Lara. She has the ability to see God in the everyday. Check out her latest blog about this very subject here: He Asked I have been so inspired that this morning in my overly drowsy state while waking, I asked the Lord for this gift. Lord, let me see you in the everyday, in the mundane parts of my day, I want to see you. 


Imagine my surprise when He answered! ;o) He's so good at that isn't He?!


Dave and I have been preparing our little 25x20 foot garden. The soil is fantastic. It's dark with tons of earthworms. The tree in the middle of our porch provides just the right amount of shade over the yard so that the Texas sun won't scorch the plants. It seems that the landscape of our yard is just right so that the water runoff flows through the garden. Once we add a little soaker hose, it will hopefully be fantastic! 


Let me backtrack to this fantastic tree I mentioned. I have a love-hate relationship with this grand creation. While the shade it provides is amazing, it is in the process of "popping out" for spring. Bright green leaves are filling out and it is dropping  thousands upon thousands of its seedlings. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but the seedlings are long, brown and snaky looking. ....And they have COVERED my precious garden soil. 


So, today, Dave and I are in the garden raking these blessed tree children out of the garden. (We are prepping to plant tomorrow since rain is coming later this week). As I'm raking, I was finding myself rather impressed with the dark soil I was uncovering. It was beautiful. And then it hit me. 


God knows the soil that we have beneath the messy things the world drops on us. He sees the potential that lies beneath. Like the gardener, He gently works the soil, pulling the mess off the top and sometimes digging a little deeper to pull out the weeds. And then sometimes He surgically removes that which would strangle the very life He is about to plant. (I have images of Dave and the 1/4" in diameter tree root he found today. That poor root got its guts chopped to bits -sweat and dirt and root bits flying everywhere, poor guy.) And when the soil is right, when it has been prepped and made ready to receive, He plants. 


Thanks Lord for showing me You in the everyday. May my eyes continue to be open. 

Rebirth

This time last year we were packing Dave's bags and prepping to send him off to the great state of Texas. My how time flies, huh? He was leading the way for me and coming out to get a lay of the land, see what this great flat state might have to offer this wandering couple.

Little did we know what transformations would happen between April 2009 and today. We arrived with such grand plans. Plans that seemed at the time to be the exact path that the Lord would have us walk. I mean, after all, we had prayed about it for a whopping 15 seconds, right?! Despite our flighty, half-thought through misadventures, Christ met me here. He met me in the midst of the month apart, the packing of our home without half of me, the repainting of an apartment, the final goodbyes.

And this decision, the most drastic decision I have ever agreed to, become a most beautiful rebirth of two people.

This rebirth has not been without pain, I assure you. No birth can be. But the joy on the other side of the pain has been well worth the agony. Just as a mother's body contracts and releases, writhes and wrenches in the pain of childbirth; so has my life and that of the man closest to me over the last 11 months. And now we sit with a beautiful new life in our arms.

I'm sitting in the home we just bought, looking at my yard, eating dinner I cooked on brand new appliances that we bought. Tomorrow we will celebrate the birthday of my father-in-law, a man I only call Dad. A man who is honorable, loving, God fearing and Christ honoring. A man who is pouring his life into my husband. And my heart nearly explodes with the blessing of having him in my life. Dave is launching a construction business. Not in the way of a rushed youngster with his eye on dollar signs. But in the way of a man who is seeking to provide for his wife and children. A man who is constantly seeking wisdom and guidance as he prepares to set himself as the primary and one day sole provider for our family.

So, I thank you Lord. Thank you for leading me to a desert. A desert that would prove to be the most fertile ground for this heart of mine. Thank you, Lord, for the little things - a neighbor who heard I was sick and brought tea, soup, and bread without asking if they could; laughter with my husband; friends who gather for birthdays not out of obligation but because of the importance of community; for the overabundance of cats that roam our yard looking like lions ready to pounce. Thank you for my family and the one day growth of that family. Thank you Lord for my husband, words will never be enough to express my gratitude to you for choosing such a perfect match for me; I adore him. Thank you for the life you have grown from this desert. I look forward to what surprises you have in the future.