Beautiful and abundant.

He gave us eyes to see them and lips that we might tell how Great is God Almighty who has made all things well.TIS 135
I was taken by the hedge of lavender that lines my front path. This year it has been exceptionally beautiful and abundant and has given delight to many who pass by. Its been a work place for the bees and countless varieties of butterflies and as always I am drawn to thoughts of God and his abundant variety of creation given for our pure delight. I read this Irish Blessing recently:
May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. May songbirds serenade you every step of the way. May a  rainbow run beside you in the sky that's always blue . And may happiness fill your heart each day your whole life through.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne,servant of the Lord.

Hug a tree!

But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God. Ps 52:8
  I have always loved trees. They speak to us, they show us their glory, their beauty,their gracefulness. They give shade from the hot sun, shelter for the birds to nest and a bounty of colour and new growth and they stand tall and steadfast,. There is so much we can 'read' in a tree if we see it as it is, a creation of our God.  I like what  Joyce Kilmer wrote:' I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose mouth is prest against the earth's sweet flowing breast; a tree that looks at God all day and lifts her leafy arms to pray.' There is nothing more affirming of the presence of God if we see him in creation and creation as his. Perhaps today is the day to 'hug' a tree!
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

Hundreds of little parachutes

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. TIS 768
 I am seeing the lawns around homes being mowed and tidied and manicured as spring settles in and they all look lovely but for me I love to see the Cape Weed in its thousands  with its bright yellow flowers and its centered black dot 'smiling' in the sunshine with memories of making daisy chains. I love the native Blue Bell flowering in the front garden and on the edges of the road and the 'pin cushion' look of the dandelion waiting for a breeze or a child to pass by and blow its hundreds of  little 'parachutes,' its fairy down, into the air and I say thank you God for everything that brings a resounding yes from deep in my soul.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ,
Anne, servant of the Lord.

Floral memories

Behold the beauty of the Lord. Psalm 27:4

The treasures of spring are truly something to behold and  I find a real lasting impression in spring that stays with me through my life. Yesterday I smelt the wisteria and everywhere I go that its out I have to smell its glorious deep fragrance because the minute I do I am transported back to my childhood where I am playing in the garden. Like wise with the bearded  Iris, there are so many beautiful colours but the perfume takes me back to my childhood among the ladies 'doing' the flowers for Sunday church and I whisper  just a few words of thanks to God ans I breath them in. As long as we stop to smell the flowers, we have memories, childhood memories. God memories.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning said. 'Earth's crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne'servant of the Lord

the very edge of your soul

 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden. Gen 2:8
I took a group of ladies from my ministry out to the Tulip Tops Gardens to experience the ambiance, the beauty, the quiet and the sheer delight of the spring gardens. The day was warm with a real sense of spring about it and we had our picnic among the blooms of colourful tulips and other glorious flowers and blossom trees. Everywhere was God's. His work of creation, colour and beauty.Then  came into  my mind were the words I love : ' I said to the almond tree: Speak to me of God' and the almond tree blossomed......
Audra Foveo said: If you have never been thrilled to the very edge of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord

seeing the expected and the unexpected

For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed. Luke 8:16

It's the time of the year when the garden is coming into its best as the spring flowers start bursting their full buds, those  unknown pockets of beautiful colour and perfection that are a mystery to us until they shed the skin of their bud. Then there is the promise of great expectations in the vegetable garden as we watch the vegies grow from seed to sustaining food. Among it all I see some mysterious plants that I know I didn't plant, they are long and scrawny but their bud cluster bursts into beautiful tiny cornflower blue flowers. A weed yes, no doubt from the seed fallen from the bird feeding tray but so dainty and emanating pleasure. I understand the meaning of Thomas Jefferson words when he says: 'There is not a sprig of grass that shoots uninteresting to me.' Seeing the expected and the unexpected' in everyday life and gaining such joy from it has to surely be a 'God thing.'
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord.

pack peaches or grow an orchard.

Psalm 16: You will show me the path of life, the fullness of joy in your presence.
 Sometimes the people I work among in daily ministry have no hope. They see no purpose in their lives and often struggle to just exist. I love this thought by John Gardner: When people are serving life is no longer meaningless. We can see more in our lives than what it seems.Its like this: some people spend their day sorting peaches or cutting out pockets for pants and they do this all their lives and never feel the exhilarating sense of creativity that comes from within such as 'growing  an orchard' or 'designing a suit.' The meaning and the blessings that accompany our life come not from achievement but from what we do for others out of how we live. Gardner goes on to say if we are lovers of beauty, then beauty will fill all our days and if we are committed to justice, then justice will drive us even past fatigue. My prayer is that we all see more in our lives than what it seems to be.
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Anne, servant of the Lord

The bird dose not  just build a nest but makes it a home.

a special place called home.

Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Romans 14:19
It can be a busy, bustling world in the hours of work, and home is often the place for retreat. I find as I get older that this place of retreat is something I look forward too more and more. Its a place of peace and quiet and presence where the voices and rush  of the day leave me as I open the gate,
and the stars at night and the sunsets and sunrises are crystal clear and unaffected by city lights.Three years ago I decided to find myself a new home - one on the very edge of community where I can live in silence in the presence of God and every day as I go walking I look for him in this place and find him everywhere.When I open the back door the  morning delight is full of pleasure as the perfume of the sweet peas ( and I quote Mary Oliver) 'sends its perfume to me on a gentle breeze and I go to it for a deeper, fuller experience and its called heavenly and something inside me melts and awakens'. There is something about home, retreat, and silence combined with sweet perfume and the early morning warble of magpies and the twittering of blue wrens and I know what it is. Its the presence of God.
Where is your quiet place of retreat?  Where do you go to experience the fuller, greater love of God?
Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord.

good balance

To you, O God, I lift my soul. I trust in you....relieve the distress of my heart. Psalm 25
Sometimes I disrepair at the pace of life.That instant response that comes with it like emails that require an immediate response or phones that are forever with us and are answered the minute it rings regardless of where we are or what we are doing. The pace of life seems to be getting increasingly faster and faster so how do we avoid the stress it can create, that puts our right mindedness out of balance? I like this story: Once upon a time, two thieves were undergoing a trial by ordeal. If they could walk a wire over a gorge, they would be considered innocent and would be spared. If however they failed to cross the gorge the belief was they had been executed by the gods for their guilt. The first thief was successful and reached the other side. The second thief was terrified and called out. 'How did you do that?' I don't know' came the voice from the other side. All I know is that when I felt myself tottering to one side I leaned to the other.'A trusting heart is what enables us to lean to the left when life tilts us to the right. Its called balance  (Joan Chittister  Songs of the Heart)and isn't that what we need in life, a good balance in all things. May we always have God in our sights so we get a good balance in life.

Grace and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ
Anne, servant of the Lord