Pack peaches or grow an orchard.

Psalm16: You will show me the path of life, the fullness of  your presence.

Sometimes the people I walk among in daily life have no hope. They see no purpose in their lives and struggle to 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. It's like this: some people spend their days sorting peaches or cutting out pockets to sew onto 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 for the pockets. The meaning and the blessings that accompany our life come not from achievement but for what we do for others out of how we live. Gardener 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 ever beyond fatigue. My prayer is that we all see more in our lives than what it seems to be.

May the God of life bless you and keep you today and always.     Anne, servant of the Lord

                                              A bird dose not just build a nest but makes a home.

And he showed his face.

 Come my heart says, seek his face. Your face, Lord, do I seek. Psalm 27:8

Many a time I would take to the walking track, not just to go for a walk but to seek the Lord and it is there surrounded with creation,  that I would ask God to show me his face. On one such walk I laid my request before him and then, right across my path came this most magnificent echidna, shy and nervous, hesitant but trusting as he walked across the path before me. Then, within meters of me, was a mother wallaby grazing, and from her pouch the tiniest face of her joey looked at me with great interest through long dangling legs. God continued to show me his face as he pulled down the shutters on the day over the  stone faced, magnificent mountains before me, lit in awe inspiring colours of the sun set.

I asked the Lord to show me his face and he did.

                                 As you go into this day, ask the Lord of no more, than to show you his face.

May the peace and presence of God fill your life every single day.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

                                                                   Mother and joey.

The aroma of God

 Beauty from brokenness, hope for despair, Lord in the suffering, this is our prayer. (TIS690)

Ah yes, the glorious roses have come into bud and bloom again amidst a garden full of countless 'God miracles' and their sweet aroma, the aroma of God, fills my sacred space where there is quietness of the soul, peace reigns, and conversations are had with God. Its here I reflect on the broken world, God's world, our world. Oh, if only this beautiful aroma of God could fill our world. If only it could waft over Israel, Gaza, Russia, Ukraine, Africa and all the other troubled places ,what peace it could bring, what multitudes it could put  on their knees.

 Take our broken world into your sacred space with God and pray like never before that God's aroma will cover the earth.

Mane Nobiscum Domine -remain with us Lord.   Anne, servant of the Lord.

God's beauty

Awakening

 Then their eyes were open and they recognized him. Luke 24:31

Sometimes I wonder if we are a bit like the disciples who were walking along the Emmaus road and were startled to find their companion was the risen Lord Jesus Christ and likewise the disciples on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus walked towards them on the water and as for us, we can be startled also when we recognize the Lord is with us and this is often a wave of recognition for me and particularly I sense this from my sacred space where I am surrounded by the beauty of creation and colour in my garden. It is there I see him and there is almost a 'thin space' between us in this real awakening.

Friedrich Buechner said: Lord, catch me off guard today. Surprise me with some moment of beauty so at least for the moment I may be startled into seeing that you are here in all your splendor, always and everywhere, barely hidden, beneath, beyond, within this life I breathe.  Where is it that the Lord catches you unawares?

May the peace of God fill your life every single day.   Anne. Servant of the Lord.

Here in all your splendor.

As they open we are blessed.

 All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above, then thank the Lord, Oh thank the lord, for all his love. Hymn by Matthias Claudius.

You can almost see the full buds on the plants in the garden  bursting to come forth with their colour, shape and beauty. They are little unknown pockets of beautiful colour and perfection, a mystery to us  until they burst and open and we are blessed. The sacred space is  just where I want to be these sunny mornings surrounded by God in all his creation and I believe that anything which  brings such joy and delight is surely from the Lord. I mean, just imagine the size of his painting pallet. Imagine the variety of colours on it. Imagine his thinking as he raises the paint brush to begin these delights for you and for me and I can almost hear him saying: 'This one is for you, your favourite colour and shape.' 

Oh thank the Lord, Oh thank the Lord for all his love.    Anne, servant of the Lord

Made by God.

Astonish me again!

 So we have come to know and to believe the love God has for us. 1 John 4:16

It is such a delight to be in the sacred space, in the warm sun of early morning, where the garden is alive, as Annie Rennie would say, 'with small wonders and ordinary joys.'  You can feel the love and presence of  God and his work  and as I gently touch the petals of the variety of flowers and encourage the new buds of the yet to bloom roses I silently whisper, 'God, you continue  to astonish me.' Oh, may we never see the things about us as common place and ordinary, but open the eyes of our heart, our mind, our spirit to see you God, in all things.

May the love of God fill your life every single day.          Anne, servant of the Lord.

God's beauty.

Gold, silver and grey.

This is my fathers world  (Thanksgiving hymn)

 I came over the rise of the hill and there before my eyes as far as I could see were fields of brilliant, golden canola, coming to life with the creative spark of God, even more brilliant  in colour by the sky shrouded in silver and grey rain clouds - the contrast was amazing and reminded me in a strange way of the Sunday school song, 'Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee.' It was Maltbie Badcock who said: 'This is my fathers world, he shines in all that's fair, in the rustling grass I hear him pass and he will speak to you everywhere.' - even in the golden canola!

May the peace of Christ be with you.    Anne, servant of the Lord.                                         

                             

                                                    Gold, silver and grey

The creators presence.

He made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11 

I could feel the presence of the creator as I stood amongst the gardens of pure delight. The daffodils, the tulips of every colour, and the boarders of pansies, their 'faces' smiling back at me, the brilliant yellow of the 'broom bush' and trees dressed in fresh green new shoots amidst pink and white blossoms and such a variety of other beauties. It was a kaleidoscope of colour and I  felt surrounded by miracles. And the blackbirds melody surrounded this lovely sacred space and my heart also sang, O, God, O Lord, you are so beautiful, your face is all I see.' 

 In truth we gaze but do not see - when you look around you, what do you really see?   

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

Pink and white blossoms

Presence and presents

 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God Where can I go and meet with God? Psalm 42:2

Spring is the time when God surrounds us with his smile. Glorious colours of the blossoms and the flowers, deep green grass and breathtaking sunrises and sun sets. Creation shouts before our eyes, it 'shouts' the smiling face of God in all its glory. His presence is such a present. What a treasured gift. Its not so much a case of 'taste and see that the Lord is good'. Its more about look and see, feel and see, touch and see, smell the spring air and see, for the Lord is good.

For the gift of this new day, dear Lord, we give you thanks.     Anne, servant of the Lord

Glorious things of you are spoken.

Calling, calling to sit and be.

(Psalm 26:8).O lord, I love the house where you dwell, the place where your glory dwells. ......where the morning mist hovers, almost kissing the earth and the sacred space was calling, calling to sit, to be, to take in some moments with you the creator of it all as the new day was coming to light, waking, singing, full of the bird chorus and waving daffodils.  For the gift of this new day Lord, we give you thanks.

May the peace of Christ fill your life every single day.     Anne, servant of the Lord

                                                       Where the morning mist hovers.
.