A Day at Home

While I have enjoyed the days at the pool, it is time for a day at home.

The laundry needs folding and the yard needs tending. Seriously, I need about a week in the yard to get it where I would like it. But, I will have today.

I shall pull weeds and transplant seedlings that are growing. Bird feeders shall be filled as will bird baths.

And God and I will have a good long chance to talk about the goings on in my life.

Anointed Space

This title - with a completely blank body of a post - has been sitting in my "drafts" folder for oh, over a year now. It was the end of August, 2008.

I knew I wanted to write about the sacred space of the interpreting box. It's peaceful there. I feel a connection there. It used to be a little corner of the stage, but when the stage changed, so did our position. Fortunately, however, the feeling that goes with the space remains.

There are songs, too, that carry an anointing. The two often go together for me. Yes, I can hear those songs and they are still powerful, but when I am standing THERE, preparing for the lyrics to come off my hands, they touch more deeply.

I learn things. I feel things. Sometimes, during rehearsal, I just let my hands talk, with my brain somewhat detached and watching from the corner. "oh.... THAT.... yeah... well... yeah." I learn things.

My garden is similar. I sit and pull weeds, absentmindedly humming a tune. Before long the words will come forth, and I'll listen and hear.

Music, words, language, space. All set aside for God.

They are His, and through them, He teaches me.

And those I love....


Psalm 90:17

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us--yes, establish the work of our hands. NIV

The Friendship Garden

I was wandering through the yard, on one of the wonderfully warm early spring days we've had lately. I checked on the sprouting spinach, the hosta, the rose of sharon. Finally, I arrived at the clematis.

I'd learned after she died, that clematis was one of my friend Karen's favorite flowers. It was one of the first flowers I planted in my new yard, that hadn't moved with me from my previous house. I have been moving bits and pieces of previous gardens with me for decades now. From the womb-house to the married-house, from the married-house to this house. Many of the plants that move with me originated at my mother's house (where I grew up), or her mother - my grandmother-'s house.

I brought with me hosta, and irises, and unusually colored violets. Daffodils, from the womb-house, and off-shoots of a bridal wreath spirea - a wedding gift from a dear friend who now lives in Oregon. My friend just a little west of here gave me some cute little "bee balm" - which, in the full sun of my yard, are much taller than those in her shaded lot. Tall or short, the hummingbirds love them, and they remind me of her.

I love to walk through the yard and remember where the plants have been, and to whom they have attributed meaning. My younger sister loves irises - at least she did - and they remind me now of her. My daughter has claimed the newly planted peonies as her favorite. Up until recently, I'd have said "daisies" for me, but having seen the smiling faces of the (mammoth) sunflower as they dance in the breeze, I'd have to vote differently now.

But standing, looking at the sprouting leaves and the flower buds already bursting forth on the clematis trellis, I had an idea.... I will plant a Friendship Garden. To the best of my ability - those who share their favorite flowers will be represented. It will take time, but with any project of the heart - seen to completion - it will be beautiful!


(feel free to add your favorites in the comments!) Those pictured about are the little bee balm...

Ah! New Life!

I have had a WONDERFUL opportunity to tend the earth. After a long, cold winter, I forget how much my spirit is lifted by a spending a day in the yard, and the first few are especially precious. The task at hand was to prepare the vegetable garden for planting.

I'd neglected it in the fall, so there were still tomato cages with dead tomato vines, and the grass that had grown in the fall remained. As I knelt beside the raise bed, I though how perfect - spending the next few hours 'on my knees' - because, certainly that is how tending the earth feels to me: a prayer before the very presence of God!

I pulled out dead plants, I pulled out dead grass, and grass that was trying to sprout. (I left the snowdrops that will bloom in the next week or so - then I'll transplant them to where I'd really LIKE for them to grow!)

I ran my fingers through the soil, searching for crabgrass roots. I stacked tomato cages, and bean poles and envisioned the planting for this year. There will be smaller raised beds within the large frame, for squash and spinach. Another new raised area will become the dedicated asparagus patch, and perhaps rhubarb or strawberries (or both!).

Of course there will be tomatoes - likely more than I can eat (but I think my friends kind of count on that :) ) Beans, perhaps broccoli, and I'm not sure what else we'll try this year. I still have a little time to dream and consider the options.

I catch myself laughing aloud. Consider the scene: there I am, kneeling at the edge of my garden, singing aloud to my ipod - "Then sings my soul, my Savior, God, to Thee...." Remember, * I * am the only one hearing the music!! Occasionally, a word or a phrase comes off my hands in sign language! What would the neighbors think....? (I so don't care!)

Ah yes.... a wonderful, wonderful day. Joy and Laughter, hands in the dirt and in the air, heart and soul singing to God. My spirit is ALIVE.... I couldn't be more blessed.

Blessed Beyond My Wildest Imaginings....

I am blessed beyond my wildest imaginings.... truly. It's become my tag-line.... my personal slogan. It's the signature line under my name on my emails. It frequents my Facebook status. It is written on my heart. It is totally, totally amazing.

It was a few weeks back, when I was signing "Your grace is enough...." that the reality moved deeply into my heart. Fortunately, it was during rehearsal. As I signed "Your grace true enough. Your grace true satisfy", my heart skipped a beat - or two. When it started up again, my face was already wet from the tears that had sprung forth. My hands kept on signing, but in my ears, there was no music, only the knowing that "Your grace truly IS enough.... yet, I have been blessed with so much more..."

The first day of February.... I had eluded to some beautiful weather... hadn't anticipated it arriving on the FIRST day of February. Sure enough, it did. I arrived home from church to find that it was as warm outside as it was inside my house. My friends here are all saying "SO... that's not saying much!" (translation - my house is cold.) But 60 degrees inside AND outside, I say we open some windows and let in some fresh air! So I did.

I had the opportunity to peek at the maples and find the very beginnings of some buds. I assessed the work I have to do in the gardens. Major cleanup - and a few inspired additions - to the vegetable garden, adding some mulch to the flower beds. I made note of the continued transplantations as my yard continues to become my yard. I envisioned the addition of some more stones and the completion of a patio area, and the garden edging that will follow.

Hope. Dreams. Literally, new life. Abundant life.

I know it will be work... hard work. I don't mind hard work. I love watching it come to life and evolve. I love the process. I love the connection with God in the midst of the process, and the time to rest with Him when it is complete.

Funny the parallels in my own life. It will be work... hard work. Mostly, I don't mind the work - though honestly, often the physical labor is easier than the emotional / spiritual labor. I love the process, and I love the connection with God in the midst of it... and resting in His presence as each piece is complete.

I am blessed...Beyond my wildest imaginings....