2 years ago
Will this year’s arrival of spring bring new beginnings in more areas than just the weather and the landscape? I’m sure of it, though under the thick clouds of winter I was bogged down with doubts.
Last summer my husband, who does the heavy work, broke the ground to add a fourth raised bed. Now it’s almost ready for planting – which helped my frame of mind a lot.
This week, during a medical consultation, I caught wind of renewed hope regarding my health. My eyes brightened. And yes, the birds in the dogwood tree actually started singing!
Since my recent seasons in the garden had resulted in such good health, mentally and physically, my husband built my first raised beds and installed a garden irrigation system. This definitely made the work easier. That summer was all about weeding, pruning, feeding, harvesting and processing plants; my body and resolve growing ever stronger.
I hoarded canning jars and filled them with strawberry jam, green beans, applesauce, soup starter, lima beans, dried basil, dried kale and spaghetti sauce. I rolled pumpkins into a line along the fence to admire, and buried a cabbage upside down to see if it really would stay fresh and even sweeten through the winter – as a Midwest YouTubing gardener demonstrated (mine was a slimy failure).
I’ve enjoyed two productive seasons since then, one which included 12-foot tall cornstalks!
Early in November I brought in the nicest Dahlias and posted them around my home, expecting them to be the last I would see for awhile. The next morning? I was right. Within hours of picking my blooms the bed displayed only sorrowful, droopy death and decay.
All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
Another aspect of improving my overall health is through writing more. When my physician suggested I change the way I think about wellness, I knew instantly that it was what I needed to hear. Therefore, here I am, writing. In my DNA, thinking is writing and vice versa. And publishing my writing, i.e. blogging, forces me to invest in healthy thinking. Win/win.
I plan to keep filling my mind with God’s words and pondering the Scriptures. The benefits will never decay or die away. Though my flesh, like my Dahlias, will reach the end of its productivity, the One who speaks to nothingness and creates life, and who promised to never lose track of those who call on him, will certainly keep me in his care. That’s a lot of good news all around!
