July Garden Bouquets II

Sunlight is made even warmer by the glow it gives to
reds, oranges, corals, and yellows.

Can you spot our garden bouquet on the old table-cloth
covered with matching bouquets at the lake?

Echinacea "rockets" and hosta leaves

Strength to Sit Still

So often I only think of physical strength when reading and claiming God's promises. But how about this perspective on the strength God gives?

Your God has commanded your strength [your power in His service and your resistance to temptation] - Psalm 68:28 (Amplified Bible)

"The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are 'strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.' 

 'As thy days, so shall thy strength be' - strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement."

...'The Lord is my strength' to sit still. And how difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons when we are compelled to be quiet, 'If only I could do something!' ... But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength. 'The Lord is my strength!' 'Our sufficiency is of God.''

 Excerpt from June 27th entry in Streams in the Desert- compiled by Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman

July Harvest

Tart Cherries - More about these later

Broccoli - These are just the side-shoots!

Raspberries - Very small patch this year,
but plenty to enjoy fresh on lettuce salads and ice-cream...
and even a few to freeze.

Some of our bountiful, tender, and sweet lettuce spread to dry off after a wash...
and already being put to use along with fresh raspberries for a delicious salad at the lake.
(More about that later too.)

Kohlrabi dwarfed by our huge heads of lettuce.
(The apple and pears are not our harvest... yet!)

Lots of snap and snow peas to eat raw, to add to the daily lettuce salads,
and to stir-fry with onions. Yum!

We are so blessed with fresh foods at this time of year.

Fruit Crisps

When making our version of "pie" for the 4th of July - strawberry/rhubarb crisp - I bagged up several more kits of the crumble topping. Now Elsa and I can more easily enjoy fruit and berry crisps any time.

Grain-free, Coconut-free, Refined-sugar-free ingredients somehow do the trick!

Tiger-nuts are not actually nuts, so we can use their flour.

Find the recipe here

July Garden Bouquets

Something Beautiful

Even though my ears and brain can't take the intensity of the music, these words alone still flow with healing truth into my heart.

Something Beautiful
by Steven Curtis Chapman

I see you sitting over there with your head in your hands
And the mess life’s made of your best laid plans
You really want to shake your fist
But you don’t know who to blame
Well, you can blame yourself or the man upstairs
Or the guy on the screen who says he cares
But all the shame and the blame won’t change a thing
What’s done is done
But grace has just begun

And God says
I’m gonna turn it into something different
I’m gonna turn it into something good
I’m gonna take all the broken pieces
And make something beautiful like only I could
So put it all in the hands of the Father
Give it up, give it all over to
The only One who can turn it into
Something beautiful
Something really beautiful

We know the world got broke when it took the fall
And here we are living in the middle of it all
Longing, waiting for the day when everything’s restored
But the best of the beauty that we get to SEE
While we’re living down here in this “yet to be”
Is to watch God take the most broken things
And to hear Him say
“When I get through, you’re gonna be amazed”

‘Cause I’m gonna turn it into something different
I’m gonna turn it into something good
I’m gonna take all the broken pieces
And make something beautiful like only I could
So put it all in the hands of the Father
Give it up, give it all over to
The only One who can turn it into

Something beautiful
Something beautiful
Something beautiful
Put all the pieces in His hands
And watch Him turn it into something beautiful

God’s gonna turn it into something different
He’s gonna turn it into something good
He’s gonna take all the broken pieces
And make something beautiful like only He could
So put it all in the hands of the Father
Give it up, give it all over to
The only One who can turn it into
Something beautiful
Something really beautiful
Something beautiful
Something really beautiful

June Harvest

As you can tell this time, my posts are rarely written in "real time." If any of you wonder, "How can she blog so regularly?!" The answer is: I don't. :-)

Some weeks I write one post. Some weeks five. Other weeks none. Thankfully Blogger has a "schedule" feature that allows me to set them to post in the future when I may not be up to writing. So, in mid-July you will read about June!

Our June harvest included:

Aromatic peppermint - dried for tea
Dried peppermint in the jar... not on the succulent plant behind ;-)

Spicy dandelion greens added to salads 

Lots of crunchy snap and snow peas with meals 

Weeks of strawberries - red to the core!

Let Down Your Wings

"And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. 

When they stood still, they let down their wings." (Ezekiel 1:25)

"People so often say, "How do you get the voice of the Lord?" Here is the secret. They heard the voice when they stood and let down their wings.... 

"Do we not sometimes kneel or sit before the Lord and yet feel conscious of a fluttering of our spirits? Not a real stillness in His presence. 

"A dear one told me several days ago of a certain thing she prayed about, "But," said she, "I did not wait until the answer came." 

"She did not get still enough to hear Him speak, but went away and followed her own thought in the matter. And the result proved disastrous and she had to retrace her steps.
Oh, how much energy is wasted! How much time is lost by not letting down the wings of our spirit and getting very quiet before Him! Oh, the calm, the rest, the peace which come as we wait in His presence until we hear from Him!"

from Streams in the Desert - Cowman 

Scented Beauty

Elsa and I noticed that our regal snake-plant had suddenly opened some flowers this evening! Little white fireworks climbing a spike among the richly colored, tall and narrow leaves.

But it took two people walking into the room with noses twitching and searching glances before we realized that the new "musty" and "swampy" odour was to traced to these beautiful blossoms. (I wonder which critters would be most attracted to this pungent perfume!) 

The plant now gets a vacation in the porch, where we will still have to find ways to enjoy this rare sight.

God Governs

Benjamin Franklin

"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth - that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?" - Benjamin Franklin

James Madison

"We have staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." - James Madison

Thomas Jefferson

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever."  - Thomas Jefferson

Gifts at the Clothesline

June 28th was the "perfect" blend of sunshine, gentle breezes, and mild, fresh air. And the perfect day to get our clothesline washed off and hang out the wash! 



But the biggest blessings of the day were a little more strength and a clearer brain so I could enjoy time out at the clothesline.

What gifts!