Garden Tea Time

 Lady Katherine has been sharing her lovely rose garden teas on Teatime Tuesday. I am sharing my, I should say our, gardens. Rick started the first rows of broccoli, cabbage and lettuce. Then Lori made a beautiful patch of squash with a few cucumbers.

Then Rick planted beans and tomatoes. The tomatoes are slower but we hope to have a good crop.  We have planted basil between the tomatoes again this year. It helps keep bugs away and basil is my favorite herb. 

Then, I was so excited when a neighbor, Jeff, got us some free wooden boxes from his work. Jeff and Rick double stacked them, put a lid on the bottom level and filled the second level with good dirt. They set up 3 like this side by side. Now I have an herb garden that is almost waist high.I can keep it weeded very easily. Since it is close to the house I can clip some off any time I want to use some in a recipe. I have learned how wonderfully fragrant the rosemary is. I also planted some purple basil which isn't very tall yet. And some thyme and chives. One of the beds grows only asparagus. It will not be picked this year to allow for better growth.

Here is some mint and cilantro. 

Out by the herb beds we have 2 wooden work tables that we got free. Rick painted them and we can use them for working with plants or serving food when we have a barbecue. It was getting late tonight but I hurried and set up a tea to share.

The tablecloth was one my mother made with farm scenes. I have shared some of my veggies from the garden (except the Tommy toes were from the store).The veggies are on a farm scene plate. I have decaf green mint tea in the carafe. I discovered  the carafe is great for keeping tea hot for many hours if it starts out very hot. The flowers are violas I purchased from Cottage Gardens down the road from us. 

Here is my country bowl with packages of seeds.

I was pleased to get in the mail a Mother's Day gift from my son in Ohio. It is a tapestry that was just right for this time of the year.

This pretty flowery cup is one I picked up from Mom's house a few months ago.

This sun bonnet is one my daughter got for me in Amish country. I haven't worn it, yet, but I may in the garden this summer. Maybe I'll get my picture taken with it and a pitchfork in my hand just for fun.

Blog Under Construction

I will take suggestions for setting up. Trying some new things but not much time to work on it and my computer is acting slow. I would like for my new, free background to be condensed some so the borders would show more but not sure how to do it.

One Lost Sheep

I was reading this scripture yesterday in the car: Matthew 18:12-14. "If a man have a hundred sheep and one of the is gone astray, doesn't he leave the ninety nine and go to the mountains to look for the one? And if he finds it, he rejoices more with that sheep than of the the ninety nine. Even so it is not the will of your Father in heaven that  even one should perish."

Right to the point of the thought that came to my mind: Pastors can be satisfied with a group of followers and not care about those who are lost. It actually pumps a pastor and makes him feel good and content if he has a group that stands by him. It makes him feel important in the kingdom of God. Meanwhile one soul is lost but so easily forgotten.

Likewise, we lay members can be so satisfied to be with a group of people that accepts us. As humans we feel so good in group that pats us on the back. Sometimes people will do anything to please others just to stay a part of that group. We definitely need to be God pleasers and not people pleasers. Nor do we need to be glory seekers.

Instead we need to seek God's leading for the person out there by themselves that need God. They need our attention, our witness.

Are you willing to lay aside your comfortable position as pastor to seek out one lost person and humble yourself so that they might be saved? Are we willing to leave a group of people that makes us feel good to spend some time with someone who needs us and needs God?

Busy, Busy

I have been keeping some long hours at work. There are so many changes and so much to do. I was so overwhelmed a couple mornings ago and hadn't slept well. When I got up I thought I need something light and encouraging from the Word and that is when I turned to Psalm 44.

"We have heard with our ears, O God,.....what work you have done in the past. How you set aside unbelievers. Your people did not get the land by their own sword nor did their own efforts deliver them, but it was You, Your Hand and just the mere light of your face because you favored Your people.You are my King, O God. Speak the word for me. By You we will push down our enemies and put them beneath us. I will not trust in my bow nor my sword."

The thought that came to me was:  God will help me get done what I need to. I will not trust in my calculator or my computer or my own efforts. Kind of funny but true.

And even though there are other events all around us trying our faith. We may not be delivered from it but God is with us in the midst of it all and we can keep on for Him.

In verse 17:  "All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten You."   Psalm 34:19 comes to mind now."Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivers him out of them all."  II Cor 4:8-9 "We are troubled on every side, perplexed and persecuted, cast down, yet not distressed, or in despair, not forsaken, not destroyed."