Spring Greetings

Hi, it's me.  Did you know that Spring is here?

Happy Spring!

Such a beautiful time of year.  Perfect for gardening and yard work - pruning, for example (which I've been doing a great deal of lately).



An illustration of precisely why I vowed to be more aggressive with my pruning: because I'm not exactly a giant, and all the lemons in the world don't do me much good if they're five feet out of reach.  Or out of reach, period.

Chop, chop, chop!


There's the orange tree after a good trim.  (I outlined it so you could tell it from part of the neighbors' tree.)

My pruning skills are not exactly scientific.  They're not always beautiful.  I prefer to think of my pruning as strategic.  ;)

"This area is too thick.  [chop]  These branches are too high; I won't be able to reach the fruit.  [chop, chop]  This part is diseased and I don't want it to spread.  [chop, chop]  Ah, here's a branch that looks good.  [chop]  Oops!!!"

Just kidding on the last one.  Really.

I got to thinking how pruning is kind of like God's work in our lives.  (Doesn't Jesus make that comparison in John 15?)

Scientific?  No.

Strategic?  Absolutely.

His pruning is always for our good, although it's not always predictable or tidy (to our way of thinking).  And it's certainly not something you can reduce down to a formula.

'Cause real life is messy, and that's the realm He works in...

On a trivial note, while we're speaking of messy - gardening does have its hazards.  Yesterday I was out there, happily chopping away when I stepped backwards and heard something go crunch.  "Oops!  I just stepped on a stink bug." 



Okay, I'm a little crazy about plants.  Especially sweet peas and bulb flowers (tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths...).  I can't wait to get these seeds in the ground.

Robin Mark's album "Year of Grace" (up in the top corner) is one of my favorites right now.  Year of Grace.  That's what I'll always remember 2011 as.

Speaking of music, the new favorite song around here is "Healing Begins".  When it plays (which is usually at least once a day), we crank it up and sing along.  Such a good song!  Even the dog likes it.  No, really.  :)

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When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.  When life hands you oddly-shaped lemons, take pictures before making the lemonade.





Pictures taken - check.

Now I can make that lemonade.

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Goofin' around...







(Those smiles on their faces wouldn't be caused by the fact that I was almost strangling myself, would they?)



Sharing is caring!



Who's got a 'tude?



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And then there's Tephra.  She's just sort of...there.

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Last week, Sarah and I went to pick fabric for her quilt.  It was fun.  Well, for me at least.

I told her I didn't think I could make a quilt without batiks (they're my favorite!), so we started with the one on the far left and went from there.

Can I say I'm tremendously pleased with our selection?  :)



A dozen fabrics - four of them are batiks.  Two of them happened to be featured in my quilt.



Here's a picture of my quilt fabrics.  Can you find the "matching" ones?  Hint: the two fabrics are next to each other in both pictures.



Ready, set, quilt!

Here's another project I was working on...



The pillow didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to.  But hey, for the first time, it's not too bad!  More practice and my fabric flowers will get better.

It was fun, I must say.

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God's timing and provision are always perfect and wonderful, but sometimes they make you stop and just say, Wow.  You know what I mean?

"My God shall supply all your needs..."  That's a promise, right?  And I believe that God is faithful to His promises... Okay, on a certain level I believe that God is faithful.  But when the rubber meets the road - I'll be honest, I don't always rest in His promises.  Like when a certain expense is looming in the distance and I'm not sure what I can count on.  I mean "count on" in terms of income...

Somehow the fact that God can be counted on in all situations didn't factor into my thoughts much.  I started fretting a bit; fretting turned to worrying; and I wondered if I might have to give up on the idea altogether.  Even my prayers for God's provision started to sound desperate instead of being "an expression of my dependence on Him".

And then, just like He'd planned to all along, He came through.  Right in the midst of my worrying and silent doubts, He sent one of His incredible provisions.  His timing was beautiful.

You know what, though?  I felt so unworthy to receive it (even more unworthy than usual, I should say).  "Lord, I've been doubting You instead of trusting - and yet You shower me with these blessings?  I know You reward faith, but I certainly wasn't exercising any."

He reminded me that I am His child, and of course He's going to take care of me.  Not because of anything I do - or don't do - but simply because He loves me.  Not because I deserve it, but just because...He loves me.  (Crazy, crazy, crazy!  I can barely wrap my mind around it.)

Can you say "Grace"?

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Until next time...