“A Day” and then some…..

Today I so needed to happen upon this adorable cartoon.

Our pace today was incredibly challenging. A ton of logistical work in progress. Attempting to arrange time for each “in need” customer now that spring/summer is fully in swing. We are just now arriving home and it’s 6:01 pm. We had new appts to schedule, plant selection appointments to complete, plants to purchase and deliver, clients to call about their upcoming “maintenance service contracts” that begin on June 1, and making sure that every longer term client has been served for “spring tidy” prior to June 1. 

And we also visited a potential new customer today and it’s now a solid booking. Yes!

Our personal service gardening approach has blossomed and we wish to serve….but to serve you well. Our goal is still to keep what we do on a small enough scale, so that all of you feel you are being cared for. 

Many blessings are happening as we write. We could not be more pleased with how our gardening endeavors have unfolded this year. Without your needing us to tend your gardens, we would be unable to continue….. So thank you…..to all of you!  Thank you so much for everything.

And so it is in this context, that we appreciate the cartoon included above. Without my Lord and Saviors guidance, support and love I could not continue. I love what I’m doing, I care very much for each of you,  and I hope that you know that you are important to me. I trust that our small endeavors to take care of and serve you, are really helping you. We are here….. to serve everyone!

••••••••••

Thank you Jesus……for your love that fills all of us daily and gives us the conviction and fortitude to serve you well.  Jesus, you have made this all possible. We praise and thank you for your love and support.

• AMEN •

Lenten Study – Monday of Passion Week – Day 41

SEEK SOLITUDE

It is important to spend time in Solitude. When we seek we find, and then we begin to look forward to the moments of solitude, where we can enter into a period of uselessness. Once we begin our solitude, we know that our prayers bring us into the presence of Gods spirit. In this time of prayer we realize that in our mind and in our heart, we were not alone and that Gods spirit was with us all along. In solitude we feel our pain and our sorrow and they become our way to hope. This hope is not based on something that will happen after our suffering is over, but it is based on the real presence of Gods “healing spirit” in our sufferings.

Read: Romans 5:1-5

Prayer

My God of glory, I pray that you will help me build my inner solitude, my secret place of peace, away from the world and apart from my pain and my struggles in life. If my inner life is strong and I live it with you, nothing in the world can seriously upset me. I seek to practice finding my place of silence, may I honor it as my place to hear your “Word” to help me face the world.

 

AMEN

Lenten Study – Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent – Day 39

PRAY FOR DEPENDENCY ON GOD

When you pray, do you stand in front of God with your hands open, and vulnerable….claiming you can do nothing without him? Are you only calling out to Him when you can no longer function on your own? This is a point at which you must realize that you can do nothing at all, but He alone  can do everything through you. Do not make prayer your last resort.

Stand Firm in Prayer

Read Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Prayer

Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, when I think about my being totally dependent on you, it frightens me. I do know that my life comes from you and I am not my own. It is like  me to act as if I am in control. This is my arrogance. But deep inside my soul I know that you alone will determine my destiny. May I ask you to ease my worries over my leaning too hard on you. Soften my impatience with your plans for me. Please help me to understand and pray for the knowledge that You can do all things through me.

A M E N

Lenten Study – Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent

MAKE YOUR LIFE A PRAYER

When you begin to prioritize prayer in your life you will notice that you are converting yourself more and more and in the prayer process, you begin to gain a more clear understanding of all human beings. Prayer is the pulse of our world. When you are praying you cannot help but pray for all the troubles our world is experiencing. And you must question them. This must bring you to an awakening….. that conversion is necessary for all of us in the entire human community. We must experience a turning around….a revolution, which can only lead to a renewal. Pray about this.

Read: Colossians: 3:8-11

Prayer

My glorious and forever loving God, grant me the grace to be counted as one of “your chosen.” Chosen and loved by you. I do pray, even though I have reoccurring sinful ways. Help-me Father to turn my life into an ongoing prayer. For I wish to smooth my way….. and the way of others and the whole human community. I seek true personal transformation, that my conversion will spill over and inspire others to conversion. Our world community needs to know you so very much. Let us renew ourselves to know that Jesus is all, and in all. 

••AMEN••

Lenten Study – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent – Day 37

OPEN YOUR HANDS

How do you open your closed hands? First you must not be afraid of Him who wants to enter the place you live, or to let Him really see what you are clinging anxiously too. Don’t be afraid to tell him how little coin is in your hand. He knows how little it will buy anyway.  He comes to you always and reveals himself as love. If you carry bitterness or disappointment or hate….he knows. Even as you have little to show, let it all be seen by him. Don’t pretend to put on beauty, by holding back what is dirty and spoiled. For he knows your little path is not all “proper.” He knows it is forced and not the true essence of you. Find your way to prayer. Do not be fearful.

Read: Revelation 1:12-13, 17-18

Prayer

Dear God, my open and truthful God. My hands are tightly closed. You know that my tightly closed hand is my symbol of fear and trouble. I ask you to make my hands open in friendship and love. I ask you to open my heart too. I want my heart to be honest and open. I want to show you who I truly am in love. Please hold me back from trying to show perfection. I am human… and my sins are very real. I am not perfect…. And I am heartily sorry. Amen

Lenten Study – Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent – Day 36

BE CHRISTLIKE

How can we call yourselves a Christian?

. We look forward to a “new world.

. We ask questions about the society you live in

. We focus on conversion for ourself and for the world

. We are not satisfied with the things….as they are

. We keep reminding ourself….a new world is coming

. We believe we have a role in the fruition of a new kingdom

. We urge everyone we meet, to help create urgency, so that the “promise” will be fulfilled

Read Acts: 11:22-26

Prayer

My dear Father God, am I truly your disciple? Am I worthy to call myself your disciple? Sacrifice is necessary for the world to change, but I always want to live in comfort. My intention says “someday” I will commit. You ask me to work for your new kingdom. I ask for your help to be converted from a member of our secular society, to being your willing worker,  and to help you create a new order, a new life and a new truth. 

 

AMEN

 

Lenten Study – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent – Day 35

BE COMPASSIONATE, NOT COMPETITIVE

In our day to day world there seems to exist in our culture an all pervasive competition.This competition reaches into the smallest corners of our relationships. This keeps us from a union with each other. It prevents our being compassionate, because we are all about self. The call to compassion means we would have to compromise, give up things and practice letting go of our competitive lives. We feel frightened and so we resist.

Read: Mark 10:35-38, 41-44

Prayer

Dear God, I confess to the “Games” we play. Competition; who is better, richer, nicer, who is more attractive. This keeps us separate from others. Father help me live a life where distinctions fade away and being different is down played. I want to become a lover of all and not a lover of self.

* Amen *

Lenten Study – Fifth Sunday of Lent

LIVE THE PLAN

We all have wounds. Everyone in this life does. The secret is to live through them and not to keep thinking them through. It’s better to cry than to worry, better to feel your wounds deeply than to understand them. Let them into your silence which is better than talking about them. To really cope with your wounds you need to let them go down deep into your heart. You will discover that once they penetrate your heart, that your healing lives there. Healing lives in your heart and you will find that they will not destroy you.

Read: 1 Peter 2:20-23

Prayer

My dear Father, I desire to be whole and I want your healing. I am afraid of pain and I’m always conscious of being hurt or harmed.  Help me, so I don’t repeat the habits that cause me this harm and hurt. I seek your soothing mercy to help me heal my hurts. Help me to live through pain and to remember that living in your joy is how I can find the other side where your wholeness and healing fill me. Thank you father for showing me how to live through my wounds.

A M E N 

Lenten Study – Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent – Day 30

SEE BOREDOM AS A WARNING

When you get bored do you have a feeling of being disconnected? Being busy helps us feel like we might be making a difference. Life comes and life happens and the events we experience we have little control over. Being bored doesn’t mean we have nothing to do, but we can ask ourselves; of what value are the things we are doing. Funny that we can often be bored and busy at the same time. Our keeping up with tasks and obligations can sometimes feel challenging, making us wonder if perhaps we are not so sure that it would make a difference….if we did nothing at all.

Read: Luke 20:38-42

Prayer

Dear Father, I want to find true purpose for my life. Help me to recognize boredom in needless busy activity that robs me of the grace and energy that I need to fulfill your purpose. Sometimes I can get off track and waste time on unnecessary busy work, and mindless activity. Help me not to be distracted by my own self-imposed tasks and help me to focus, to sit, to be still, to call your name Jesus, and then listen for your voice. Thank you for hearing my prayer.

Amen

Lenten Study – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

LOOK FOR THE SPIRIT

Do you want to have a real spiritual life? Then right here and right now….live your life in the experience of your “pains and your joys.” Take a close look at how you Think, Feel and Act. In that process of really looking…..you will find that you will become fully aware of your hunger for the spirit. Inside  each of us is an inner feeling of discomfort with how we live in “the now.” We all should each take a look at how we are truly living our lives. It’s time to get real. Be honest with yourself. Have the courage to confront yourself about how you are living your life. Trust yourself that your honesty and courage will lead you, not to a loss of hope, but to a new heaven and a new earth.

Read: Matthew 7:25-27, 32-35

Prayer

My Father God, I wish to chase away my sadness and any worry….with your gift of Grace. I want to put away boredom and doubt, and with swift action I call out to you now, to infuse your Grace into my soul. Help me to be honest with myself and to put my childish and untrue games away, so that I may reach up with my true heart for your kingdom, Oh’ my God…I cry out to you now. I seek your loving care.

AMEN