Seed Ordering

Color has been arriving by mail over the past couple of weeks by way of seed catalogs.  These bright and cheerful  items come during the bleekest days of winter.  Not only do they arrouse interest in the planning of the garden for the coming year, but they are a delight to they eyes.

Inside these pages are all sorts of new varities that, while they may not tempt me, are amusing to read about. 

I'm just not in to purple vegetables that really weren't made to be purple, if you know what I mean.  Purple peppers??  I'm just not interested. 

The "Flower Section" of these booklets are bursting with color and are a delight to the eyes.  While I enjoy growing a few flowers, I don't have the time and engergy to give them the attention the poor things deserve.  I have a few favorites that are low maintenance.  These tend to be my go-to staples.  Maybe I'm in a flower rut.

Our garden is divided into two sections.  The first section will have been in use for seven years, so we are giving it a "rest".  We are still not sure what that is going to look like.  We have been counciled by friends to plant a green manure on this section.  Which is all well and good, but I don't want to plant something that will reseed itself and become an invasive weed that drives me nuts the next year.  My husband and I still need to do some other checking, but we would like to plant something and then till in under before it becomes a problem.

This also presents the issue of trust.  This will mean that our garden will be cut in half.  Some things that take up a large amount of space will have to take a break for the year.  Vegies such as sweet potatoes and perhaps corn will be purchased at our local farmer's market.  With the economic situation looming, we are considering making the garden section that we will be working this coming season a bit larger.  Our kids laugh that the garden keeps getting larger and it is just the two of us!  We do want to plant, not only for ourselves, but to share with others as well.  Trust comes in knowing that we need to do our part in planting and caring for our crops and that God is resposible for the outcome.  (Of course, that is the case every season, but with a smaller area, it will be more of a test.)

So, until the ground is ready, I need to sort through my seed box to see what I need to order for the spring planting.  Who knows what new thing will strike my fancy to try...if we have room!



"Sow your seed in the morning,

   and at evening let not your hands be idle,

 for you do not know which will

   succeed,

whether this or that,

or whether both will do equally well." 

--Ecclesiastes 11:6  (NIV)



There Is Much To Learn

It seems I don't get out much.  Not only does that apply to my physical body, especially in the winter, but to my spiritual mind as well.  I fear being swept up in bad doctrine.  I may hear something that may delight my ears, but is not True.  My concerns come from a fear of not knowing what I believe in a well-grounded way that I can communicate it properly and that do not discern truth from error correctly.  I have my "go-to" guys, R.C. Sproul, T. David Gordon, and others.  No doubt there are many sound men of God of which I am unaware.

While contemplating a couple of books for a book club, my friend suggested a book, Christless Christianity, by Michael Horton.  I have heard of Michael Horton.  I've even heard of the White Horse Inn.  I do believe I may have listened to it in the car at one time.  (CAUTION:  CONFESSION OF EMBARRASSING IGNORANCE ALERT!!)  I had no idea what the history of the White Horse Inn was, what these guys were about or even who they were or what their backgrounds were.  Alas, The White Horse Inn website complete with audio.  There is opportunity to have all questions about The White Horse Inn answered.

The first broadcast that I listened to was, "The Great Commission Survey".  (Check out the upper right hand side--if you scroll down it was the last one.)  For this survey, one of the producers of the show asked some folks at a Christian convention some interesting questions.  The answers are remarkable in that they display the mindset and ignorance of the average Christian today.  Some of my answers surprised me.  It is amazing how one can be sucked into the catch phrases of the day.

The broadcast was thought provoking and has given me cause to repent and desire to know more about how I can effectively communicate my faith.  I have much to learn and it looks as if this is another place to satisfy my weak knowledge.

May I be daily more and more conformed to thee,
   with the meekness and calmness of the Lamb in my soul,
   and a feeling sense of the felicity of heaven,
   where I long to join angels free from imperfections,
   where in me the image of my adored Saviour
      will be completely restored,
   so that I may be fit for his enjoyments and employments.
--an excerpt from Retrospect and Prospect from the Valley of Vision

Color!

Some of these winter days have been cold and gloomy.  The usual Western Pennsylvania winter.  It was nice to see that my "Christmas" cactus came through with some color for me!

Even though it is not much, I'll take it!  What a nice bright color to make these days seem less oppressive.

I've often wondered why this plant is called a Christmas Cactus.  Mine has never bloomed at Christmas--Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter and other days in between.  This one may have been Groundhog Day!  It seems to be several plants in one.  Different parts bloom at different times and one part blooms a very pale pinkish-white.  Plants are amazing.

THOU MAKER AND SUSTAINER OF ALL THINGS,
Day and night are thine,
heaven and earth declare thy glory;
but I, a creature of thy power and bounty,
have sinned against thee
   by resisting the dictates of conscience,
      the demands of thy law,
      the calls of thy gospel;
   yet I live under the dispensation of a given hope....
Render my obedience to thy will holy, natural, and delightful.
Rectify all my principles by clear, consistent,
    and influential views of divine truth.
Let me never undervalue or neglect any part of thy revealed will.
May I duly regard the doctrine and practice of the gospel,
   prizing its commands as well as its promises.

--a portion of, To Be Fit For God,  from the Valley of Vision