Wicked Weeds

Dandelions.

They are everywhere.  Really, I've seen them.  

I cannot believe how beautiful they can be, especially if they are not in my flower beds.  

 I have to admit, there were several amazing specimens in my lawn back in Alaska.  Especially once I started to fertilize said lawn.  They are really quite a beautiful and rugged flower.

So rugged, in fact, that it is very difficult to get rid of them.  One thing that does help to eliminate them, other than meticulously hand picking each and every one with the entire root system, is to first feed them.  This may sound counterintuitive, but it serves a purpose.  When plants are at their best, they are able to store food all the way through their system.  This is when it is optimum to apply the desired product of destruction.  It's almost like you get in good with the dandelion, and BAM!  Take 'em out.  It's a bit harsh but effective.

I was reading in Psalm 92 today.  Verse 7 states:

"That when the wicked

sprouted up like grass

And all who did iniquity

flourished,

It was only that they might

be destroyed

forevermore."

Sometimes I wonder if God does the same thing with evil as I do with dandelions in the lawn.  God was the original landscape designer, and I know He hates the weeds that come into His creation, slowly sucking the nutrients and moisture away from what He has sown.  Could it be that when we see all the evil in this world, and the seeming lack of consequences, that it's just a matter of time before the BAM!?  It gives me a little bit of solace knowing that even though the wicked weeds are showing themselves off to be something of beauty, their seemingly uninhibited splendor will be destroyed.  I can rest in this.  I can know that the evil that enslaves, kills, mutilates, and inflicts any other number of pains, will be destroyed.  Forevermore.

Spring Fever!

 I wish I could take credit for these beautiful blooms, but it was my mom who took them at Botanica, the botanical gardens in Wichita, KS.  They are so beautiful!  It gives me hope that spring will come here, too!  I know it will.  It is raining as I write!  Remember those April showers?!

 Spring has never been my favorite season.  I seem to carry this cynicism that takes away from the little moments of life breaking through the cold.  I don't like this about me.  I have always seen spring as a tease; starting to get warm, only to bring in the bleak clouds of rain and more cold.  This feeling was only reinforced when we moved to Alaska and "spring" is called "Break-up."  It is a time where the snow starts to melt and the ice literally breaks up.  The roads are a huge mess and it's muddy, mucky, cold, and wet.  And brown.  Leaves start to emerge in May.  Tulips show up around mid-May here, if they make it past the moose!

 In the past year, I have kept a list of things for which I am thankful.  It was funny because I got a book that had this suggestion and tried to read it, but I couldn't get through it.  Ironically, it was too flowery for me.  I continued my journaling, however, and I am trying to get past my cynicism.  I want to see the beauty in the first blade of grass I see, in the smell of the soil, in the warmth of the sunshine; not sulk that the snow isn't gone yet.  Sometimes I wonder how much I've missed while lamenting all that is not perfect.  I know we were made for a perfect world, but I believe God sends us glimpses of it!

Thanks, Mom, for sending me this one!

Simple Joys

Anyone who knows me knows that I find a huge amount of joy in flowers.  Not as much in the cut variety as the ones who slowly emerge and surprise you with the burst of color that only they give with patience and slight care.  Most people likely have these moments of excitement in March or April when their flowers are popping up.  I must wait until June to see the blooms and flush of colors.  This is when I begin my daily vigil of walking around my gardens to check on my "babies."

Every day I check on the flowers to monitor their growth, delight in their beauty, and praise their Maker.  I love how little I am involved in the perfection of my plants.  Each one is extremely different and wonderful.  I find such peace and joy in the flowers (planted and wild) that I don't wonder that God first put Adam and Eve in a Garden!

I have been struggling at times lately resting my spirit.  Everyday I see money exchanged for things that are fleeting when they could be used for much more.  I see myself doing it, and I don't know how to quell my uneasiness.  I still buy flowers or doughnuts or other things that are for a quick dose of temporary happiness.  I know there is a balance and I try not to feel too guilty, but there is clearly an awareness that is going on.  I have begun to equate the cost of these things with the loss of meals for a child or the lack of a day of school.  Spending one day at the hair salon for a cut, hi-lite, & brow wax could send a child to school with a uniform and provide them with 3 meals a day for 6 months.  This is why I haven't gone since November.

My regrowth is horrendous, but fortunately, I don't see it much!  I don't have new clothes, and mine are beginning to get a bit ratty and stained.  But I am clothed.  I don't have the cutest styles of flats/boots/sandals, but I have shoes.  I've had some moments of wanting newer coverings for myself, but then I remember that I have what I NEED.  More than I need, actually.

Spending a little time each day in view of what He created rests my soul.  I remember that I am on a journey that is not finished.  I remember the changes that we have made to more fully participate in His Kingdom and it excites me to keep changing.

I wonder if my Maker takes His moments to walk around, check His "babies," and watch each day how I grow.  I want to delight Him even more than His flowers delight me.

Grow!

I am so excited!

My group has decided to spend the summer Experiencing God!
 I think it's rather appropriate living up in Alaska.  I know other people think they live in "God's Country," but I think He made Alaska in His most favorite  mood!  The mountains here are breathtakingly beautiful, the lakes are too numerous to count, the rivers vary from trickles to raging, and the wildlife is unbeatable.  All of these things are just beginning to emerge as the snow slowly melts and disappears.

It's actually my least favorite time of year. 

I've never liked spring.  It's such a tease.  You want and expect it to be all flowers and sunshine and it rarely cooperates.  Even when I lived in Kansas it was either too short and gave way to the blistering temperatures of summer, or it was simply bleak and dreary.  Yes, I'm a bit over-dramatic.

It's way worse in Alaska.  It has been a month of melting that reveals the brown and gray of the landscape, a stark contrast to the brilliant white of winter or the all-consuming greens of summer.  It's mucky and wet and cold.  I know I should be used to the cold, but when you are expecting the warmth, it makes the cold colder.  I joke that I "get" to experience an Alaskan winter, which is incredibly gorgeous, but then have to go through a Kansas winter which we call "Break-up."  The name is pretty self-explanatory, but this is when all the snow and ice break up and melt.  It looks like Kansas in the winter: gray and lifeless.  (I liken the bits of green in the fields of winter wheat to the spruce trees that break up the monotonous white and gray birch and aspen trunks.)
All this to say that I'm in such a need for a Spiritual Spring!  I'm ready to have my subdued Christian walk burst forth and sprout into something alive!  I'm ready to feel the Son warm me and make me grow this summer, and I'm excited about it!  As I am a plant person, these types of analogies resonate with me.  They are a little bit cheesy, but alas, that is my favorite food, so I suppose it's bound to come through.

Seriously, though, I walked around my yard yesterday when the sun warmed it to a balmy 49 degrees, and began to clear away the old debris around my perennials flowers.  Most of these were planted later last summer and didn't have too long to take root, so I'm curious as to what made it through our relatively mild winter.  As I pulled the wet and decayed leaves off the bases of the plants, I began to see tiny little peaks of green emerging.  I would position myself so I could kneel as close as possible without setting myself upon one of these hidden gems and bend down to get as close of a look as I could.  The sun was warming the mulch and I could smell the moist earth mingling with the threat of mosses and leaf mold.  It's a fabulous scent to this nose.  I began my daily walk-throughs a while ago when the first beds were appearing with little to no signs of life.  Lately, our weather has been warming, so my frustrations are easing and I'm seeing more and more.  A couple of times, I would uncover the expansion of a plant, and that usually makes me ecstatic!  I'm fond of the "bullies" and have little use for flowers that take an exceptional amount of babying.  I love to see my little leaves poking up through the barely warmed soil and I can't wait to see how much bigger it will be this year!  They always get bigger, you know.  And the bigger they get the more spectacular they are, but if they get too big, they can start to die out and need to be divided.
I can't wait to grow this summer!  I heartily dislike the notion that Bible Studies should disband for the summer.  In the craziness and fun of summer, I still need growth and Godly women to surround me.  I am so incredibly happy that I am not alone!  The great thing about it is I feel that I can expect the growth to happen, I am anticipating God to work in me and our group, and there will be no disappointed waiting for "spring" to arrive.  I can't wait to see the result!  I would even like to see an eventual "dividing."  I don't see it in our near future, but could honestly see each one of the members of our group leading a group someday.  For now, though, I'll brace myself and prepare to grow and Experience God!

My Masculine Monday

We finished our study on mattering and I am reflecting on one of the things that the author pointed out: women tend to measure their worth in "masculine" terms. This means that we create a checklist of things accomplished in a day and find worth in the amount of items or type of things done, as opposed to finding more value in the emotional or relational things that women are usually drawn to. This discrepancy can lead to women feeling less valuable or that the things we do don't matter as much. This is obviously a generality.

Today I had a marvelously masculine mattering Monday!

I didn't start out too jazzed, and fell asleep on the couch after my handsome hubby left for work. After dragging myself around and getting the dogs fed, I went outside. This was about 8:30 AM. I didn't come back inside until noon, and only to feed myself and get a load of laundry going. I came back inside at 4:30 PM. I finally had enough sun and forced myself to come in to fix dinner and get some house work done. What did I do outside, you ask? Oh, let me share!
I took the dogs for a long walk in the woods, which was good for my still-sore muscles from our 12.5 mile hike on Saturday. We came back and loaded up in the canoe, just Bella and I (Rowdy swam), to hack down some of the lily pads that are invading our pond. No, they are not pretty. Clear water to reflect the scenery is pretty, just so we are on the same page. I see the rabbit.
I often get distracted when I am outside by the sight of my greenhouse and must go in and visit my plants. I desperately need to photograph them as they are practically perfect in every way. A little Mary P. for y'all. After giving the thirsties their fill, I had to start on stacking the firewood near the house. We have a little stack that is on the porch for early morning fires - yes we still start them. Why not? Oh, you are hot down there? Forgot. That's too bad. (note sarcasm here!)
Oh the rabbits.
After stacking the new pile, which came from a junk wood stack that was down a hill that a wheelbarrow couldn't go, by the way, I moved on to another little project. I found one of those weed wacker things at a garage sale a couple months ago and just had to get it. It's those hand-held bushwack things that you swing and it swaths the weeds away. I have no idea what they are called. So much for my gardening knowledge. Anyway, I pulled that out and had my way with a few dandelions that were taunting me. I also had the last word (or maybe not) with the cottonwood suckers that are popping up in an old wildflower bed. All this while trying not to swing and hit my dogs who were sweetly playing/hunting in the yard, or my feet.
Deciding that this was not enough to kill me, I moved on to the main project of the day which required me to change into shorts and a tank top! Oh, yes. I had to go and find them in a storage tote and fortunately they still fit me (not bad for not wearing them in 3 years!). I changed and took my reflective self outside to soak in the rays as I continued my bank bed. Remember that one I showed before? Yeah, I've done a bit more. I'll have pictures someday. You'll just have to read about it and imagine all the loveliness before I burst your bubble and show the reality. I'm still proud. It is a ton of work. Pretty close, anyway if you weighed all the wheelbarrow's full of "sod" (if you count weedy, weak, half-dead grass, sod) and dirt that I hauled. I haven't finished it, but I did another fair sized section. Oh, and that reflective self forgot to put on sunscreen and now has a bit of pink. I'm usually quite proud of my cancer-free skin and avoid tanning beds (sunbathing is not so common up in these parts but the beds are as common as the coffee houses), but this bit of sun felt like heaven. It was crazy to feel the sweat drip down off my forehead. Shorts! Apparently, my nose and shoulders must be huge and shaded out my legs completely. They are still reflective.
Anywho, my list of accomplishments go on to include making lasagne for dinner, with rhubarb crisp for dessert. Oh, and the kitchen counter (I only have one) is totally clean, the dishes are clean and the diswasher was unloaded and put away! The table isn't completely covered either, which is saying something. We won't talk about the floor - I can't do everything, gosh!
I did more than I thought I'd do today, but didn't get much on my original list done. I still must email my group and soak my hands in Vaseline. Scratch that last one. It seems the scratchy hands make nice back scratchers for husbands.

I know I wasn't very relational today, but golly, I felt like I got a ton of work done! It really only matters to me and my dogs who benefitted greatly today. I hope God got a kick out of me today. I regret to admit that I didn't thank Him for any of it until I was finally in the shower, washing His creation off of His other creation. I think He still saw me and it made Him glad. I thoroughly enjoyed my Monday!

Monday Makeovers

These are some of the cabinets that my bargain hunter brought home a week or more ago. Can you believe that someone left these at the dump?! I'll admit it. They are a dump find. Not officially dumpter diving since they hadn't make it to the dumpster yet, but pretty close. He just knew they could be used somewhere in our home or garage with just a little TLC. Well, finally this weekend, before my monster sinus infection hit, I got a couple cabinets primed and we put them together to form a tall cabinet/hutch. I think it would be pushing it to call it an armoir, so we'll just keep it a cabinet!
We had it painted (by the way, don't those white garage walls look nice!), and found some trim to go on the bottom. There are several shelves inside and provide me with some much needed storage in the bathroom, which had none. I am not sure that the cabinet is finished. I have ideas to use some of my photo's of flowers on it somehow as well as more painting. I was anxious to have storage!
Remember this project?
Well, I got motivated and couldn't stop with just the steps. Eventually, it will go the length of the house back to that tree in the background (that will eventually go). I debated on posting this picture, because I don't like my mulch. It is just some natural ground debris I found in my woods. The blue spruce is the purchase we made in honor of our 7th Anniversary. My husband made my day by suggesting we buy a tree every year for that honor.

One thing I've noticed about makeovers this last week; they don't come without hard work. Shortcuts may produce a final product, but it won't be what you like. Do-overs always take longer and it's best to do it right the first time. Are these projects perfectly finished? Not remotely. Am I? I hope not.
I'm wondering how much work I must be to make over. I want to be made over in Christ's image, but the work is intense. I am so thankful that my Creator doesn't have to deal with do-overs. He knows just what I was, what I am, and what I will become. My potential is limited only by my refusal to let Him make me over. To think of my tree or rocks telling me where they'd like to go is likely as ludicrous as it is for me to tell God what I think my purpose and path should be. I just hope there isn't too embarrassing of a before picture...