Rural Mama's Sandbox: Nature

Showing posts with label Nature. Show all posts

I was sitting on my couch reading Share Jesus Without Fear when the wind picked up and it began to pour rain. The wind was pretty strong and I noticed the branches on the tree in our front yard seemed saggy and a bit closer to the house than normal. I watched the trees across the street as the tops swayed back and forth in the wind, almost violently.

I began to think how amazing it was that these tall trees could withstand so many storms and being tossed back and forth in the wind. They stand tall with a living, healthy trunk that gives them amazing stability but room to give to the wind without breaking. Now, on another hand, we have a dying tree in our backyard. So far we have lost at least 5-6 very large and heavy limbs during storms this year. During one storm a branch fell on our van, denting the hood and cracked the windshield.

I began to think of God, my Faith in Him, and my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is like the healthy tree that stands strong. Inevitably, there will be a storm or hard times that shake the branches and may cause the tree to sway, but remaining strong in Faith keeps me rooted and able to withstand anything that comes my way. The storm also has positive affects as well, the rain helps the tree grow and gain further strength just as hard times strengthen my Faith and relationship with Jesus. But remember also that the trees do not grow tall over night, relationships with Christ are a long term process and commitment that takes time and good nourishment (which can be found in reading the Bible and going to church).

I changes my thoughts to the dying tree. It is like those that have not accepted Christ as their Savior. Although, the majority of the tree looks nice and blooms, it is dying at its very foundation and if you look close enough you can see death spreading up the tree. It will eventually fall without intervention. The storms have no positive effect on the tree and the excess water can actually rot the wood and weaken it.

I thank God that I am strong in Him and I encourage you all to seek Him. If you look around you can learn so much about God, just from the world around you. Also, don't get discouraged, everyone starts as a seed and has to grow! A great place to start is by talking to a pastor, ask Him about God and how you can have a relationship with Jesus.

I would like to give you all some encouragement through a Bible Verse that has been on my heart for the past month or so:

"I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me Strength." Philippians 4:13

I also found another passage that fits well with the theme of this post. It is a prayer for spiritual strength found in Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Have a blessed day dear followers!

What a beautiful day! It was in the 50s here, so the girls and I spent most of the day outdoors. I inspected our landscape to see what survived winter and what needed fixed. I am amazed that in FEBRUARY I have green shoots popping up everywhere! Has spring decided to come early this year?

Hopefully, we will be moving into our new home soon. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the new house, but its coming along slowly but surely. A friend of ours will be living in our current home after we move, but I want to make sure that she has little to no work that needs to be done to the yard or landscape after we are gone.

So, since the weather was nice today I busted out my gloves and got to work cleaning up leaves and weeds around the house and the backyard. Once I got the leaves cleared decently, I was bummed to see absolutely no hostas under the tree in our front yard. Our neighbor had problems with the deer eating her hostas in her woods, but I had thought that ours survived. I'm hoping they are just hiding under the soil, waiting to pop up soon, but we'll see. We've had several wind storms this winter so, I began working on picking up the branches and sticks that are scattered through the back yard. Big Sister was a little help, picking up sticks and placing them where I instructed. However, she is 2 and easily distracted, so most of her time she was spent poking the ground with sticks or drawing lines in the sand.

As I worked I became increasingly excited about working on the garden at our new house. I have already ordered vegetables for my raised planters, but am still trying to decide on what flowers to use in on the porch and around the house. I guess I probably shouldn't call it a porch, its just a large concrete pad that isn't attached to the house. We will be adding a deck around the house and connect it to the concrete pad, where the garden will be. This will be the first time I've attempted to keep an active garden going, our "porch" is mostly full sun, so if you have any tips or tricks PLEASE leave me a comment!

I hope you had as wonderful a day as I did dear followers,