Calm.

It's easy to get used to the calm coming before the storm.  It becomes a lifestyle.  And it generally means that the calm is less enjoyable because every atom within us KNOWS that the storm is imminent.  It is a learned behavior.  As anyone who has ever lived in tornado alley can tell you.  There is an eerie silence.  Absolute stillness.  Until....havoc breaks loose.  And your only hope is to be hidden away or far away before that happens.  And sometimes the storm doesn't hit you...it hits all around you.  But you suffer the results.
And so, the behavior becomes learned.  Don't panic, but plan...if there is a calm, then a storm is coming.
It can be learned in life circumstances too.  It's not good.  It's not healthy.  It robs joy.  Steals peace.  Kills the spirit.  But, happen it does.  It is learned.
But learning something different takes a lot of time.  A lot of effort.  Learning that there can be calm WITHOUT  a storm.  Just as a gift.  Just as it is.  Not as a precursor to something bad or destructive.  It's worth the time to learn.  To sit still in the calm and learn to enjoy it.  To put yourself in situations purposefully that are peaceful and learn to rest in them.
When I picture Him keeping my heart and my spirit in Christ....I picture GENUINE calm.  Not as an omen of a storm to come.  I am learning to sit there.  In Him.  Knowing that storm or no storm...He remains true.  Strong.  Faithful.  Able.
I am safe.  I have every reason to be quiet in the calm.
blessings.

Joy Grief

Have you ever thought that if you never cared, never had anything or anyone valuable, never risked....you would not be able to hurt?  To grieve?  And some people self protect.  Putting on the armor, holding up the shield, filling the moat and arm the cannons.  They do everything they can to keep their distance.  To keep from being hurt.  But it simply doesn't work that way.  Because in doing that.....they also get no joy.  No absolutely amazing connection.  Relationship.  They miss out on the messy....but they still suffer.  Because there is nobody to give them the good either.  It is true though.....joy means that you are opened up to grief.  A baby being born is perhaps the most significant moment in all of life.  And it opens up the mama's heart to every type of grief.  And it's totally worth it because of the wealth of joy that permeates every moment of experiencing that child.
Grief is just an aspect of loving.  Of caring.  Of being known and knowing.  It should not shock nor dismay us.  It should encourage us that we are good and open lovers in our world.  Grieve well.  Grieve healthy.  And love deeply.  From your very heart.  Without fear.  There will be hurts, but the pure joy that you will have experienced, will be a salve, a balm, good medicine that will keep the grief from overwhelming you.  Every laugh you shared.  Every memory stored.  They will soothe the time of goodbye.  The parting.  The hurting.  The things you learned.  And in some relationships, what you learned is that you need to BE loved better.  But that learning can be healing too in the time of grief.
We tend to live trying to protect ourselves from the things that actually heal us.  Because we are afraid of their potential to hurt us.
My experience?  It's easier to cope with grief when you gave all, loved dearly and went all out.......no regrets to deal with.
blessings.

Water and Sun

I love rain.  And I love sunshine.  Snow?  yep.  Wind?  Not so much.  I'm rather like a plant.  It takes all kinds of weather to grow a plant and it takes all kinds of circumstances to grow me.
Plants thrive with plenty of rain, enough sunshine, and yes, those winter dormant times.
As a person, I have to remember that if life is all sunshine, I dry out....that the rain does not come to harm me but to help me pull out of life what I am needing to get.  Just like it helps the plants get the nutrients from the soil.  Sun is good, but it's only a part of the equation.  Then again, constant rain means drowning.  Sometimes, it's time to go in out of the rain and dry off....time to take care and find sunshine to warm and comfort.  A plant can't choose, but I certainly can.  I have to know when it's too much and make a different choice, put myself in a different place.
I have learned to love the "snows" of life.  The dormant, quiet times.  When it doesn't look like much is happening, but I am gearing up for a growing season.  Resting.  Not dead.  Not lazy.  Just resting.
But the wind.  The wind is not good for plants.  It smashes them down.  Mangles trees.  Damages limbs. Takes off fruit and flowers.  And, wind isn't good for me either.  Wind is like those things or those people that don't serve a purpose but rather seem intent to destroy.  The tidbit of hope is that even when it looks like total destruction, the wind often takes seeds and scatters them so that there's new growth later.
I need different parts of life.  But I also need to know that I am not stuck in a place.  I don't have roots in the ground that keep me from moving or changing positions.  If I find that I am in a bad place, then it is up to me to move.  And to trust the Gardener to show me a better place to plant myself.
blessings.

Dirty Joy

I played in the dirt today.  Planted six peonies.  Fifteen dahlias.  Fifty.....and more....giant sunflowers.  Unknown amount of columbines.  Pumpkins.  Squash.  Morning glories.  I weed eated.  I watered.  I pulled grass.  And weeds.  I turned soil.
It's dirty joy.  I had a near garden under my nails.  The seat of my jeans looked like I had been sliding along my bum.  Dirt was in my nose.  My feet were stained.
And there was joy.  Because gardening always reminds me of really simple things.  Today it was how simply pulling weeds does not get rid of them.  You have to plant something in place of them.  And the places where the good plants are thriving and healthy prohibit weed growth best of all.  The barren soil is prime for weeds to begin and flourish.  So, for every area that I was taking out grass and weeds, I was busily putting in something good and healthy for the garden.
I need to be sure to do the same in my life.  In my thoughts.  In my habits.  It doesn't work to just get rid of the "bad".  It has to be replaced by something good.  Otherwise, it is likely that some other bad thing will fill the void.
Gardening...it's my dirty joy.
blessings.

gloomy day

The weather outside is cloudy AND raining. I absolutely adore rain.  I find rainy days very calming and comforting. And smiles on rainy days....they seem to shine especially bright.   I think that something I like is that everyone seems to kind of relax. Settle down.  Settle in.  It's calming.  Which can make people sleepy.  But it can also give the inspiration to stay indoors and do those projects that have been on your mind.  
Gloomy is all a matter of perspective.  You can notice the rain and the clouds.  Or you can notice the feeling, the peacefulness, the blessing of humidity, the joy of everyone gathered around.
Most time of life are like that.  And you have to choose. Do you dwell in the gloomy?  Or, do you look for the blessing?
In every moment of gloomy, there is an amazing blessing hiding.  Make sure you uncover it....and then....pass it along. With a smile.
blessings.

all things are possible.....

my friend made this sign.

it's in my garden.

i think she knew that

i needed to believe again.

and look at all of the beauty

sprouting up.

it's....amazing.

believing.

in the god.

with whom

ALL things.

are possible.

it's a gift.

blessings.

not invisible. precious in His sight.

never overlooked.

never not enough.

never without value.

never invisible.

here.

precious.

in his sight.

always.

no matter what.

blessings.