A Peter Rabbit Garden
Dear Friends,
When I was a little girl the two elderly sisters who lived in the tidy brick house next door had a beautiful garden. Their names were Mary and Martha. They always wore their hair in tight buns and wore aprons over their dresses and wide brimmed straw hats to shade their faces from the sun while they worked in the garden.
I remember their garden as a sort of Peter Rabbit garden, although they were nothing like the angry Mr. McGregor in the Peter Rabbit tales.
In the grassy center of the garden they had a swing that two people could sit on and it squeaked as it moved back and forth. Just a little distance in front of the swing was a lovely circular flower bed with a shiny, blue gazing ball and a bird bath surrounded by bright red and pink roses and yellow snap dragons. I would sit on the cool grass and play with the snap dragons, making their mouths snap, snap and make sunny faces at myself in the gazing ball. My reflection would take on strange shapes if I moved back away from it and then I would come close again to make the reflection make me look blown up like a balloon.
One summer day when Mary and Martha were in the garden they found a nest of bunnies in the grass. The mother rabbit had been killed somehow and they sought out neighbor children to adopt the helpless bunnies.
Mary and Martha were always kind, never chasing the children from their lovely refuge. Like the gazing ball reflected the things around it, they were reflections of the love of Jesus, bringing His love to the people around them.
We sometimes struggle with thoughts and memories that trouble us. I have seen how remembering things like those days in Mary and Martha's garden, things that can make you smile and bring joy is such a good thing. a necessary thing. I can understand why the Bible has a verse about our thoughts and how they influence our speech.
Psalms 19:14
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight my Rock and my Redeemer."
And Philippians 4:8-9 remind us to think on good things, "and the God of peace shall be with you."
A Time For Seeds
Dear Friends,
The spring and summer have their own special beauty of new growth and glorious colors. This time of year when the season changes from summer to autumn is like a hope filled diary.
Each type of flower and herb seems to be showing off like little children trying to get attention and not wanting to be the last to be noticed and certainly not wanting to be forgotten. The last blooms that they are able to produce are often the brightest color and stand out in solitude among the foliage on the stems and vines that are slowly turning brown and brittle. Changes are coming again to my garden and I try not to be sad as I say good bye to the colorful summer flowers that have brought the wrens and butterflies all summer.
As these last flowers burst out in their exciting rainbow of colors they are being replaced by tiny gift packages. The seed pods cling to the stems in such abundance and complexity. The shapes and textures of each kind of seed pod and the way that the seeds are each perfectly formed and arranged inside the pods is a reminder to us of our intricate, creative God and how He wants us to have hope, something to look forward to as we go into the cold season. He wants to bless us with a kind of beauty in the world around us that changes with the seasons.
A garden contains a kind of beauty that is always a surprise package. It surprises us in the spring when the first delicate purple crocus appears in the snow. It surprises us in the summer when the lily plant shoots tall stems out of the ground and bursts into bloom in the place where its leaves had withered. The early autumn blesses us with the beauty of the seeds that will carry us through the cold of winter, their presence giving memories of past beauty and hope for the future.
Like a diary is filled with hopes and dreams, God blesses us with His Word to give us Hope that the seeds will grow and beauty will come in the season He has planned.
Hebrews 11:1
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
Wings of God
Dear Friends,
I love watching the colorful birds that come to my garden. They come to eat the abundant seeds of the flowers. The gold finches especially enjoy the purple cone flowers and the sunflowers. The tiny wrens with their shrill songs nest in the little blue house that is hanging in the forest of sunflowers. Their beautiful songs fill the air as they greet each other.
Sometimes when I pray I will have a thought come to me that is a kind of picture that relates in some way to the prayer that is pouring out of my heart. This mental image will have a message in it that can be found in the Word.
Recently when I was praying for a friend, I could "see" a bird with wings outstretched and my friend was underneath the wings. A stormy wind was raging and the bird provided a safe refuge from the danger of the storm. The sound of the wind was roaring as it streamed through the feathers of protection. The storm couldn't harm my friend. The soft feathers of protection gave comfort and a place of peace, a shield from the storm.
I know of several places in the Bible that it speaks of the wings of God. and how they are a place that we can place our trust. One of my favorites is Psalms 91: 4, "He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." Psalms 57:1 says that, "in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past." We can see how the strong wings of God are a safety zone during times of fear or danger.
In Psalms 17:8 we see a plea, "hide me under the shadow of Thy wings." In Psalm 63:7 we learn that the shadow of His wings is a place to rejoice. We can also find healing in that place, Malachi 4:2.
It's a beautiful thing to know that God is ready to offer a place of safety, joy and healing for us and that He loves us so much that He uses the wings of a bird to describe this place.
Light In The Garden
Dear Friends,
Plants need sunlight as much as they need rain. I have trouble growing vegetables in my garden. Someone told me recently that it's because there isn't enough light in my yard. That explained it, and I'm content with my flowers and herbs, and I'm thankful for a neighbor who frequently brings boxes of beautiful, fresh tomatoes and cucumbers to my door.
The change from day to night, and back again, have an interesting effect on some flowers. Some blooms open in the dewy dawn of new morning light, and close, as if to sleep, when the sun starts to sink in the distance. The petals of the blue flax that have been dancing in the summer breeze all day drop to the ground in the evening, and new, sky blue blossoms open in the morning. The light of each new morning seems to bring fresh, new life to the garden.
The Bible speaks about light quite a bit. In James 1:17, it says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,..". In John 9:5 Jesus said,"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." He said this right before He healed a blind man. In Romans 13:12 we are told to, "put on the armour of light." When we have that light put on, we can be the light of the world spoken of in Matthew 5:14. The strength and protection of the Savior will be with us as we live each day, touching lives around us, being a light in darkness.
Psalm 36:9
"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."
Garden Prayers
Dear Friends,
This past week my garden has been vibrant with color and life. Gold Finches are feasting on the sun flower seeds from branches that are bending, bowing heads. The colors of the birds and flowers blend together disguising the birds until they fly together in a bright yellow cloud. The late summer flowers are opening up, giving hope for a beautiful autumn.
My thoughts and prayer meditations focus on garden prayers. In the gospels we read that Jesus would go to a garden to pray. He must have had a love for gardens to choose that for his prayer closet. His friends knew that He loved gardens and they chose to bury Him in a tomb in a garden. After He rose the third day, He was seen in this beautiful garden.
An olive garden in the ancient city of Jerusalem is a gorgeous sight, flowering, bursting with color, and perfume in the air. The trees provide shelter and protection for wildlife, nectar for the bees, and fruit that will provide oil for cooking, for giving light, and for ceremonial anointing. Olives and their leaves are a symbol of peace and the oil a symbol of the Holy Spirit. I can understand why Jesus wanted to pray there.
It was springtime when Jesus went to the garden and poured His heart out in prayer. He was so full of sorrow that He said in Matthew 26 verse 38, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death", and in verse 39 it says that He "fell on His face and prayed". He knew that a monumental event was about to take place. His prayers were answered and He gained strength. When Judas came with the crowd of soldiers and betrayed Him with a kiss, Peter lashed out in anger with his sword. Jesus responded with compassion and healed the wounded man. Prayers, sorrow, betrayal, violence, compassionate healing and sacrificial love were all displayed in this beautiful olive garden in the springtime in Jerusalem.
I'm feeling thankful for freedom to live and believe in a mighty, compassionate Savior. My prayers today are for Christians around the world who are suffering unimaginable persecution. I pray for their rescue, their freedom and for their healing. A garden can be a place for prayer, for healing and a place for Resurrection.
Ephesians 6:18
"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."
