The Prayer Garden

Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O Lord, Thou wilt hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to Thee and eagerly watch. 

I don't know why, but something called me outside this morning. I knew what that meant--I'd be lolly gagging with the flowers and bugs and not getting my walk in before the heat. Still cool, I grabbed my coffee and camera and went out back to sit and chat with the Lord. A dialogue happens while walking too, but a garden...well it just seems like a natural place to connect. 

OK God, here's the deal. You are so awesome in all things that You orchestrated this week. How can I not trust you?  And here I am, asking for just that, ... a little more faith, guidance, some peace.

The Tiger Swallowtail moves in on the end of that thought and for once...actually lands and stays on a zinnia right in front of me. I know this guys name for sure. He's been with me for 8 years now, coming alongside me in my grief, healing and purpose. I take his picture in his graceful pose and I name him Grace butterfly. I feel the bubbling up of faith and trust and I can't help but be thankful. 

In less than the time it takes to fly from one flower to the next, his buddy comes soaring in. Bright orange and white, I am thinking it is a Monarch.  Making his appearance quite regularly these last few weeks, today he is not at all camera shy. Diving in, he takes a look around and pops over the fence, around the tree and continues the relay. I hear God tell me something;  this guy has a different name. The butterfly provides for me an opportunity to take his picture many times. His name is Provision. 

How many more can I capture this morning Lord? What else are you giving me, that I asked for, sought for, knocked this morning for?  I am overwhelmed and blessed. 

When we think we don't have any peace, maybe we're just focusing on the negative, not seeing the goodness. It's there, really. Push back the clutter, the midnight minions that worry us  and ask God to open up your eyes to see Him. He waits for the discovery, down in the mess of fallen leaves...but also near the root, where life springs forth. 

The white flag of peace, waving in the earth, another attribute of the Lord along with His sovereign Grace and Provision. When I look in my garden at any given time, I see these guys. They love to fly in pairs, playing off each other and enjoying the flowers.  Now I name her Peace. She flies through and I know she wants to visit everywhere;  to go around the world in her life time,  fly into classrooms and executive board meetings, into huts and alleys, homeless shelters and NICU's, cemeteries and slums, GOP debates and over oceans where people are lost or sailing away to look for her. Peace, it's not elusive. It's so much like the butterfly, something that became transformed, a beautiful hope. 

The hummingbird reminds me to keep busy, keep praying, keep believing, knowing and sharing the GRACE that meets me every morning.  He hears my prayers and PROVIDES His mercy, within His will and timing. It is OK that I ask Him again, for I am weak at times, many times...I live in this crazy world, still human every morning but graced. Each day I ask for continued strength. The PEACE of God, I read and cling to in His Word and know it. I recognize His voice.  He promises that His goodness is sufficient. I am among the transformed and He gave me a new name as well. I continue to eagerly watch  and listen to His voice of Love. 

These guys, clipper butterflies, too numerous to count, I named my  PRAYER WARRIORS; my church, my closest friends here and a far. I love you and your strength. Your  love and support in return cannot be captured in a blog or a few pictures. 

Lord, I am just thankful for so much this week. To want to express it in my writing, sometimes  does not feel like enough. I never want to stop being overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and how You minister to me. Keep flying in Lord.  What ever words I can come up with, may it be all for Your Glory. Not just working in me, but  Lord, my family is seeing You as well. Your goodness flies all over this world and may those who seek your GRACE, Your PROVISION, Your strength in FELLOWSHIP  and Your PEACE, find it soon and continue until Your Glory returns. Amen.  

~~~

When I came in from my garden, the morning sun ablaze now, I postponed my walk.  Logging  back into my Facebook account, an old classmate sent me this picture, the exclamation mark to my prayers.  God is good. 

A Holy Anomoly

Proverbs 18:24  There are "friends" who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother, (NLT)


It's Sunflower season again in my garden. Many of you know,  and join me in loving these whimsical, sunny-faced botanicals.

I harvested seeds from last year's dried blooms, bought a couple new varieties from Burpee.com and planted earlier this year, in April.

Up they came, only a week later.

So faithful...to me.

Planted specifically right out my kitchen window, I glory in them. Cup of coffee in hand, many a morning prayer are spent leaning on the counter and feeling the Holy Spirit infuse His peace, His Love,  and so much more.

I recommend starting the day this way. 

Right now, I am anxious for a new variety to open. They've been a little slower in the shadow of the mighty over achievers.

They're suppose to be a marroun color.








And then this happened...






A conjoined sunflower, the bigger one protruding a petal in the center of its core.

anomoly?  ...maybe.

noun

1. 1.

   something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected.

   "there are a number of anomalies in the present system"

   synonyms:

   oddity, peculiarity, abnormality, irregularity, inconsistency, incongruity,aberration, quirk, rarity  (Google)

2. 
   

Twins are formed by a fertilzed egg spliting--identical twins. Or,  by two separate fertilized eggs--fraternal.

So what happened down there in the dirt?

I don't know, but they are one flower, front and back and then some...bursting with joy, fully alive, swaying in the breeze together.  They catch what's going on from all sides.

 Friendship in the Lord is like that, standing tall with one another as we grow. We see a different perspective on things. One sees one way, and another can see things more subjectively, lacking an emotional attachment. Isn't that the way we're suppose to harvest wisdom?  Sharing and holding on to one another, we can trust each other in the heavier winds that blow, threatening to knock us down. We encourage each other as we share from our experiences of what the "garden of life" brings to us. We hold each other accountable.

For we are planted for one purpose, to bring God glory.

Even in our past, special friendships in the Lord, grab on and hold us to open up all our beauty to one another and the world. Sometimes there is so much love, we just don't have room, so it will just burst out further into the world. Eyes may roll, some may just scroll on by, thinking too weird for me...

How does their "garden" grow?  

My garden is FULL of the beauty of special friends. We are oddly peculiar to the world,  loving one another, praying for one another, trusting one another, dancing, singing, parenting, mourning and rejoicing.

From the deepest of  hearts, there is something very intimate when praying with a friend. 

That,  my sunflower friends, reflects our Lord and He sees all of us as His anomoly, unique and perfect  complete in His grace. God called each of us to stand out for Him.  The weeds of destruction are creeping in. Some of those weeds look beautiful, a disguise of evil that is not an anomoly, but the template of destruction long ago devised. 

  

 Lord, I give praise and thanksgiving for friends who gather 'round my table and plant their loyalty and own grace deep in my heart. Keep us faced towards You, soaking up Your goodness, Your purpose and Truth, for our own lives, and for the encouragement of each other.  You see all of us as Holy anomolys, perfect and complete in Your Grace. Blessed. Amen. 

Weeding Out the Garden

Galatians 6:1-3 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.



My neighbor came over, wanted me to come look at a plant in her yard.


She wanted to know what it was.  


Growing about a foot tall, it now sprouted little berries and a petite little flower.  


Hmmm?  


"Is it some kind of berry?" she asked. 

"No, I smiled. Berries have thorns and fuzzy stems with  thicker, pulpier leaves, more of  a vine.  I think this, well, I'm pretty sure, this is a WEED."

(Her hubby laughing in the background, "I told you so!")

                                                                            +++


Have you ever had that experience?  Something that you thought was so cool, looked so good, felt wonderful, you thought was sent from Heaven, only to find out it is a lie!  Oh, how the devil  loves this little trick.  Have you heard the expression, "growing like a weed?"


Yep, those things in our lives we over water, give too much attention to, have compulsive behaviors with, (we all our guilty), those things we set apart from God...


Someone comes along, points out the invasive behavior, the ugly among the beautiful.


"Yank it out! they say. Here, I'll help you".   


"Nah, I'll get to it later."


"Are you sure? You know it can soon take over and overwhelm the flowers in your garden, if you don't handle it now." 


Close friends, brothers and sisters in the Lord, recognize things in our lives when we can't or just don't want to believe it.  In LOVE, because we pray for one another, God allows us grace (because we've grown through His grace).  Grace to tend to the needs and sometimes the things not needed,  growing out of control. 


There is this great word in fellowship: ACCOUNTABILITY.  


Sometimes, it may take a few praying friends to gather a weed whacker of His WORD and a shovel of SERVICE  and spend quality time helping a friend till their soil for some fresh seeds of Godly perspective.  


Be careful. Don't call out someone's ugly weeds, when you've got your own disguised among your seemingly healthy planters, green lawn, and flower pots.  


I like that she asked.  She questioned. I did my best to speak TRUTH.  


That's all that the Lord requires. His Spirit works through my experience of all the weeding done in my life. And I'm quiet confidant because I am still mortal, those weeds will pop up again.  


Lord, I am forever grateful for the graceful gardeners that continue to nurture the seeds of promise in my life.  Continue to help me be a graceful nurturer to those needing to hear Your truth around me. Amen.