How GOD Speaks to Me in My GARDEN

 

I decided to write about how God speaks , and teaches me ...in my garden. It is possible that unless you believe in God, you may not understand this...then again, that may be irrelevant. As a gardener, there are many ways that I feel God speaks to me , and two ways are the strongest. 

No. 1 is in the silence, the stillness of day or the feel of a breeze on your skin while you are working.  This world is so polluted with noise, from the life we live...radios or cd players ( which I like ), cell phones,  TV , computers, cars driving by, airplanes, trucks, people , construction , etc. Not all of that is bad, but they make a day outside a respite from senseless, gaudy, worldly noise. Now I am not one of those , hush-hush quiet types...but in a garden..when you are on your knees in the dirt...you are in the quintessential ' prayer and worship ' position. You are working, to beautify and create at your home. I do not believe in ' Mother Earth' , or ' Fairies' or ' New Age ' spirituality. I believe in the one Almighty God , and He started us out in a garden.

So silence, stillness are conducive to feeling God's presence, to feel like listening to Him, to feel like talking to Him .

Or in my case, lots of asking, wondering...whining about life.  Our present , past , choices and decisions , heartaches and triumphs.Thank goodness He is used to that with all of us. 

The No. 2 way I feel God speaks to me in my garden, and this may seem very odd to some folks...is through weed-pulling, weed-irritation, weeds period.

I am down on my knees, annoyed with all these weeds that I cannot EVER stop growing...and I feel God say, " See, if you do not go deep, deep into the reason of why you want something, need something, have an addiction to something...if you cannot EXTRACT the ROOT of the problem...then you will never get rid of a particular weed ( sin ), in your life. "

And so I pull, sweat, tug and wrestle with my weeds ( sins ), that can often overwhelm me with their deep , endless roots.

I also have very positive thoughts and feelings in my garden, especially concerning hope and patience. God shows me to sloooowww down, and wait for something good ( a new flower or first buds ) to appear. He also teaches me to have hope that my creativity will ' appear ' in my garden.

All of this, the beauty of birds, bees, butterflies, flowers and plants, the smell of dirt and leaves and trees and the outdoors...all of it , the whole shebang of a garden...make me consider Who created it all, out of nothing.
Being inside ...I cannot feel what I feel in a garden, outside working.

Lastly, 

I enjoy working on my garden, and my relationship with God...as I see if I neglect my garden...it will not thrive. If I forget it, forget to care for it, forget to check on it...then it will wither and die. Just like my relationship with God, or people that I love or care about. So He teaches me to tend to what I want to thrive...and dig deep and relentlessly for things ( sins ), that need to be out of my life.

When I do that, when I get rid of the ' weeds ' in my life, it leaves room for the more beautiful ' flowers' or habits or blessings, to grow.
The things He wants us to see, to nurture.

Down in your garden, looking at the intricacies of a flower, a buzzing bee, stopping and looking up at the sky and feeling the warmth of the sun...all of it and much more...MUCH more, make me hear God in my garden.

I have no idea if this makes any sense...but it is a smidgen of how I feel He speaks to me in my garden.

Many blessings to you,
Gina


" The LORD GOD planted a garden eastward into Eden , and there He put man whom He had formed. " Genesis 2: 8

Our SLIDING SLIPPERY Scale of SIN

My little boy to the far left, on the BIG slide at the State Fair w/ his cousin who is in the lead !

I started considering the sliding, escalating scale of sin the other day when I was telling my husband what I was making for dinner. I am not a gourmet cook by any means, pretty simple and basic is what I do best, and I try to make everything healthy ...unlike my husband who could care less if something is healthy.

He just likes to eat, no fuss about it.

I always fuss about it being healthy, while he mainly just stares at me with an annoyed look.

Don't care, I'm going to make him eat healthy if it kills him to do so, figuratively speaking of course. 

So, I was in the backyard, about to take our looney-tune killer of a black lab for her nightly walk, and I stopped him as he was going into his workshop. I said, " I have some chicken breasts, I am going to make them on the stove with some onion and garlic, celery, spices, and then baked sweet potatoes, and some steamed broccoli , to go with it. "
Very healthy.

He looks at me and goes ' OK. "

No excitement, but not unpleasant...just OK.

I then look back at him and and say, " Oh...and I'm making some brownies for dessert. "

That cheered him up, he smiled , and walked off.

As we were eating later, I told him on my walk ....I always think about lessons God teaches me, insights He shows me...always on my walks.

I told him , as we were eating our healthy meal together, I told him that what I said....about all the stuff we were going to get to eat...that it was healthy and good for us...and that since we were doing so good in that way...that we could throw a little sin , or brownies at the end ( by the way I do NOT think brownies are sinful, just an analogy )...and we would still be doing or eating good.

Adding to our lives by eating or rather by doing GOOD.

Balancing the scale of good and bad.

Then just a smidgen of bad ,like the brownies, won't hurt us.

He just looks at me and raises his eyebrow. Like, " What have you been up to ?"

I tell him that we ALL, everyone of us has that unfounded, unbiblical notion, that God has a giant scale, and he weighs and balances our lives and our actions, and that if He thinks the good outweighs the bad that we are doing..

then we slide into heaven and gain His pleasure still.

Some people may consider areas of their lives that they are doing spectacular in, where we believe God is giving us a nod of approval...and then turning a blind eye to our behavior He does not approve of. Some people just believe that if the good always outweighs the bad, then they'll slide right into heaven, get a bunch of jewels in their crown, and God will say , " Well done, good and faithful servant. "

Sort of how we judge our fellow man, we know them, we know their faults and their good points, and we can say often that the good outweighs the bad.

I guess the problem that I see, or wonder about, is sometimes the bad is much ' heavier' , heavier to God than we realize. Also sin is a very , very slippery little monster...it appears in subtle ways, it can become insidious or innocuous,  a very tricky element that is in this world that can destroy us , our careers, our families, our souls.

The big problem here is we humans, we have not got a clue about how God judges our actions, our lives. We think we do, but when you really try to figure it out...I think we believe He judges us how we judge ourselves and each other. 

I'm not a betting woman, but I bet we're probably wrong.

I know from painful past experiences of myself and others , that sometimes that second serving of cake, that second glance, that second flirtatious comment, that second ignoring of a need of a loved one, that second ignored warning in our conscience, that second spreading of some salacious gossip, that second lie we tell...so many seconds that we hesitate and do the wrong thing.
Many people do not stop at seconds either.

Choices to sin or not to sin.

The Bible is not a book that is about being a perfect Christian , or a perfect person. As that is unattainable. But it does give direction for our lives, it does give clear directions and crystal clear blunt warnings as well.

I know I have ignored some ( many ), of those explicit warnings before, as my own sliding scale of measuring my own sin...has made me turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to God's word.

The thing that I am slowly, and I mean verrrryyyy slowly , starting to learn is that all that is written in the Bible,

All of it,

is simply God teaching us about living a good life, an honorable life, a ' pure in heart ' life.

All of it is because He loves us, more than we can ever comprehend. 

A huge lesson I learned a few years ago, and it is a lesson that I still have not grasped hold of with proper enthusiasm or conviction is :

" If your happiness comes at the expense of someone else's  happiness, then you will not have true joy."

The big clincher here is, whether that person knows about it ( our sin ), or not.

That does not matter. 

Wish someone had told me that when I was very young , not that TRUTH , prevails in our  hearts or minds anyway.
Life is usually all about ' Me " for most of us anyway...I know it has been for myself.
Working on changing that daily.

We are all a stubborn lot aren't we ?

I hope you have a good day, I hope you consider your own slippery scale , and I hope you know God loves you more than anyone ever could,

Many blessings,

Gina

Me and my love bug swinging at the zoo

" But he who does the truth comes to the light , that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they be done in God. " John 3:21

Discipline vs the BULL in the FIELD

Watch out

When I was a young girl in Texas, I used to visit my grandparents in Bandera, Texas quite often. I had two sets there, my well-off set, and my much less well-off set. One lived in a very nice, well -decorated expensive home, ...and the other set lived out in the country in a small wood house . I loved them all very much, but always preferred to spend the night out in the small country house with the tin roof, and the large acres of land and Hills in the distance.

 My grandfather, Papa, had some sheep and chickens, a few cows roaming around in a fenced off area beside the house....plus there was a small barn/chicken house/food shed combo to the far end of the area.
I would get the feed and help him feed all his animals.

That small barn was directly in front of another fenced off area, leading to vast acres of pastures.

That is where I chose to be very disobedient.

Happily.

Smugly.

Secretly.

I went in one day when my grandmother was cooking something in a giant iron skillet on the stove. I asked her about the cows in the big open field behind the small barn back there. I thought they maybe were their cows, I was about 9-11 years old . She wiped her hands on her apron, looked at me...by the way...she was one TOUGH-cookie of a woman, and said, " Those are our neighbor's cows, but don't go over there as there is one mean BULL in that field. "

Well, apparently that was all it took,

for my first big un-disciplined moment to take flight.

I said , "Ok. "

Turned, went flying ( I was always running when I was young ), hit the back screen door hard ,  running out to the field.

Then I went to the back wire fence behind the shed, I cannot recall if it had barbed wire, most of their property did, but I do recall that it did not seem to matter to me.

Gina was going to do what Gina WANTED to do.
No matter.

Which meant climbing that fence, and laying down in the soft , tall grass, and watch the cows in that field.

No matter that someone who knew better than me warned me, no matter that I knew she loved me and was a very smart woman.

No Matter.

I do recall her warning, but the pull of the field called me softly, it was a Texas wind blowing...a sunny day...and I climbed that fence fast...and went and laid down behind the shed in the grass.
I deliberately laid behind the shed so they could not see me from the house.

You know how children lay in the grass, no care about getting dirty, no care what will crawl in their hair...so I remember distinctly, laying back with my arms behind my head, looking up through the limbs of a small tree,

Up in to the beautiful sky.

I told myself to remember this moment, I have always done that since I was even younger ( and still today ), and I was blissfully happy.

And SMUG.

I knew my grandmother could not see me back here, it was a cool, secret spot that was mine and  I could do what I wanted and not be seen.

I was one cool kid.

Then her words came back to me.

One MEAN Bull.
Now for my tough grandmother who once killed a barn rat with one hand while she was milking... ( kept milking and then shook him out of her overalls)...and barn rats are as big as some cats...then I knew he really had to be REALLY mean.

So I looked up at the field, with one eye open...as I was still in my blissful moment...and guess what ?

There he was , a pretty good distance away from me...grazing.
Then he stopped and looked up at me.
I sat up a little straighter, opened both eyes...and looked at him too.
Small warning signals were going off in my young brain, but I did not move, get scared...or run and jump the fence to safety behind me.
Nope.
I sat and watched that bull for a few minutes, looked around at the field we were in...and then got cocky and laid back and closed my eyes.
A few minutes went by, I opened one eye again , and looked back at him.
He was a little closer this time.
Still, young and dumb , laid back and closed her eyes again.
No matter.

I then opened my eyes,  looked up at the beautiful big sky and clouds, glanced back at him ... now he was grazing a little closer now to me. I was still a good distance from him , and for some reason , I do not recall...( probably God ), I got up, brushed the grass off me, smiled at the bull and jumped the fence back to definite safety.
I think often about that bull in the field, because I struggle with discipline, discipline in doing EXACTLY what God instructs us to do in almost all circumstances in life. He tells us in un-compromising clarity, do this, don't do that.
Stay away from this, reach for that instead.
Run to the safety of His protection.
He knows what is good for us, he only wants what is best for us.
But I know there are things in my life that remind me of that bull.
Things or situations I get close to , things I KNOW God tells me to stay away from, fields ( sins ), I should stay OUT of.
So when I remember that time in my life, and I can still see that bull in my mind , God seems to want me to remember it , for the lesson it can teach me.
To not even CONSIDER the thought of ' jumping over a fence '.

The lesson of listening to God, to strive to be a much more disciplined Christian.
To study and learn what He says for all our lives.

To learn to completely, absolutely and resolutely TRUST Him.

I need to know deep in my heart and soul that God truly, really,  knows what is best.
I hope your day is good, I hope you can stay away from the ' bulls' in your life , I hope you
 Don't jump that fence for God's sake alone.

Bless you,
Gina



" Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path. " Psalm 119:105

Of SPINNING Dogs & SELF-Discipline

I have a spinning dog named Maxine. She is an out of control, undisciplined, spinning dog.

She is a large black lab, my husband adores her, our son considers her his best friend/com padre'...and I am her baby-sitter-mom most days. When I take her for her walks, early evening usually...she takes the leash and runs in every yard for the first block....

and spins,

 

Taking the leash and spinning, out of control in circles... 2-3 minutes at a time

Getting ready for another spin

In our next door neighbor's yard...our little cowgirl dog

Neighbors comment and laugh at her, people driving by laugh at her, she looks like a rodeo cowgirl dog, spinning in circles...whipping her leash the entire time along with her.

Not only does she spin, she DRAGS me down the street, for blocks. Yes I do have a choke on her...and let me tell you, I use it. She is just so darned happy all the time, that she doesn't care. She probably only weighs about 20 lbs. less than me, and it is a major feat to control her. I am one of those people you see that the neighbors say, " Who's walking who ?" hahaha, NOT.

 

My son trying to hold her back

She not only spins and drags me, she also tries to fight any dog we run into...10 lbs. to 130 lbs., they are all the same to her. I usually have to choke her ( use the choker ), hold her back, apologize to people for her behavior, get physically on top of her & scold her, she COULD care less, she is happy being out of control and undisciplined.

Kind of like we all are, right ?

We all have areas we are undisciplined, mine are too numerous to name, I will just name the areas I AM disciplined to save time. I am disciplined about what I eat, and exercise.

That's it.

Everything else is a battle royale.

Food is not a huge deal to me, exercise is...so those are pretty easy areas for me.

 As another example , I am disciplined to a greater extent what I watch in the media, but I don't like TV, and am disappointed ( and fed up ) ,in what I see in movies lately...so it is easier being disciplined in something that really does not hold much interest to me.

It is way easier being disciplined about something that you do not really care about , or that you have come to a conclusion about personally that you do not struggle with anymore.

It is those OTHER areas, that test us.

I think we are tested with finances for some, shopping habits for some, saving habits for some , exercise habits for some, eating habits for some, worship habits, study habits, work habits & ethics, internal morality habits or integrity. I mean many of these are a piece of cake to many...and then they fail miserably in some other key areas of life.

I know I do.

 

Being dragged

I know that just being 'somewhat' disciplined in some areas, but not all the really important ones (like kindness, loving your neighbor, integrity, honesty, self-sacrifice, fearing God, tithing ,etc. ),   means failing in the self-control department.  Being a Christian means I need to be disciplined...GRATEFULLY disciplined in almost ALL areas.

God does not expect perfection from us, but He does expect us to strive for it. 

Otherwise we just get slack, start spinning out of control in areas of our lives that are our weak ones.

Obedience is HUGE to God , we do it out of respect for Him, and to demonstrate we understand the fear ( respect, reverence ), of Him.

He knows what is best for us, He loves us.

I love my crazy dog. I do what I do to protect her, to TRY to discipline her, I see what can happen to her if she does not behave...if she gets too out of control ( regularly), and if she misbehaves she can hurt herself or some other dog.

I see this, she does not. 

God sees the end result of our undisciplined, out of control lives before we even make the first mistake.

Cannot get the leash out of her mouth most of the time

I know God has given us the spirit of self-control ( self discipline ), but I think we all fail to use it in areas harder for us,  because it is easier ( or more fun ), to be undisciplined, do what we ' feel' like, do  ' whatever'  tomorrow instead of today, work on that bad habit ' soon', just basically slack off in the self-control department.

Especially in today's world, with all the temptations, all the excitements, all the 'newest things',  too many opportunities , we have a very hard time being disciplined about lots of things. Things that lead us away from God.

I also know that God tells us that if we have a relationship with Him, we will get the fruits of the spirit:

" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, SELF-CONTROL. " Galatians 5:22

So if we want to develop it more, we have to grow more in our relationship with Him.

We have to listen to Him, come to the realization that He really DOES know what is best for us. That He has equipped us to stand firm against the world, against our own flesh ( our desires ). 

Again this is something very hard for me to come to grips with personally, I like to make my own decisions , come up with my own solutions to situations or problems. I don't want anyone to be my boss or my keeper.

Even God.

But I do know something more important than that.

I KNOW that I need God. I KNOW that He can equip me to do the right thing in all  circumstances. I KNOW He expects this of me.

I know I love Him and do not want to disappoint Him.

I just need to stop being more like my crazy black lab , spinning around oblivious to anyone else

and discipline myself in my weak areas...

for me,

my family ,and

my God .

 

I hope you have a great day, and have strength where you need it,

Gina

" Never tire of doing what is right. " 2 Thessalonians 3:13 

Don't TOUCH MY Blueberries !

MY blueberries

My youngest daughter came by our house the other morning, I was busy working on the computer...she chatted with me awhile, then walked into the kitchen. I heard her rummaging around the pantry, fridge, etc. Then she said some forbidden words,

" OHH, Blueberries ! Can I have some ?"

I stopped typing and froze.

I said loudly back, " Your dad just got me those, so NO. You can have bananas, strawberries, whatever else...BUT not MY blueberries ! "

I hear a ' Hmmpph." response from the kitchen.

 A little background info on this, I am a creature of habit, especially when it concerns food. I don't eat a lot, food is not something I think about very  much...but every morning , ( except Sundays ), EVERY morning I eat the same thing.

Blueberries & bananas on plain cheerios and a big cup of coffee.

 

Perfect breakfast

Probably for the last 5 years or so. I usually switch very 7-10 years what I eat for breakfast...no lie. My husband thinks I am a nut, but he loves to come back from the grocery store and say " I got you some blueberries. ", as he know that makes me happy.

Since blueberries are now out of season, they are harder to get. So I am especially hoarding them.

So when flesh of my flesh , my youngest beloved daughter comes by for one of her brief visits ( about 25 mins. usually ), what do I do but act ungracious.

I retold this story to my husband and again I get a stern ' GINA, how could you not share your blueberries !" I made legitimate excuses, they are out of season, they are hard to get, I don't have much.

He just stands there looking sternly at me, starts laughing, and walks off.

I called after him that I offered her ANYTHING else in the ENTIRE kitchen, but NOT MY blueberries.

Doesn't that still make me a nice Mom ?

Probably not.

It made me think of how we all are with God , about that habit or addiction, or sin that we cling to ...that we hoard. We enjoy it, it gives us pleasure. It may be food, it may be TV, it may be our internet habits, it may be a relationship, it may be shopping, it may be alcohol, pornography, it could be anything,

That we CLING to, that we won't give up.

We need it.

It brings us pleasure.

It's fun.

We NEED it.

Love these little guys

But usually what we cling to, that we think we HAVE to have to survive..or to bring us daily pleasure , 

can become a serious addiction or habit that controls us.

I am not just talking about the really bad sins, also gossip can become a daily addiction if you have to call a friend or relative and chat up about someone all the time.

If you have to watch TV constantly, it has to be on constantly for you to feel OK.

If you have to check your email or be assessable ALWAYS, that can be a

habit or pleasure that eats away at your present life.

There are many more areas in all our lives.

What area do you want to tell God, " Keep out, that's mine, I need that. "

I know I have a few, I bet we all do.

Growing closer to God, growing in our faith walk....means figuring out what God sees as valuable in our lives, what HE sees enriches our lives...and not what WE think does.

I hope He sees my blueberries as valuable.

I really need them.

Bless you , enjoy your day,

Gina

" Unto you I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold , as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our GOD, Until He has mercy on us !" Psalm 123 1-2