Deja Vu

His eye is on the sparrow, 

and I know He watches me.

~Civilla Martin

 

Thirty years ago this September, I gave birth to my first child - a little girl.  Our little family spent five fantastic days together before it all went south.  Unbeknown to us, our precious daughter was born with catastrophic heart problems.  We spent three days (and nights) hearing the words "She won't make it through the night," and "You must prepare yourselves..." etc.  Eventually God's healing grace changed the course of that terrible diagnosis, and our eight-day old child endured heart surgery (a second surgery was necessary at four months).  The first year of her life was occupied with daily doctor or therapy visits.  It was the most stressful time in all my years of parenting.

Last night, all of those feelings of unbelief, stress and fear came flooding back as one of my dearest friends sobbed out the results of a phone call from her daughter: one of her 3-year-old grandsons was diagnosed with a terrible medical condition - just as frightening as what I faced all those years ago.  I spent much of the evening last night talking to God about those terrible days in the past, and the horribly tough present day reality for this young lad.  How I empathize with what his parents must be going through. 

I covet your prayers for this little boy, who is facing surgery on Thursday morning.  God urges us to bring Him our hopes and concerns for those who are ill.  Thank you in advance for your prayers! 

I Love Flowers!

All men are like grass, and all their glory

is like the flowers of the field.

Isaiah 40:6b

 

Yesterday in the mail, I received my Gardener's Idea Book from Proven Winners brand of plants.  Wouldn't you know, the first specimen pictured was a calibrachoa (flowers similar to miniature petunias) called Sunny Lemon.  Yes, bright yellow flowers, just as my gardening magazine suggested.  I must say, they are gorgeous.  Actually, the entire booklet is filled with photographs of amazing flowers.  This little booklet does exactly what it is supposed to do:  make you want to go out and buy everything pictured!  Well, not exactly everything.  I still say "NO!" to the blue, purple and orange color choices for planting in my gardens.

All the colors of flowers are breathtaking, but some are not to my taste for what I am trying to accomplish in my garden.

As I peruse through idea books, seed catalogs and nursery brochures, my thoughts always come back to one amazing fact.  God could have created this world in black and white - or all blue, all green, all red, etc.  Instead, He created the elements of nature in a kaleidoscope of colors, sizes, textures, and smells - all for the delight of the human family.  Some are so easy to grow: pansies, petunias, sedum, hostas, lantana and daisies.  Others, such as the orchid pictured above, are way beyond the scope of my gardening ability.  What fun God must have had in speaking these into existence.  What a marvelous creative imagination to set loose on the unformed world.

Thankful: For the Beauty of Creation

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof...

Psalm 24:1

Today I had the opportunity to attend the local Home and Garden Show out at the racetrack.  Covering four exhibition buildings and featuring over 200 vendors, there was a great deal to see and explore.  I was interested in two things:  finding a good drywall man (or woman), and investigating the "Garden" aspects of the show.

The Herb Farm was in attendance again this year.  Last year I bought some fantastic tri-colored marigolds from this company that were absolutely fantastic in one of my containers.  Perhaps because this year's show was earlier in the season, they did not have any flowering plants available.  The Ashland Berry Farm was also in attendance, but their emphasis this year was on water gardens and pond construction - a luxury I simply cannot afford.  Colesville Nursery was the last live plant entry for the Garden part of the show - one of the companies that I specifically came to see.

The March issue of my Virginia Gardening magazine featured a wonderful article entitled Plant This!  Not That!  Featuring a list of great tried and true plants for Virginia gardens, the chosen specimens were selected around a unifying theme:  Inject a little sunshine into your garden with the color yellow.  I must admit that when I hit the local nurseries in the spring for annual bedding plants, I do not search for yellow flowering ones; I prefer a variety of pinks, reds and whites.  I think perhaps the reason that I avoid yellow is because its most complimentary color is purple - a color (and a combination) that I do not care for at all when it comes to my garden.  

There was one plant in the magazine, however, that really caught my eye - Japanese forest grass.  I love ornamental grasses, and Hakonechloa macra "All Gold" grows in part shade as easily as in full sun, and even works well in containers.  It's color is chartreuse in heavier shade and a brighter gold in more sun.  A gold ornamental grass would be a spectacular addition to my new part-shade garden, and Colesville assured me that they have an abundance of this plant in stock (and at a reasonable price!).  Although I was not able to walk out of the Home and Garden Show with live plants, I did leave with a list of resources and a real anticipation for the spring gardening season that is just around the corner.