Lessons from a Campfire...

Wood has to actually come into

contact with the Fire 

in order to burn.

Fire changes the wood,

allowing it to be useful to
 produce warmth,

light, and to
 prepare nourishment

to satisfy hunger.

Fire has to be ignited 

by another Source,

but it can only

continue as long

as it is fed.

So it is in our walk with Christ.

Unless the Fire of the Holy Spirit

ignites my heart, and I 

offer myself in surrender of self

to remain lit by that Fire,

it will go out.

a cheeseburger Mountain Pie in the clean open air
of Watkins Glen, NY

When that Fire burns hot in the soul,
through obedience to God
the preaching of the Cross,
and reading His Word with a quest
to follow Christ,

it moves my heart to feed the hungry
 spiritually and physically,

to rescue the oppressed,

to visit the sick and the fatherless,

to seek the sinner and draw him to Christ,

to pray in situations that I see that need God,

and to burn away the selfishness that would 

insist on creeping into and governing my life.

Sure, it hurts but it is a good hurt,

because it yields the peaceable fruits

of righteousness.

I would not live any other way!

Wonderful Words of Life...

From My Garden...

My children in the garden a few years ago.

I like to garden. I really do, but as time passes, and my responsibilities are greater, I find that my desire to garden has diminished. It is alot of hard work to raise your own food, and to keep the weeds down. The past few summers, our veggie garden has been sadly neglected, as sickness and busy schedules did not allow much time to devote to gardening. But I MISS it.

At least 10 years ago, I heard about 'no till' gardening from a book I picked up at the local library. I read it with interest and it has 'soaked and simmered' all these years as I've gardened. A few years ago, a friend recommended that I should watch the Back to Eden film, and I put that thought on the back burner but after the third and fourth mention of it over the years by others, I decided this spring I would watch it, especially after I watched this short clip and learned of Ruth Stout's gardening methods:

Ruth Stout's Garden

I was very intrigued. This makes alot of sense to me.

So from Ruth Stout's Garden, I went on to watch 

the Back to Eden film, twice! Once by myself,

and once with the whole family, 

and we are all inspired!

We decided to give it a try.

We are preparing part of our big

vegetable garden for next summer,

and planted just a little plot for some

fall vegetables for our table.

It's been alot of fun so far.

My dad gave us a huge stack of newspapers

that were in his office,

and we've been having fun 

'dumpster diving'

at a local Mennonite bulk food store

for cardboard boxes to lay down

as a weed barrier.

Building the soil through no till gardening

really makes alot of sense to me.

We decided to use what resources we have,

and since we live on a farm,

hay and straw are readily available,

that will be our main cover.

Perhaps we will use ground leaves 

when they are available in the fall.

 

I like to grow my

own food.

 I enjoy preserving

the harvest,

and serving

that food to 

my family

in the winter

months.

I like to know

where my

food comes 

from and

how it was grown.

Being sick, and extra busy for a few summers has helped me to reinforce

the knowledge that it is not a must to do this,

and it is not even possible at times

(hello! we do not live in Bible times or Victorian days

where servants were plentiful!)

But I do like it,

and I enjoy the thought

of maybe having a way

to build the soil and have less

work in the garden simultaneously.

I bought Ruth Stout's book, and hope to 

devour it soon, too.

Here is another video I came across on mulch gardening:

Deep Mulch Gardening

Happy Gardening,

and happy summer to all,

whether you garden or not!

Love and blessings,

Marcia

 

In This World...

This post as been rolling around in my head

for days,

and in my experience

for a lifetime!

I know I said I would be

away for awhile,

but I just couldn't stay

away! :-)

I think it has finally

sunk into my heart

that this world

is not going to 

be full of 

long stretches of

laughter and 

mirth

because

it is filled with

fallen humanity,

causing all our joy

to be touched with

pain.

I have been learning

what it means

to be broken with

what breaks God's heart,

and yet not become

bitter and hard

about the

brokenness,

but to let Him

fill me with 

compassion and grace,

and a willingness to be a vessel of use

for whatever purpose He plans.

Expect trouble.

If you are a child of God,

there is not a place of

true earthly rest for you here.

YES, in HIM our hearts 

can be solid and peaceful,

but the winds will beat 'round

our ship often on the sea of life,

the hail will batter our gardens

that are growing beautifully,

death comes 'too early',

brokenness touches our families

when we thought that it was

always 'out there' somewhere

where we are not.

a field of sunflowers close to my house

Jesus has told us to take heart, tho,

because He has overcome the world.

We can lay our bleeding hearts at

the foot of the Cross,

hold onto the nail-scarred Hand

He offers daily,

trust our lives into His capable leading,

and live with abandon...

serving faithfully in the

post He calls us to.

black eyed susans blooming along the way,
a gorgeous view from my front porch

We weep.

We sigh.
We want to be Home.

We grow weary.

We find  no place to

truly fit in

because we are 

strangers here.

Guess what,

we are EXACTLY where

He wants us then,

if that is our story.

Take heart...

somehow I can hear

Jesus

speaking those words

and comforting his

disciples with them.

a sunflower that volunteered to bloom her heart out
by my birdfeeder, giving me much cheer every day

I am comforted.

I am willing.

I am His,

and He is mine.

Here's hoping you all are having a beautiful summer.

Mine has been filled with broken things,

but in the midst of it all,

there have been reminders of His grace

and His beauty surrounds me,

teaching me lessons.

Little Swan Echinacea doing what He created it to do:

bring glory to Him thru beauty along the way...

I really wish I could share this beauty with you...
phlox in the evening sunshine, it's perfume
pervading the cool New York air!

The Church of the Comfortable...

Heard this today and connected with it on many levels...

The Church of the Comfortable and Tolerant

Wonderful Words of Life...

In Psalms and Hymns...

On Sunday evening, 

we attended a praise and worship service 

where this song was sung.

I Will Walk

by Robin Mark

 It spoke volumes to me, especially this phrase:

"And I will walk with you, 

And I will find a way to show Your word is truth..."

In a world where it seems few really want to hear

the simple Truth, especially among the

churched peoples who have embraced

a false gospel,

my soul grows weary sometimes

in working in the part of the

Vineyard where He has placed me.

But I will find a way to show

His Word is truth,

by my words and by my life.

God bless and keep you, my friends.