Lessons from the Garden

 "He pulled me out of a horrible pit, out of the mud and the clay. He set my feet on a rock and made my steps secure." Psalm 40:2

"She considers a field and buys it; from her profits she plants a vineyard."

Proverbs 31:16

"Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered."

Proverbs 11:25

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,  I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10

"You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

...."I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the  nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." Jeremiah 29:14

 "I am the Vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing."     John 15:5

"By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples." John 15:8

"Then He said to them, "The Harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." Luke 10:2

"Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

Stephanie :)

Rolling in the green...Rich indeed!!!

So our garden is growing and God is blessing and we are reaping a harvest.  Can you say cucumber rich?! So what does one do with all these cucumbers?  Why..... make pickles of course!

   Our morning pickin

 Making the brine.

 The lovely jars that have now become a hot commodity to me. Funny how you can think so little of a thing until you need it.

 (I'm ashamed to admit how many of these I've thrown away)

 Kind of reminds me of how we treat God's Word at times.  ~ sigh.

 It's beginning to look a lot like pickles!

 sealing em shut

Aren't they just lovely?

Me enjoying a pickle this morning right after my second cup of coffee. 

Can someone say delicious!!!

Happy Thursday !

Stephanie :)

The Simple Life

The Lord has really been working "overtime" on me this past year in lessons He is teaching me.  Through various ways He has taught me the value and joy in
simplicity.
 What I once would have been bored with, I know find enthralling. I love how life evolves and that you're never too old to learn what's important in this brief life we've been given.

I'm blessed to have a husband who allows me to do whatever I 

want to when it comes to decorating our home. 

I just painted my kitchen this week.  It used to be orange. Now its blue.

His attitude when it comes to how our home is decorated is, "If it makes her happy, it makes me happy".  He genuinely finds delight in finding ways to delight me.  He's awesome, I know.   

Anyways, he lets me take care of the inside of our home while he delights in what goes on outside.

Now during  these lessons in simplicity, the Lord has revealed to me Nick's gift in growing things. 

 He has quite the green thumb.  

He took such great care of these little tomatoes that not only did they produce all the way into November last year!!...they popped back up all on their own this year.  They must love him as much as I do :)

And as a part these lessons, the Lord moved us to a place where we could cultivate the joy of the simple life.  I mean literally.... He moved us.  Out in the country.  Waaaay out in the country.....
 40 miles to town and 17 miles to the first gas station.   

Today, as I declined a chance to head to town for some thrift shopping, to stay home and a work in Nick's garden with him,  it dawned on me how genuinely excited I was about the plans for the day.  I think if the Lord graded papers for the tests He gives us, I would have gotten a A+  with a big smiley face on top my paper.  I'm getting it Lord.....I'm getting it! :)

Here are some of the amazing things Nick has been up to..

Enjoy a little slice of my life way out here in the beautiful Boondocks :)

  Well there ya have it...just a little touch of the prettiness I'm surrounded with.  Now don't get me wrong...I still love a good trip to Dirt Cheap to dig for "treasures' but I am SO digging all the treasures I have had right here under my nose all along. :)

Stephanie

ps. all these pics were taken by my husband :)  As you can see, he already values the beauty of simplicity and I'm thankful he is sharing that with others...especially me!