God's Gardening

Wild flowers have been a passion of mine for years, and about 7 years ago I had the side yard where grass has never grown well tilled up and went to the local farm store for seeds that were normal for the wild flowers found in the West Michigan area.  The first spring of my new garden I had a bevy of annuals and the beginnings of a few cone flowers which are perennials wildflowers known here along the roadsides and highways.  Each year, I attempted to plant more seeds.  And each fall after that I especially gathered along the wooded areas two of my favorites, the milkweed and Queen Anne's Lace, and each spring after that I looked for any signs of either flower in the beginnings of each new spring.  Nothing happened.  Needless to say I was frustrated and repeated the action each fall.   It seemed like each spring though the garden grew and throve with each new wild flower I found and added the two I longed for never seemed to set foot among the the others in this garden.

And then last summer two plants I did not recognize surfaced among the many cone flowers and yellow daisies.  As I watched they slowly grew into milkweed and flowered profusely and that year my special garden's aroma was heavenly because of those two additions.

Of course I was please to have the milkweed, but I kept trying with the seeding and this spring was finally rewarded in abundance with the stately Queen Anne's Lace.  They started slowly, and I really needed to water there to keep this dry summer from taking these prizes to help establish these beauties, as well as keep the rest blooming.

In July the flowers bloomed, and are blooming still.  Though the milkweed isn't right now I did have them doing so in early July and now have the most glorious crop of milkweed pods that I hope to share with some of my friends for their gardens.  My special addition to the yard has had a bonus as well.  All kinds of birds from the surrounding neighborhoods come here to ride the long flower stalks, and I also have the monarch caterpillars here and the butterflies, too.


I really feel quite blessed to have been able to watch this small piece of earth develop like this, and though the efforts may have seemed to be all mine, I know that these wonders we call wildflowers are not of my making in this small space I call my wildflower garden.  This summer despite everything it has become a little miracle in our urban setting for me.

A Christmas Way of Life

Almost everyone has heard of the story, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and many agree with the sentiments that are expressed of caring for others and not ending up a Scrooge. But what is really strange is we forget when it comes to our Christmases that we shouldn't try to out-do the gift thing, or get caught up in the craziness that drives the secular Christmas machine every year.

For me it took losing a job a few years ago to realize what matters, and now with my whole family simply getting by with the depression that Michigan has been experiencing for the past few years we've come to share more time together and enjoy the fun of game night. We're changing, and I hope we don't lose it ever again.

You see I'm an English teacher who got to do research on the times that, A Christmas Carol was written in and they were the poorest and some of the most non-caring times in Great Britain's history. Scrooge pretty much epitomized the wealthy class' view of the poor and downtrodden. Because Dickens had a footing in both worlds and had experienced extreme poverty during his childhood he saw the need to some how make the wealthy aware of their moral responsibilities to those around them.

But if you know anything about the story and Dickens, you know it really began not as one to make people aware, but simply to tell a story and to share the idea of Christmas which in years before had not been much of a celebration. His celebration centered around love of family, friends, and the world around.

Today, we all are losing wealth and it's happening all over the country - now, somehow we need to get back to that feeling of sharing an evening with the people we know, work with, and love in these hard times. Christmas is a religious holiday that is a celebration of God's entrance into the world among us. Personally, I think that simply sharing a love with each other with "no strings" is a great way to be that love of God in the world. It really all can start with just caring for someone else. (And yes, I am a bit passionate about this!)

A Simple Quote

Life is not about convincing others to our way of thinking…instead life is about sharing who we are to better understand each other so we can grow to know the pain that others deal with and pray for their release, or that they can be given strength to deal with that pain.

In other words, life is sharing our love with others – no strings attached.

The Long Wait

The quiet has descended and it is really good. There have been no more phone calls from the parties to get me out to vote, and for the first time in weeks the phone has been blessedly quiet. I always enjoy that lull after the presidential storm every four years. The only thing anyone is doing is either regrouping - or sleeping!

West Michigan is especially quiet and the news is mostly just rehashing the whole election day over and over again. I actually had a lovely day with my 3 year old grandson planting all kinds of tulip bulbs in pots and various spots around the yard. He calls the littlest tulip bulbs the "tiredest seeds!" By that he means that they sleep a very long time in God's earth before they flower. In some ways that frustrates him, but he sure enjoys pushing them down with his finger to plant those seeds!

And so the waiting begins for those first yellow blooms of the spring. It can sure make for a dream that will last the whole of a cold winter, that is for sure.