Wednesday, April 4, 2007

CHAPTER 4, PAGE 4

THE GARDEN OF MY HEART

One day while thinking about my garden

God showed me how I could think

about my soul in a different way.

As with a flower garden!

God gave us this beautiful garden (our soul).

It is a beautiful garden with every kind of flower

that He envisions for us.

He is giving us this garden to tend

to and we are free to do whatever

we want with our garden .

When we die, we present to God

our garden that He first gave to us.

I thought about everything that it

takes to make a beautiful garden and

how much deliberate effort it takes

to keep the garden free of

weeds and the flowers blooming.

A garden needs sunshine,

which I see is God and His love for us.

A garden needs water,

which I see is the life-giving grace

that He freely gives to us.

In order to have strong and

beautiful flowers and plants,

Fertilizer is needed to feed

and nourish the soil and the flowers.

In order for a garden to do well,

the soil needs to be tilled and broken up.

I see this as the struggles and problems

we have in our life.

 God lets things happen in our life in order

to soften and nourish the ground (our soul)

so that the flowers can have a perfect environment to grow.

By cooperating with the grace that God gives us

and being open to His will, we are allowing the seeds

that He has sown for us to grow.

Of course a garden has weeds

that always seem to pop up {human problems}.

Unless we keep control of these weeds

they can overtake our garden and

choke out all the flowers that were thriving.

I see the weeds as the sin and vice

that can be in our lives and that can

keep us from being more closely united to God.

We are free to ignore or pay attention to

Our personal gift from God.

God planted the flowers and it's up to us

to nourish and tend our garden.

Finally I see that

We never planted the flowers

and the plants in our garden.

Our garden is perfectly suited for us

according to Gods eternal plan.

God planted the flowers and it's up to us

to nourish and tend our garden

so that everything God has planned for us

can truly be, and that at the end of our life

our garden will be most pleasing to our "Father".

Author Unknown

GOOD MORNING !

With the coming of Spring my thoughts turn to flower gardens and believe me when I say mine needs a lot of weeding and nourishment. Inside and outside and in-between.

I’ve been tending this garden of mine for many years and even though I may win the battle with some of the pests one year, the next year it seems new ones turn up. It’s a life long job tending this garden of mine and hopefully by the time I get it all over and done with, it will be a pleasing place.

I’m back to the warm sweater and my wool socks today. BrrrChill ! It’s cold again !!! All the way through Easter weekend it will be in the 30’s or low 40’s here.

It was soooooo great to be warm for a few days!

TODAY’S THOUGHT

Before It Is Too Late

If you've a tender message

Or a loving word to say

Don't wait 'til you forget it

But whisper it today.

We live but in the present,

The future is unknown

Tomorrow is a mystery,

Today is all our own.

The tender words unspoken

The letters never sent

The long forgotten messages

The wealth of love unspent.

For these some hearts are breaking

For these some loved ones wait

So show them that you care for them

Before it is too late.

May your day be blessed with a few SMILES and lots of SUNSHINE to warm your heart !

MA

 

 

graphics by:

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

OH yes its COLD BRRRRRRR I got an alert of a freeze tonight and my lilacks are just budding

Anonymous said...

This entry really hit home with me in a few ways. Thank you.  Keep warm my friend.
Pam

Anonymous said...

Yes I got all geared up to tidy up our garden ...then the cold weather returned ...love Jan xx

Anonymous said...

The garden of my heart could definitely use a little cultivating today.  Thanks for the reminder.

Anonymous said...

It's rainy and chilly here today. But you know me by now, I like all kinds of weather. : )

I hope your day was filled with smiles,
Angela

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my journal!  I was outside all last weekend, now today it's back to freezing rain, ick.  No gardening for me just yet, hopefully soon...