Thursday, March 24, 2011

Lazy Country Days

Bumblebee in mom's wisteria.
I woke up early Saturday morning (unusual for me!!) and enjoyed a long phone call with a friend.  When I was through, an old fashioned country breakfast was waiting -- steak, biscuits and gravy.  Yum!!   I had spent Friday night with my grandmother out at her place in the country (on my parents' place).  We hung pictures on her freshly painted walls -- some of us girls got together the Saturday before and painted the inside of her home for her.  Saturday morning was spent enjoying time with Nanny. 


Knockout rose in mom's garden.

When in the country invariably I end up working in the garden.  My mom had dug up and separated some of her zebra grass and left them for me to re-plant in my own yard.  She also told me I could have one of her crape myrtles if I could dig it up.  Believe me, I dug it up!  It took a lot of work, I got bitten by ants, and I ended up having to use a pruner to cut one of the tough roots, but I dug it up.  It barely fit in the trunk of my car.  She also gave me some of her wisteria.  I want to plant that on the swing arbor in my own back yard.  Can't wait to smell it!!



Jasmine dripping off pergola by pond.

I can never go down to the country  without taking my camera.  There is always something new to see, some new perspective on life.  Such as the photo at the top of the page with the bumblebee in the wisteria. The smells are incredible this time of year!  The jasmine is also blooming, and between the jasmine and the wisteria, bumblebees were everywhere!  Color is just dripping off my mom's garden.  Right now yellows, purples, reds, whites, are all mingling together. 

Doesn't it look like it smells good?

And speaking of dripping, I sort of took some unauthorized photos of my mom's laundry!  I couldn't resist. The look is so relaxing, and seeing it blowing in the breeze, feeling that same breeze brushing against my skin, was almost a vacation...(I think I need to take one of those soon!)  Just don't tell her I've put her laundry out for the world to see!  
Mom's laundry-- really hope she doesn't see this one!  hee, hee...
I left for home a little after lunch after spending more quality time with Nanny and my sister.  Once I got home, I had a lot of work to do.  My own yard needed to be taken care of. The yard needed to be cut, and I needed to plant what I had taken from my mom's. The zebra grass went down one property line, the crape myrtle went by the house at the end of that same property line.  Then I planted a couple of yellow, fragrant roses inside the zebra grass border.  I had to buy another rose to go with the other two. One should always have odd numbers planted or grouped together...
 
Knockout rose in mom's garden.
How do you relax?  Do you like to work in your yard?  Do you like to do needlework, play music, or read?  Hunt or fish?  In Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, God created the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested. He didn't need to rest, but He was setting a precendent for us.  Even Jesus, in the New Testament, found it important to set aside time to rest alone.  In the same way it's important for us to rest, to relax, to renew our hearts and minds.  Aside from spending time in God's word and in church, we need to find things that clear our minds, hearts and bodies of stress.  This time of year, Saturdays in the garden do it for me! 

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Same Life, New Story

Same Life, New Story
By:  Jan Silvious
Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers
Copyright 2010

In her new book Same Life, New Story author Jan Silvious takes the lives of ten women of the Bible and shares how their life stories changed their lives.  These ten women allowed God to use negative circumstances to change their lives for good.  Take for instance the judge Deborah of the Old Testament.  In Jewish culture women were to follow and not lead.  Deborah was a leader who respected and followed God, allowing Him to use her to advise and also save her people from oppression.  My personal favorite was the story of Hannah, whose battle with infertility and humiliation from her husbands' other wife caused her to fall on her face before God and beg Him for a son, promising to return the son to God's service.  From her we have Samuel, one of Israel's greatest judges and priests.

What can happen when Christian women turn over their troubles and life circumstances to God?  Anything!  This book is set up as a ten-week group Bible study for women.  However, it can be used for your own personal devotions.  Each chapter begins with a woman from the Bible, leads into modern day characters and situations, and finishes with the good that came from the life of the Bible character.  Following each chapter is a Personal Reflection section with a Journal Entry, along with a page of Group Discussion Questions.

This is a thought provoking study for any Christian woman.
In order to comply with new Federal Trade Commission regulations, please note that this book was provided compliments of Booksneeze.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

It's all about the DRAMA

Do you know someone who thrives off of DRAMA?  Someone who thinks the world revolves around them and no one else?  Someone who when they enter a room causes instant expectation of stress to come, from those who know them?  I am reading a book by Jan Silvious called  Same Life New Story (that I will blog about as soon as I finish), and one of the chapters deals with DRAMA.  This is not unexpected things that happen in your life where you do have temporary drama, but constant, ongoing, daily thriving off of DRAMA.  I am around one of those types of people on an almost daily basis. If I know this person is not going to be around me for a while, I experience such relief.  When I know they will be around, I tense up.  In fact, I have found myself starting to respond in kind with this person.  At times I allow this person to cause me to lose my temper with them.  I have probably become an enabler to this person.  One of the things Mrs. Silvious stresses in her book is that you let this person go.  You let them know that you are not going to be stressed by them, or participate in their drama anymore.  Sometimes that's kind of hard to do!  Maybe I should check out and cut out the drama in my own life...