The Gardener of My Heart

Till the soil of my heart, Lord.

Plant the seeds that grow into the Fruits of the Spirit.

Help me to tend my garden. Help me to stay vigilant for weeds that will steal the nutrients in the soil.

Keep watch for snakes that wind their way in to hide.

Lord, You are the Great Gardener of my heart.(This is a short poem that I wrote on Easter. I find writing therapeutic and luckily for my reader, I keep things short and sweet!)

Growing Roots

God created me to be a visual person so naturally He speaks to me in word pictures. I've always had a special fondness for trees. I'm not sure why, but to me they are beautiful in any shape, size or age. I have a tendency to humanize them.

My in-laws are going through a tough time right now. My father-in-law had a stroke in January, as well as brain surgery from an infection. He's still recovering and it's been a long and life changing road for the both of them. Their life, their family "tree", was knocked over in a storm.

I was at a nature center here in TN the other day and I noticed this great big tree. This is an excerpt of an email I sent my mother-in-law the other day describing it. (I hope she doesn't mind that I share it!)

"The tree was huge and had fallen over a while back during a storm. The roots were exposed on one side yet half of them were still rooted in the ground. The roots that were exposed had new growth coming from it. It was a beautiful sight. The tree's life was forever changed during that storm yet beauty still grew from it. Your family tree has been uprooted during your "storm". Beauty will still grow out of it." (I'm sorry to say, that I do not have a picture of this tree. )

Two nights ago, we had a crazy, powerful storm. Lightning, thunder, the whole works. The next morning after the storm had passed I shuffled the kids into the van and was backing out of the garage when I saw part of a tree in the yard. It was leaning against the neighbor's house. During the storm this tree was struck by lightning and the top half of it was completely knocked off. Such a drastic turn of events for this poor tree! The trees roots are still planted and it will survive this but...sometimes that is how God gets our attention...with a quick spark of lightning.


To continue with our theme of trees, I considered my family tree and what it's like right now. I picture this...

Living the military life, you've got to be portable. You can't let your roots grow to deep because they are eventually going to be uprooted. I do look forward to the day when I can stretch my roots but until then I think I'll just continue to decorate the pot that I'm in.

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7

He made all thing new

It's been quite some time since my last post and to be honest with you, I haven't been inspired to write until now. I started this blog to keep my family and friends updated on our day to day news but Facebook came into the picture and has hogged most of my "blog" time. With today being Easter, I have spent a lot of the day reflecting. We watched The Passion of the Christ and there was something that 'Jesus' said, "I make all things new." What better time to start a dedication to blogging than today when Christ gave me a fresh start. It may sound corny but blogging was once a big part of my life and I have longed for the creative outlet that it had granted me. Therefor I am publicly announcing a re-commitment to blogging.

With that said...let me jump back to my reflecting that I was mentioning. My kids have asked me about the Trinity, how Jesus can be God and vice versa. I 'borrowed' what my former pastor, Chap. Brown said once about Jesus being a Son, just like he was someone's son and Him being the Father just like he (Lee) was a father. I have always liked that explanation but just today I came to the realization of a different kind.

Throughout the Old Testament it is written that God can not be looked upon (ie. The burning bush or hidden behind the temple curtain). Humans use their five senses to judge their surroundings. So for our human brains to fully grasp who God is, He had to engage our senses... sight, touch, hear. He became flesh. He put skin on so we could finally look upon His face. I know this is not a new concept but it's one that I myself, have just begun to understand. God wanted to personalize himself, to make himself more approachable, and so that a relationship with Him would be attainable. Like I said before, we're human, we need our senses to judge what is real. We have to fit our "reality" inside of a box and test it against those senses. The God of the Old Testament was out of reach, behind the curtain. When Jesus came it was like He said, "Here I am, See Me, Feel Me, Hear Me. I AM real and I'm here for YOU."

As I close this first post in many months, I want you to think of Jesus, God with skin on and what was the reason for his descent to the earth from His Heavenly throne. You.

God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27