A Banquet of Tradition and Blessings

"For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet... Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long?" - Rebecca Harding Davis

On Thursday, November 24, 2011, my family and friends gathered to celebrate Thanksgiving Day in my home.  The assembly seems to change a bit each year, but not the traditions.  As I grow older and continue to succumb to the demands of life, the time-honored way of preparing for the holidays overwhelms me, so this year I decided to order the meal from a local restaurant.  As the day grew ever closer, my loved ones and I kept adding the old traditional favorites to the menu.  I was delighted as each entree was suggested because even though I was tired and didn’t want to cook, it seemed that the thought of not including these special dishes might somehow change the essence, the persona of this special day that had been fashioned by generations before us.

Right on the top of my list of things to give thanks for are the relationships I have with my loved ones.  I often wish I could go back, if even for a day, to the uncomplicated relationships I had with them when I was a child; the time before the disappointments in life and love could steal away joy and plant bitterness.  Even though some relationships are easy and some are complicated, they are all gifts from God and worthy of sustenance, and I am thankful for them.

I put roses in my fountain this Thanksgiving.  The roses are still in full bloom, little blessings that God uses to plant a little bit of heaven in my heart.  The road that leads to eternal life may be rocky, long, and exhausting, but it is lined with these little blessings to encourage and remind me that the banquet he lays out for us on earth; “the sun, the earth, love, friends and our very breath” is just a taste of things yet to come.

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end." - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Bringing In The Garden

"God almighty first planted a garden" - Sir Francis Bacon

Since winter is finally creeping into Central Texas, I decided it best to bring in my potted plants.  This is not something I really like to do because honestly I take better care of them while they are outside!  I do like the warm feeling they bring in and the fact that I get to save a little green for the days when all I can see outside is grey.

Many of these plants belonged to my Mother, so for some reason I feel the need to nourish them even more, to ensure that they flourish and thrive.  It’s like if I let them die, yet another part of her slips away…so I shuffle them in and out with the changing of the seasons, just as she did.

My dream is to someday have a garden room, as the only room in my home now the least bit suitable for plant life is my formal dining room; it has the most sunlight in the house.  I envision my garden room with glass walls, French doors, white wicker furniture, and a beautiful chandelier; a space both elegant and functional that serves as a bridge connecting the beauty of the outdoors to the inside of our home.  I’ll have to start plans for that after my greenhouse is done.  Oh, and after I get that second job! 

Garden rooms, or sun rooms evolved from farmhouses and urban row homes that had covered porches for the families to sit and relax.  As Americans became more suburbanized, families started using their back patios and gardens for this purpose. They screened in their patios for shelter and privacy, and WALAH, the garden room was born.  Modern sun rooms offer all that the older ones did but in a more elaborate, comfortable setting because of advanced building technology.

For now, my dining room will serve as a surrogate garden room.  I will bring my green beauties into a place where the sun can fill them with warmth and life and keep winter’s bite at arm’s length.  In return I get the privilege of carrying on the legacy that my Mom fashioned through her love of gardening.

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1: 11-12

To Bloom or Not to Bloom...My Trees Want to Know

"Never yet was a springtime, where the buds forgot to bloom" - Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

I have been raving on the insanely hot, crazy summer we have had here in Central Texas.  June-August was the hottest such period on record for the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico.  In fact, in records dating to 1895, the June-August mean statewide temperatures in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana were three of the four hottest such summer mean temperatures on record for the U.S.  Now that the weather has cooled down and we have had a little rain, plant life here is quite confused on what to do!  Roses, trees, and shrubs are blooming, putting out new leaves, and the grass is turning green again.  A few days ago, a cold front blew in and the skies turned grey casting a dreary façade on the landscape.  As we were looking out the kitchen window into the back yard, I commented that it looked like winter, pondered for a moment and said “well, if you don’t look at all the flowers and green grass”.

I did a little research and learned that fall blossoming in fruit and other spring flowering trees and shrubs can occur if the tree is stressed during the summer (heat, drought, etc.).  While stressed, a plant may become dormant.  When the weather moderates, if conditions are just right, the tree comes out of dormancy and flowers as if it were springtime. The trees do not usually expend all their blossom buds at this time, so there should be more flowers next spring.  So if you have been scratching your head and wondering why your fruit trees are blooming in November, now you know!

Latent, inactive, sleeping, resting, undeveloped, hidden, and quiescent are all synonyms for the adjective dormant.  So many of us can’t seem to escape from difficult circumstances and stresses in our lives and as a result we slip into dormancy, a place where growth and development are not required.  This can be a dangerous place to be.  If we don't pass through this place, we can become self-absorbed and stagnate and this leads us away from God and our relationships with others.  God didn’t intend for us to be alone, he covets an intimate relationship with us and commands us to make that relationship the number one priority in our life, followed by the command to make our relationship with others number two.  That is why we are here, to love God and others, learn, grow, and form relationships that will break through any hurdles that keep life stagnate.  Finally, it is through our relationships that we can lead others to Christ, who, when our work is done here, will transplant our lives and loves here on earth, to eternal ones in Heaven.

Stress and circumstances are the droughts of life, while relationships are the sustenance of life.  Nurturing significant relationships and relishing the healing that they can bring will carry you out of dormancy and into full bloom…no matter the season.

"For I know the plans I have for you say the Lord, plans for welfare, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  - NSV Jeremiah 29:11

Halloween - About Relationships

“A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween.”  ~Erma Bombeck

As it goes for most kids, Halloween was always one of my favorite days of the year.  As a child, the anticipation of hiding behind a mask and going out for “tricks or treats” started building the minute fall blew in and built to a climax on Halloween night as I perused the streets in search of fun and treats.  Then a melancholy feeling replaced excitement as the evening ended.  Funny, it still feels the same way for me but with different activities!  I love decorating for Halloween with fall décor as well as adding a spooky component by strategically placing spiders, mice, and skulls (to name a few things) around the house.  I love to play “pranks” on my loved ones and love having the kids and grandkids over for all the fun.  I trick or treat vicariously through the grandkids now.  I watched in amusement as the kids geared up with excited anticipation and Mom coerced them with threats of “not getting to go” if they didn't eat their dinner.  But finally, exhaustedly, Mom breaks down and agrees to start the face painting and costume donning ritual that pave the way to a final blast-off out the front door.

As a Christian, I have felt convicted about my love for Halloween.  There are a lot of opinions on whether or not Christian’s should take part in this pagan holiday.  History reveals that Halloween actually has roots in the Christian faith.  You can read about it here:  http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html.  Nonetheless, I do not subscribe to the “evil” side that is so popular, or the gore, or any mean-spiritedness that may be associated with it.  I try to establish a balance that keeps me grounded in my Christian faith but allows me to enjoy the innocent fun of the day.

Halloween straddles fall and winter and brings to the season a mischievous festiveness that really appeals to me.  Just like other holidays, it offers me a time to bond with the people in my life that I love, and provides yet another opportunity to foster the relationships that mean everything to me.  A time to play, laugh, escape, live, and love is how I view Halloween; a very worthwhile occasion in my book.

“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” – John 15:17

  

Looking for A Miracle

Heaven is blessed with perfect rest but the blessing of earth is toil.  ~Henry van Dyke

My vegetable garden rested this year.  It was covered with a pile of brush, remnants of overgrown trees, and bushes cut away during the summer.  Because the soil was spent last year, I didn’t even try to plant anything in that area, but rather let it rest in hopes fertility might find its way back.

Two of the sweetest boys I know, my son Brandon and his friend Stewart helped me to haul away the old dead brush, dig up weeds and grass, and cover the area with compost and mulch.  The bending, stooping, shoveling, and hoeing really did a number on me!  It is truly hard, hard labor.  My favorite part of gardening is planting seed and baby plants and watching them grow!  I get so excited when the seedlings break ground and peek out at me.  But the bed preparation to get to that point is where the real work lies.  Soil preparation is the most important part of gardening, and the hardest part!  You almost have to have a degree in Horticulture to get it right, at least in the part of Texas I live in! 

Easy Vegetable Gardening (http://www.easy-vegetable-gardening.com/vegetable-garden-soil-preparation.html) describes the 6 vital components of excellent soil preparation:

• remove compaction and avoid walking on the soil
• dig/ cultivate only when it is dry/ moist (never if wet)
• regularly add organic material especially compost to build the number of garden worms that help your vegetable garden soil preparation
• dig/ cultivate only what/when you need to
• keep the good fine soil on the top and the sub-soil at the bottom
• always firm the soil with the back of a rake or fork

Where I live, we have rock and grass, so we have to haul in soil and amendments, dig, pull grass and weeds, dig some more, add manure, add compost, pray, go get a massage, and then hope for the best.  But harvest or no, I benefit from the hard work, the hours spent with my hands in the dirt.  Some of my best therapy and inspiration comes in the garden.  God reveals so many things about life to me during my time there.

As I dig out the invading grass and weeds and turn over the soil, I think about how beautiful it is, fertile or not.  Soil is also known as earth: it is the substance from which our planet takes its name.  The rich, organic smell reminds me of the blessings of working with the earth; it gives but never takes, its beauty is inspiration, it enlightens, it heals, it reveals, and it gives life.

So, I’ll let it rest another 5 months or so, and then I expect some results!  I am hoping for some home-grown goodies this summer.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed and a line open to Heaven for a cooler summer, fertile ground, and lots of rain.  Do you believe in miracles?

"Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.  His faithful love endures forever." Psalm 136:4