Pulling Weeds

Every year I plant a vegetable garden and every year I am amazed at the abundance. I have always found joy in tending to my garden. Growing up, my parents always planted a large garden and we all took part in tending to it. In my family now, we plant a vegetable garden to eat where we live and in order to eat well. It is important for us to find and enjoy local and sustainable food and to know what is going to the table and into our bodies. The taste of fresh garden food is simple and profound. One bite of a garden grown strawberry can bring you back to the sun-drenched summers of your childhood.

"The tragedy of the grocery store is the amnesia that robs us of our gratitude" 

says Hank Lentfer, an avid Alaskan forager.

"When you go out and gather something, the food is received as a gift." 

We are blessed by the fruits of our labour and by the process of growing food. But perhaps because I am a mother now, I have not put the time into it that is needed. I have a friend who says you either have a well manicured garden or you have kids. This year I found it difficult to stay on top of the weeds. It became quite overgrown and in return the vegetables did not produce as much. The times that I did get out to pull weeds, some weeds themselves were bigger than the plants. Though, I do not enjoy pulling weeds, it can be a contemplative process. In weeding my garden I receive revelation that the weeds are as sin in the life of a believer. They must be pulled out by the root as part of the path to sanctification. Any smaller weeds or roots left behind will grow stronger and take over just as sin can take over in our lives.

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us..." Hebrews 12:1 

I have a sin biography that is long. I profess that I envy others. I'm weary from my own disappointment. I blame and say hurtful words, I do not find time to spend with God every day, I'm impatient, I am often running late for things. I am ignorant of the way God made me and I submit to moodiness. There are many festering sins in my life and it is painful to reflect on them all. So, with my fingers stuck in God's dirt, I surrender to Him and pray:

Abba Father. Help me to walk in your light. I praise you for never allowing those weeds to stay in my heart. You want to pull out the sin in my life by it's root. Lord, I give you my heart and ask that you remove any root of sin. Thank you Lord, that I am rooted in Your love. In Jesus Name, Amen

And with that prayer I can go on to receive the true blessings of Grace and the abundance of the produce in my garden.

Gratitude List:

48. O, the versatile mason jar! Glorious in it's simplicity. Mason jars should be used for canning, but I love to use them as drinking glasses, vases, storing dried goods, pencil holders, piggy bank... Yeah, I'm a jarhead.

49. Homemade pesto Here's the recipe:

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (can used hazelnuts or walnuts)
3 garlic cloves finely minced
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/4 cup EV Olive Oil

Using a food processor combine all ingredients. Do the pine nuts first to get them finely chopped. Will keep a week in fridge or freeze for up to 3 months.

50. Homemade Peach Salsa. Tastes great with salmon or nacho chips. Here's the easy peasy recipe:

2 cups diced peaches (can leave skin on)
1/4 cup red pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup shallot or red onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt
Fresh cilantro or parsley
1 teaspoon sugar or 1-2 tsp of honey if peaches are not sweet enough

51.I love Autumn. The colours are changing, the farmers are harvesting, the air is a little brisker.

52. And, with the arrival of the Fall season, I have pulled out one of my favourite accessories.. The scarf. I love cozying up an outfit with a scarf.

53. Those cheeks.

54. I love curling up in a cozy "blankie" and snuggling with my little man on rainy days. Rainy days are the perfect excuse to warm up with a cup of comfort soup and a book. Sidenote: Isaac's favourite food right now is my Meatball Soup. Love it!

55. The imagination of a child. We recently had a playdate with our nephew, Alexi, and we loved playing along with his imagination. And, he has quite the imagination.

56. Homemade play-dough to entertain said imagination.

57. {Hugs}

58. Paper bag puppets. So, nostalgic. So fun.

59. Thrift store finds. I am ever so pleased with the latest find: A solid oak rocking horse in beautiful shape. For $15 I could not resist. I do not want to spoil my son with toys when it is not a birthday or Christmas. But, this was a moment of instant gratification that I have no regrets about.


Blessings abound. Experience more joy, in re-living your thankfulness by recording your gratitude list too!

God Bless,
Sonya

Four Years and Counting

Heather Dietz Photography

'TGS' - That's what it says on the inside of our wedding bands (Tim - God - Sonya).

It was a beautiful day. We were sealed together, forever.

We promised that we'd love and serve each other and that we would put Christ at the center.

We have worked hard at making our marriage strong, happy, united, passionate, forgiving and the outcome has been better than I could have ever imagined.

Tim and I have grown closer together. In many ways, we are different. But, what we value most is the same.

Heather Dietz Photography

Heather Dietz Photography

Heather Dietz Photography

Heather Dietz Photography

Daniel Holm Photography

Lou Lou West Photography

Heather Dietz Photography

Looking back through our wedding album I came across some advice offered by our family and friends. Here are just a few of the inspirations we've applied to keep our marriage strong.

- Have fun just being together.
- Never get too old to hold hands.
- Don't expect to have everything right at the start.
- Marry a hard worker and a good provider.
- Learn to bend and not break.
- Make faith, hope, trust, and love the cornerstones of your marriage.
- Give each other plenty of space to grow.
- Dates don't have to be dinner and a movie - window shopping and ice cream, go to the park or zoo together, cuddle up by a fountain or a big tree
- First make a commitment to the Lord, then to each other.
- Curl up on the couch and look at wedding pictures together.
- Learn to love and appreciate the good in each other.
- Spend quality time together every day - even if it's just a few minutes.
- Keep your love, your health, and your faith in God strong.
- Love always take maintenance - kindness is a big part of that!
- You've got to have love, and you've got to know God.
- Life isn't always sunshine, learn to survive the storms.
- Share common goals
- Cook together, have PJ days together.

Heather Dietz Photography

Heather Dietz Photography

Heather Dietz Photography

The last four years have been the best of my life. And, Lord willing, we will make the next years even better.

I love you, Tim, and thank you for loving me back.

Come dear lover - let's tramp through the countryside. Let's sleep at some wayside inn, then rise early and listen to bird-song. Let's look for wildflowers in bloom, blackberry bushes blossoming white, fruit trees festooned with cascading flowers. 

~ Song of Songs 7:11-12 MSG

The Farmer's Hands and Morning Kisses

 The Farmer's Hands

Every hand tells a story
about our life and character.
Hands provide inward glimpses
and reveal who we really are.

Our hands cannot be hidden
they display the effects of time.
They show hard work and dedication
Through every wrinkle and line.








There are hands that hold
and hands that share,
Hands that break bread
and hands that fold in prayer.

God left his seal upon our hands
so we may come to know our purpose.
Our fingerprints are God's signet
as unique as our gifts and talents.

The artist creates beauty
with the work of their hands.
The farmer's hands tell a story
of working the land.










Though fingers are calloused
and rough they appear.
Those scars and soiled nails
are evidence of what's held dear.

Etched in the lifelines
the dirt and grime of every day.
With time scars heal
and grime is washed away.










My own hands are not as soft
as they once were.

The skin on the sides of my index fingers
never comes quite clean.
No matter how short I keep my nails
dirt still finds a way underneath.

While they are less outwardly beautiful
I am joyful.
They declare more effectively than I ever could
that they are useful. 








"I spread out my hands to You; my soul longs for You like a thirsty land." ~ Psalm 143:6

"Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are in My view continuously." ~Isaiah 49:16

Father, use my hands to bless others and glorify You. Strengthen my hands to be used for Your good work.

My husbands hands are calloused and rough. But that doesn't mean that his spirit is. He has a gentle and tender presence. And, he never lets a morning go by without making sure to give me a kiss - 'good morning' before he leaves for work. I recently read this little tidbit in a Faith Alive Christian resource, A Woman and Her World, from 1987.

"There is more to that morning peck than meets the eye. According to a recent survey by an insurance company, a husband who kisses his wife each morning before going off to work in the field, factory, or office, or wherever gains several advantages over the non-kisser. The study found that the husband who gives the morning kiss will probably live five years longer than the one who doesn`t. And what`s more, a kissing husband will have fewer auto accidents, will lose up to 50 percent less time from work as a result of illness, and will earn 20 to 30 percent more than the non-kissing husband."

 
- ♥ - Sonya

Garden Blessings

Each new spring and summer I marvel at the mystery and generosity of my edible garden. When I plant the seeds I say a quick prayer. I imagine them being blessed and bearing good fruit. In turning over the soil with compost I picture rich, fertile earth that will provide each plant with the nutrients it needs to grow. When I see the first seeds sprout I rejoice and thank God and reflect on His good creation. And, when I pick the first fruits of my labour, if I`m really present, I practice resurrection gratitude.

Gardening brings us closer to creation and helps us come to know His presence in our daily bread. It helps us see this world as not merely planet earth, but as creation: a divine mystery.

Upon this garden
May your stars rain down their blessed dust.
May you send rain and sunshine upon our garden and us.
Grant us the humility to touch the humus,
That we might become more human,
That we might mend our rift from your Creation,
That we might then know the sacredness of the gift of life—
That we might truly experience life from the hand of the Mother.
For you planted humanity in a garden,
and began our resurrection in a garden.
Our blessed memory and hope lie in a garden

Excerpt from Blessing of the Land from the Book of Common Prayer.

Blessing our gardens through our love and our loving care blesses us in so many ways. Gardens have a special place in the human story. After all God first planted humanity in a garden, the garden of Eden. And, the most redemptive act in history began in a garden - in Gethsemane. And the story ends in Revelation with the image of the garden taking over the City of God, with the river of life flowing through the city center and the tree of life piercing the urban concrete.

A beautiful garden is a work of heart. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thanks be to GOD.

Springeth has sprugeth - corn sprouts are one of my favourite sights

Spinach is starting to reseed

Deep roots

Room 2 Grow

Finding shade among the potatoes

From garden to table

- ♥ - Sonya