Monthly Archives: June 2021

Special Verses

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Welcome back to another week of musing. I thought I’d change it up a bit this time, so instead of my usual little devotional, I’m going to share with you a couple of my favourite verses. The post may be a bit shorter, but I suppose you can never go wrong sharing God’s word. Okay, let’s go!

My first verse has been mentioned in my previous posts, so if you have been with us for any length of time, you’ve seen it before.

” But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”

Luke 2:19 NIV

Why do I love it? It speaks to my momma’s heart. Here was this young, teenage girl experiencing a life changing event: the birth of her firstborn. Not only would it have been typically life changing, but this birth was crazy different. The young virgin had to share the experience with her baffled betrothed boyfriend and in a barn with a bunch of smelly creatures and a collection of equally smelly shepherds. Can you imagine? Seriously, can you imagine?

Yet, Mary “treasured” these things up. Locked every detail, every sight, sound, smell into her memory. She would have been a great scrapbooker. Journaling everything in her notebook, capturing the emotion of the moment, so she could share the story later with everyone she met. Still, she pondered them. I suspect it was in a quiet moment, all alone, when Mary was finally allowed to take a second to muse about all that had just happened. And be amazed. It’s a short verse, but it packs a punch, at least for me.

My second block is intertwined in the following passage:

” For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

This one is a long one, but also a significant one for me, as it arrived in a time in my life when I needed to know that God was a God of miracles, and that His plans were perfectly designed for me. It surfaced again recently in a study I’ve been enjoying. The memories flooded back, and I smiled. He strengthens with POWER. His love is UNMEASUREABLE. His abilities are BEYOND IMAGINATION. And it’s FOREVER. I could stop there. I’ll let the verses speak to you, as scripture always does. Amazing how that works, eh? The words speak to you, at this moment, for this time in your life, for now.

I trust you’ve been blessed by my thoughts today. Why not share your favourite verses in the comments? I’d love to hear from you and what you’ve been musing about !

Seasons of Change

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As many of you know, our little urban garden is up and running again. Thanks to lockdown and Covid-19, we were ahead of our game and started seeds indoors this year. As always, there are learning curves with such things and we’ve had various degrees of success. Traditionally, the long weekend in May is a fairly “safe” time to transition seedlings to outside. So, last week we did just that… off our little seed babies went into the ground with high hopes of bountiful growth. And then it snowed.

Frost damage on Corn crop (photo from agriculture.com)

I see my neighbour (who has a beautiful garden) promptly shielded her tomatoes with warming pots. A seasoned farmer I follow on Instagram threw tarps over her raised beds in a last ditched effort to protect her asparagus that finally will be big enough to harvest after waiting for three long years. We did not. Our second attempt at scraggly corn shoots look very shriveled. The others may survive with a little prayer and a lot of hope.

“Farming” is a risky business. I recently searched out what our “growing zone” is, as this seems to be a fact I should know. The website starts out with “…To determine zone number, Canada uses a formula that consists of 7 climate variables. Canada’s hardiness map is divided into 9 zones…” and continues on for about 9 paragraphs and ends with “…website includes several links intended to clarify the hardiness zones, but which seem instead to be very complicated and confusing.” 1 Ya think?? Hats off to the men and women who make their livelihood on the whims of the weather and their wage on the likelihood of storms and forest fires. They say that in Canada, we can have all four seasons in one week… and it is true. Weather is unpredictable. Life is unpredictable too.

Which had me musing about the seasons of life this week. Psychology tells us there are “stages” we go through in our average life span — seasons of growth and development, seasons of change. Many of you have eluded to these in your comments as we muse along together. That’s the beauty of exploring and sharing our faith journeys, too… we encourage each other as we go. The scriptures are scattered with references, not only to the physical four seasons we see throughout the year, but also in our “spiritual seasons” as well. God reminds us through nature how our world is in constant change… and He designed it that way.

I often question: why? Why did He design it that way? Why do things have to change? Why do we have to grown old? Why has He allowed the corona virus to infect the world at this moment? Why did He choose to come to earth at the moment He did? What will the future hold for us? Seasons of bitter cold, and seasons of preparation, growth and warmth. Each season holds something to offer, but none of them are ever perfect. Weeds grow just as rapidly in summer as the sunflowers do. Yet, the constant through it all is God alone. James 1:17 tells us there is no variation or shadow of change in the Father. We can take courage in this thought. Even in the midst of life’s seasonal changes.

My zinnias (a first time plant for me!) have sprouted cute little dichotomous leaves all tucked up in a row. I’m not sure how the frost will affect them. I’m also not sure what life will hold for us in the next year, or the next month, or even this week ahead… but we move forward through the season, and grow and adapt just as God designed it to be. As will you. Blessings fellow seedlings!

  1. (2020, https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/plant-hardiness-zones/)