The last few weeks have been busy with making arrangements for getting the coal stove installed by builders who also put in a new chimney in our 1880's home. She tolerated it like a champ! Actually the home originally was heated by coal, so it's like having an old friend over. Christmas prep has been keeping us moving as well. I can't complain, it's a good kind of busy. But, Oh!, these calm moments are priceless.
In other news today after church I pulled in the end of my lettuce harvest. I had a small (maybe 3x2) plastic green house over my 3 small rows and it kept my lettuce perky until now. Not bad! We've enjoyed tons of fresh salad this fall. Can't wait to plant in the spring : ) Gardening is becoming a favorite past time of mine, reawakened this year as it was time to have my first real honest-to-goodness own garden on our own property. I've got gardening in my veins. My great-grandfather was a fruit vendor in old Totowa, NJ. My grandparents on both sides of the family gardened and were pretty good at it. My parents are avid gardeners. One of the pastimes they really enjoy doing together. Growing up we had 3 gardens! One large one in our back yard in NJ ( they don't call it the Garden State for nothing!) and 2 at our Community Garden Center. One was a perennial plot that was left alone for the winter, while the other plots got tilled by the grounds keeper. I have many memories of gardening as a child. Watching mom with her bandadna on her head working in the garden, Dad making his nightly run over to the Community Garden Center to water it, and me enjoying the sweetest peas right out of the pod. So it's been a wonderfully nostalgic, yet a fresh and new experience to dive into gardening in my own way. I'm thankful for the experience and looking forward to year two.
To close I want to share this verse that has a little bit to do with my gardening experience. I love this past time but the most important thing is to see the Lord and his goodness in his creation. It's because of Him, what He's done in my life, and how His Word has changed me that I can experience joy and see His love in creation.
Job 23:12 " I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread." NIV (emphasis mine)
