Good Times in the Backyard

I didn't get a lot done outside yesterday. I only was able to grab a few minutes in the morning and a few before the rain came in the evening. However what I did do was very satisfying.

I cleaned the pond filter head and watched a frog jump in. He will winter with us. Back in the spring he was just a tadpole. I love the fact that he stayed when he could have left!

I got some mulch around the newly planted apple trees.

I moved three day lily seedlings from the day lily nursery to a bed by the patio. The day lily nursery is simply a flower bed in the shade where seeds are planted each spring.

I pulled in some more cherry and grape tomatoes (yes there are still one ripening!) I also got some greens from the garden.

Putting around in the yard is so satisfying, even if it is a small slice of time here and there. It is therapeutic!

Moonflower

In my backyard there are changes daily and even from hour to hour at times!

Daily, because of the Daylilies, which in their bloom season provide as their Greek name renders, "Beauty For A Day". From one hour to the next because we have morning glories from China, Four O'Clocks from Peru and as seen in the picture here, Moonflowers.

The Moonflowers open in the evening and remain open all night. The day lilies open at 3am, the morning glories just before dawn and the Peruvian Four O'Clocks as their name suggests at 4 pm.

All part of God's Amazing Creation in my backyard.

Grief In the Garden

Rainbows and Butterflies

The Book of Genesis records the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth. Death was not part of his Creation. He created us to live.

In the early chapters we see the first human death, after sin enters the world. It is a murder. Cain killed his brother, Abel. Adam and Eve grieved over the loss of a son.

Not too far into the Book of Genesis we encounter Noah. We know the story.

Something that I have just begun to think about is the grief that Noah and his family must have experienced. Think about it. On that ark was the only human and animal life in the world, apart from the marine life.

Noah and his wife probably had family which extended beyond their three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth and their wives. Certainly their wives had family. They had people they were associated with. Noah preached. All of these people perished in the flood. Except for the 8 of them there was no human life left when they came out of the ark.

The symbol of hope, the sign of the covenant the LORD God made with the earth was the rainbow in the sky. Genesis 9

In their grief God gave hope. He gave them a sign that comes when there is a storm and when the sun begins to shine again.

The theme of this piece is rainbows. The beauty of God coming through in the storm of sorrow. This is not by any means an attempt to minimize the storm but to try and trace God's Hand in it. If that is impossible at this point, we can fall back on the truth in the words of Spurgeon, "When you cannot trace His Hand, you can always trust His Heart.