Don't Judge a Book by its Cover!

I took a several girls from the middle school youth group to the local flea market this past Saturday so that they could sell their handcrafted jewelry and art.  Our space was tucked in between this young couple selling plants and this older woman whose space was filled with stuff that was stacked and strewn in all directions. My first impression of her was not very favorable. She seemed a little gruff to me with customers and slightly agitated in general. 

I was curious about her, so I would look over every now and then to see what she was doing. It was during one of these moments that I heard a portion of a cell phone conversation that she was having regarding a very important matter to her – the abduction of her two beloved dogs. In that conversation she told the person on the other end that she had been praying about the situation.

I have to admit that I thought this woman was a little strange in appearance and manner and trust me, I was judging her accordingly. Putting it bluntly – I didn’t think she was someone I would like to know.  However, there was this one thing that drew me to her space, not her, and it was that she had tons of old jewelry that she was selling. I am always looking for nice beads or pendants, etc., for the girls to use in their jewelry making, so I made my way over to check out her jewelry.

She ended her phone call while I was poking around in the jewelry. I noticed that she still seemed very distraught. [Good news flash - I am glad to know that when push comes to shove, my compassion for the hurting will overcome my hesitancy to engage a “strange” person.]  I asked her what was going on and she explained her dog situation to me in more detail. Because I had heard her say she was praying, I asked her if she was a person of faith - a believer. She immediately said yes, introduced herself as Gloria (there is some irony in that for sure), and we talked a minute about the power of prayer. 

After our short conversation, I moved on to look at more of her jewelry. You have to know this about me: I love order. Gloria’s jewelry, nor anything else she was selling for that matter, was orderly in any way, shape or fashion! I could not resist myself and began to sort her jewelry for her. (Sigh – I love sorting.)

You can see a little of Gloria's space in the background of this photo that I cropped

After a few minutes had passed, Gloria noticed what I was doing and came over to me with more stuff – she was not shy about receiving my help or put out by me not asking her first. As a matter of fact, this is what she shared with me. (I am getting tears in  my eyes as I recall this story). She said that her helper had not shown up that morning and she was thinking that she did not know how she was going to manage getting all her things out by herself - the more stuff out = the more money made and she needed the money.

She proceeded to tell me this story. 

There was a little princess who lived in a castle and she heard a strange noise in the attic. She cried out, “Oh no, it must be a mouse.” She heard the noise again, but this time it was louder. She cried out, “Oh no, it must be a rat! She then prayed and asked God to help her. The next noise she heard was, “Meow.” 

At the end of the story, Gloria explained that God had answered the little girl’s prayer by sending her a cat to take care of the problem. She went on to say, “You are my cat’s meow! God sent you to help me.” I was touched that I was her answered prayer -  just think, I almost missed it. 

I spent a lot of time with Gloria sorting her jewelry and displaying it nicely and I even found a large silver broach that said “Meow." I am not even kidding!  We both laughed when I showed it to her and she immediately pinned it on her shirt. Does God have a sense of humor or what? She was quite the character and we shared stories and laughs for most of the day. She gave small gifts from her things to the girls – including Sara, who could not resist the sorting opportunity either and came over to help me out (like mother, like daughter) - and me. She would say things like, “God told me to give this to you.” 

Gloria was not what I expected or judged her to be.  I am happy that my heart overruled my mind when it came to how I treated her - that I was able to use my "better" judgment, that is my "God's heart" judgment, in this situation.

The Story of My Garden

As many of you already know, I planted a garden this year. I was just in the mood to see something grow! However, as I work the garden, I am seeing so many similarities in how God works in the garden of my heart. Without me spelling them out and as you read this blog, can you see what I am talking about?

When I first began gardening, it was all about the preparing of the land to receive the seeds/seedlings. I tilled the spot (more than once) to loosen the soil and soften the ground. In the process of tilling, many roots and rocks were exposed. I pulled, tugged and dug to get these hinderances out of my garden spot. It was very laborious! 

Once the soil was complete and I went to purchase my plants, I was advised by the local Ace Hardware garden expert that I would need to "amend" the soil as well. This meant that I would need to add some type of compost or potting soil to make the soil porous and loose so that the small plant roots could push through it. Lastly, I was told that I would need to add fertilizer to ensure the plants have all the nutrients that the soil might be lacking in order to promote optimal plant growth. Whew! This is getting complicated. 

Having done all that, I began to plant. I gently and tenderly placed my flowers and veggies in the soil that I had so patiently prepared. When I was done, I stood back and admired my work. It looked great and I was pleased. Then, things began to happen that I did not anticipate. Some plants came up right away, but others didn't. I followed the direction on the seed packets, so I could not imagine what happened. I checked every day - nothing. Finally I got a clue and realized that even though I gave it my best effort, these particular plants were not going to cooperate! However, I did not give up. I simply planted some new seeds and they grew just fine. 

Things were going along great. Everything had sprouted and these gorgeous little green plants began to develop and produce what I will call "fruit" from

here on out. Then, out of nowhere, 4 of my tomato plants died. I found out another lesson - just because something appears healthy on the outside, it doesn't mean it is healthy on the inside. My beautiful tomato plants had contracted a disease that blocked the uptake of water and other nutrients, which caused them to slowly welt and die - with tomatoes on the vine! Uugggh! I pulled them up and disposed of them for fear that their disease would affect the other 4 plants that I still had.  It hurt me to pull those once healthy plants up and throw them on the brush pile - such a loss of goodness that could have been enjoyed . 

With that situation behind me, I once again admired my nice, orderly garden. The plants grew lush and became laden with their "fruit." One day after a particularly heavy downpour, I went out to check my garden and I found several of my plants lying on their sides. The earth had softened and the fruit was heavy, so they just fell over. No worries - I can fix this. I could see that my plants were going to need a little support, so I rummaged through some old wood scraps and came up with some stakes. These once droopy plants now stand tall again.

My latest incident involves one of my main gardening concerns - animals that like veggies! I was checking my garden when I noticed that my cucumber plants looked a little funny. Sure enough, some animal had come in the dark of night to nibble away at a couple of them! I am actually surprised that it hadn't happened before now. Fortunately, the damage was not unto death. The plant will survive, but it will have to "start over" again. All that growth gone in a blink of an eye. My hope is that the unexpected pruning will actually cause the plant to grow back even stronger. Time will tell and I will let you know.

I just have to say that there is nothing like picking veggies from my very own garden. It is my reward - to enjoy the harvest. So far, my enjoyment has been limited to jalapeno peppers! It is amazing how creative I have been with just one item from my garden. This particular item has added spice and flavor to many dishes! I am looking forward to picking some bell peppers next. 

I will end today's blog on one very important note. A garden has to be maintained! If things are not addressed right away, things are likely to get out of control. Weeds in particular! It is a constant chore to keep them out of my garden. It is almost a daily task, but the result is so worth it. 

If anyone should see my garden, they would know without a doubt that I care for it and have invested much time and energy to ensure that it has the best chance possible to grow into maturity and share its bounty with me and others.

Catching Up

Wow! It has been so long since I have blogged. My husband told me recently that I don't just blog, I design  - that may be part of the problem. I was being so detail oriented and wanting things just so that it was taking me a long time to post one entry.  I grew weary. It seemed like work. The other contributing factor is that I have been doing other things. I shared about this creative juice (for lack of a better term) that started flowing out of me, but, to my surprise, it began to flow in multiple directions at the same time! So, here is what I have been up to instead of blogging my contemplations and memoirs:

Photography:

Gardening:

Worm Composting:

Raising Chickens:

Plus the multitude of other family, friend, and church stuff I love to do!

These activities have provided me with great blog material and I regret (mildly) not writing some of it. I hope to do better in the coming days - even if it comes out messy and imperfect. Plus, does anyone really care about perfection other than me? If they do, it will give them a chance to practice grace.

Blessings to you all and remember, if you don't hear from me on a consistent basis, it is most likely because I am busy living life instead of writing about it!!!