greenery

My favorite flower has shifted over the years. I used to choose star-gazer lilies, and if you had asked me on my 16th birthday, that would have been my answer. Since we've been married, I've decided I like peonies best, and when we moved to our first home, we planted some bulbs. They grew up slowly but surely into little plants, but while they were growing, our flower beds burst into bloom, revealing the flowers that had been planted years ago. One bush in the side bed and one bush in the front bed had leaves that looked remarkably like the leaves growing up from the bulbs we had planted. And sure enough, they overtook our newly planted bulbs, having an advantage in years of root system and such, and the tiny purple and white buds they produced unfolded into my favorite flowers. It's one of those tiny confirmations; This is the perfect house for us.

Our garden is growing, and I'm excited! The tomatoes and strawberries have flowers, the blueberries are getting bigger, and the broccoli still looks nothing like broccoli, but it's growing regardless. Our fig tree has little bursts of green all over it, and everything we haven't planted yet, hasn't grown. :) We have some beans and watermelons that need to find their way into the ground, but life is busy lately, working at the church, watching babies, making meals, and meeting at our church every night for a tent meeting that has been incredibly encouraging to my heart. The Spirit bears witness inside of me that I am a child of God. When the devil points out the sin in my life, and there often is sin in my life as I choose my flesh (one of my enemies) over the Spirit, God the Father looks at me and sees His sinless Son. If you're local, you're welcome to come out any night this week! The meeting begins at 7 pm every night and is at 1316 Campostella Rd. Chesapeake, Va 23320. There's a big tent in the field. You can't miss it! We've been going every night, not because we're some spiritual giants who always do what we should, but because we need the Truth and the Light as much as anyone else. I hope you can come out. It's been such an encouragement to see people from other churches (or no church at all) come out and worship the Lord together!

I didn't even really mean to get into that, but it's been a big part of our life lately and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. :)

I'm excited for our little garden to continue to grow so I can start using some of the fruits and veggies in meals. For three weeks now I've been making actual recipes instead of just cooking things and putting them on the same plate, and I've been enjoying it. It's also fun to find new things that Matt really likes that can be added to some of the "regulars". :)

What's been blooming in your flower garden? Vegetable garden? Do you like kale more than you thought you would? Yeah, me too.