Verdigris Extremity

At the risk of shocking anyone who really knows me...
I think I'm getting a Green Thumb!

When we moved to our house 2 years ago one of the things that I loved about it was all of the landscaping beds. So, as a token of my appreciation of them, I have successfully neglected said landscaping beds since the day we moved in. Not on purpose of course, just because I don't really know anything about gardening or taking care of plants!

So one of my goals for this summer was to clean out & clean up those landscaping beds. Weed them out, plant some new plants, and re-mulch... and so it begins. Just as I was getting ready to begin my undertaking, we heard about a landscaping business that was closing nearby, and they were planning to auction all of their inventory! Perfect! So we went, we spent, and we came home with quite a haul.

Knowing nothing about any plants, including the ones I purchased at the auction, I googled all of them and made a plan. Since then, I've made about 4 trips to Menards & nearly doubled my plant "collection"!

I'm about a third of the way through my landscaping beds... I've used about 10 of my 40 bags of mulch... I've planted 4 planters & 9 pots of flowers... and I'm loving it! Turns out gardening flowers provides a lot of time to think, and provides a lot of similarities to my spiritual life. My existing plants were full of dead leaves and dying stems, which left no room for new life to grow through! I've realized I'm a lot like those plants. I hold on to all of the dead & painful things in my life, never being willing to let Jesus "clean me up" so that new life can grow!

I'm sure that if my plants could talk, they'd share that being weeded is no fun. But the pain is worth the growth! My heart is the same way.... being spiritually weeded is no fun. And unlike my plants, I have the ability to hold on... hold on to the old without giving it over to the LORD. But when I am willing to let go, willing to give it over to Him, that's when I can grow! Grow in Him and for Him.

And so, this summer, I'm seeing change in more than just my landscaping! My property is getting a makeover & so am I!

And if any of my newly planted friends survive the next month or so, I'll be sure to post pics to share! =D

Branching Out in the Blogosphere

Apparently it's not enough for me to not keep up with one blog... I've started another!
My Javik says & does the funniest things on a daily basis. And I know that the reality of life & motherhood is that I will not remember them, despite how much I really would love to.
So I've started blogging the funny things that he says, the "Javisms" of our life.

www.javisms.blogspot.com

Thank goodness I'm a mother in this day of technology... my boy turns 3 next month & I barely have his first months scrapbooked. I've forgotten to write down nearly every thing a mother is supposed to record in a baby book. If it weren't for our periodic recordings of his height & weight on his closet doorway, I'd have nothing!

So these Javisms will hopefully enable me to look back on my days with my little guy and smile. I spend every day with 13 & 14 year old boys... I know that despite my every attempt to keep it from happening, Javik will one day become one of them. And I know from my many conversations with the mothers of my students that apparently the teenage years of your children come with worries & stresses & frustrations & joys of their own. I want to be able to remember. To remember what the worries & stresses & frustrations & joys were of having a (3) year old. And hopefully to look back with fondness while looking at the amazing young man my boy has become.