As long as...

As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest,

cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night. 

Genesis 8:22 NLT

Breathing in His truth today with Deidra and others

 

Word Filled Wednesday - Harvest Time

Combining field of canola

Jesus said, "The food that keeps me going

is that I do the will of the One who sent me,

finishing the work he started.

As you look around right now,

wouldn't you say that in about four months

it will be time to harvest?

Well, I'm telling you to open your eyes

and take a good look at what's right in front of you.

These Samaritan fields are ripe. It's harvest time!

John 4:34-35 The Message

Click over to Internet Cafe Devotions to enjoy more combos of pictures and His Word

Seeing the plenty

This week we have enjoyed the first beets, cucumbers and potatoes from our garden.  This afternoon I pulled up a few carrots and one small ripe roma tomato.

We fell very, very short of our usual harvest of peas, but it looks like there will be more than enough beans.

It isn't possible to say how well the corn will come in, some looks good, some not.

Each time I lean toward grumbling and complaining or feeling sad about all the plants that have died without giving up their normal abundance...  something catches in that back of my throat, tears fill my eyes.

Image by United Nations Photo via Flickr

I think of those who are leaving some of their children on the side of the road to die of hunger and thirst so that they might save the others.

While I see the plenty that surrounds me, I thank God for all that He has provided for us and ask "Why me, Lord?  Why have I been so blessed?"

I find myself praying that He would show us what He would have us do.  A cup of cold water is needed.  My heart can't seem to turn away.

Frivolity of flowers

Corn and squash Summer 2005

Yesterday, after work, in the midst and mist of storm clouds and drizzle, Rick made long trenches and buried seed potatoes in the dirt, the last planting of this year's vegetable garden.  It is a time to rejoice in what has been accomplished, a time to pray and commit the harvest to the Lord.  What grows here will feed not only us for the year ahead but more than enough to share with others.  The vegetable garden is serious and practical as it nourishes our bodies. 

Now that the work of seeding is done, it is time to move on to the frivolity of flowers.  Shapes and sizes and colours that spill joy and beauty around our home.  These nourish the spirit and cheer the heart.  They are no less important in reflecting His glory.

This years flowers waiting to be planted

Pray with me that the weather will at last cooperate and we will be able to give all of these that are waiting homes; in flowers beds, planters and hanging baskets.  May they turn their heads to the sun, prosper, grow and shout out praise to the One Who designs all.

Farming words

For this round of the One Word at a Time Carnival, Peter chose the word farm.

I am blessed beyond measure that eleven years ago God chose to relocate me from the urban jungle of the Chicago Metro area to the rural Canadian prairies.  I write often about the beauty I see and the lessons He teaches me here.

We have been playing with wordles at Tweet Speak Poetry, so today I have chosen to create a wordle from my blog posts about farming life.


Click on image above to enlarge

 And now I take the words from this image to form a new poem:

Another season's
sweat
drops on the soil
seeds scatterd
in the abundance
of rain
pray for sun
something like
trust
knowing God
let go
of fear

Join in the sharing at Peter Pollock's - talking about the word farm.

Harvest hearts

Harvest hearts slow.

There are last acres

lost acres

unexplained gains.

A season completed.

Before the scales

are balanced

cultivators scratch

the soil, preparation

for preparation

for a season

at once distant

yet soon again

upon us.

What sweat

seeds and prayers

will fill the soil

as the hope of abundance

carries on?

May the peoples praise you, O God; may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, and all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalm 67:5-7 NIV

Come on over to One Stop Poetry to read more of this weeks One Shot Wednesday poems.

Window Views - Rain Sun Rain

No photos of today. A stiff and sore lower back has restricted movement so I have no digital capture.

The view from our windows has shifted from cloud to sun and back again. Trees dance in the wind scattering their leaves. The vegetable garden is stripped of all but carrots and potatoes, those safe and protected underground. The frost warning that came mid-week prompted Rick to harvest anything that might be lost to the cold.

But the flowers bloom on, pinks and purples vibrant against a sky grown grey.

Yesterday as I was journaling the Lord told me:

This, this is transformation, when in your yieldedness I can have My way - accomplishing My purposes - far beyond anything you've dreamed - more than you could ever do on your own.

Why? Yes, little one, yes - for the glory of My name.
Flowers bloom to the glory of the roots that feed them.

So too will your light and life and beauty be for My glory.

It is time to soak up the colours, store away memories much the same way we preserve our fruits and vegetables. Summer will indeed come again... but today, I feel the heart of winter in the wind.

Join Cassandra Frear at The Moonboat Cafe for more Window Views

On, In and Around Mondays - September begins

The chill in the air has a sense of permanence.

Ripe tomatoes, onions, celery, peppers, and garlic from the garden are cooked into chili sauce to save for another time, months even years from today.

Our two cats are busy wrestling, hunting, exploring the darkness of thick brush, yet stopping by to linger for a moment on the deck, mewing their hellos.

Our prairies skies are filled with geese, departing as they follow an instinct too strong to ignore.

Surely warmer temperatures will come again before we plunge into winter, but the scent of stubble burning off the harvested fields reminds me that there is no denying summer's end.

Written as a sliver of life in this place for L. L. Barkat's On, In and Around Mondays. Stop by Seedlings in Stone to read what others have shared.

Saturday Eve Blog Post August 2010

It's time again for Elizabeth Esther's Saturday Evening Blog Post where bloggers gather on the first Saturday of the month to share their latest and greatest blog posts.

With harvest continuing all around our region, I am sharing a post I wrote as the season was just beginning. Read it here at Prairie Fields.

Now go on over to Elizabeth's and read more favourites from August.

On, In and Around Mondays - August Ends

Tomatoes change from green to yellow to orange to brilliant red and we slice them thick on toasted bread. We know too well the season's brevity, how rare is the flavour ripened on the vine.

Yesterday we harvested the last of the corn, cutting, bagging and sealing away the freshness for future times of feasting.

Leaves have begun to shower down like rain, landing on my shoulders and head as I stand in the yard. Yet there is time still to relish the flowers that burst forth in colours that should have new names to describe their beauty.

These are again days of rain. The air is chilled and damp. Low pressure systems move through leaving people with throbbing heads and achy joints.

Everything in us seems to resist change, even as it is upon us. Lord help us to release our days into Your more than capable hands.

To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV

Written as part of L. L. Barkat's On, In and Around Mondays . Read more here at Seedlings in Stone.

Imperfect Prose - August Moon

Driving home from town last night, rising pale yet solid
eyes deceived into imagining closeness
an intimacy that isn't.
I wanted to reach out to touch
find something tangible
in a season of uncertainty.

Remembering childhood nights, climbing out of the car
with Mom and Dad teaching me as they pointed
to say cheerfully "Hello Mr. Moon"
a greeting I offer up still.

This should be our harvest moon.
Farmers bristle with work both night and day.
There will be no rest, until the fields are clean.
Then perhaps, peace of mind will settle.
Until the seasons turn again.




Join Emily at In the Hush of the Moon for more imperfect prose.

Wet Monday - Here

A prairie Monday
marked by wet creatures
dismal skies
harvest stilled by drizzle
showers, steady rain.
The sound of tractors
and combines
replaced by drops beating
on eavestroughs.

We might not
want
to take time to rest
yet God forces the issue
takes things out of our hands
and holds them in His own.
Reminds us
not to trust
in things seen
but in His promises.

He calls us down to our kness
and back to His heart.

Tomorrow comes soon enough.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

This was written in response to L. L. Barkat's On, In and Around Mondays at Seedlings in Stone.

Window Views - Harvest

Click on picture to enlarge view

Today as I gaze out my window, the skies alternate between sun and clouds, the view first hazy then sharp and clear. My ears settle on the rumble of heavy equipment. No matter the weather, it is time.

A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:2 NLT

Harvest time is predictable in its coming, yet sudden as well. The fields are checked, rechecked. There is a sense in the air, something tangible. The urge to go like an itch you can't reach to scratch.

It is time to gather in what has been scattered; to rejoice in what God has done; to roll up our sleeves and toil, knowing Who sustains us.

It is time to think about the Kingdom that is yet to come and pray for the labourers.

"What a huge harvest!" he said to his disciples. "How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!" Matthew 9:37-38 The Message

This was written as part of Cassandra Frear's The Moonboat Cafe Window Views.

Tuesdays Unwrapped - Captured moment

click on image to enlarge

Last Tuesday I was blogging about laughter and refreshing and waterfalls of rain. The Lord had said:

Step into Me for a drenching.

For days the air had been heavy and humid, holding moisture that would not release. While I prayed that clear skies would continue over fields and crops that needed to be dry, I was also asking that our garden and flowers would get the rain they were thirsting for.

Ever faithful, later that same day, the Lord gave me a perfect unwrappable moment, to capture an image of His healing upon the petals of a lily, drops that quivered like silver, displaying His love.

While you stop by and visit Emily at Chatting at the Sky for more unwrapped gifts, will you also take a moment to pray in agreement with our farmers that God will bring the harvest He desires in this year of difficult weathers?

Reaping what was sown

We have flowers like this that we can not name or identify growing in the beds around our house. We planted both seed mixes and single flower seeds, but obviously did not keep accurate records of what went into the soil. If we knew what we had planted we could plant again those flowers we have most enjoyed and not those that have not grown well or we didn't find appealing.

I sense God teaching a lesson here, for in His law of sowing and reaping, we will always receive what we have planted. If we do not pay attention to what we are sowing, the harvest will surprise us, and not always in pleasant ways.

What seeds are you scattering today?

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 The Message

Imperfect Prose - Prairie Fields

I travel slow

gravel roads kicking up thick dust

only hours after rain

faster on the highway

the fields surround me

swirling in colours

turning toward harvest

God Who called this one

from darkness to light;

from strip malls, concrete, steel;

from the suburban sprawl

of midwestern America;

to find home at last

on this Canadian prairie

speaks in a hush

that screams in my spirit

as the farmers drop their sweat

upon the soil

"there is more than eyes can see

a greater harvest still to come"

Then I saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was someone like the Son of Man. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, “Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe.” Revelation 14:14-15

Join Emily at In the Hush of the Moon for Imperfect Prose on Thursdays

Saturday on the Farm - 10 July

It feels as if I went to sleep on a winter's night and just awakened to the middle of summer. How it is already the middle of July shocks and yet pleases me.

We have been harvesting peas; Mr. Bigs, Lincoln Homesteaders, Green Arrows, sugar snaps and snow peas. The first precious sealer bags are in the freezer.

Hints of ripeness appear on the raspberries. Our crabapple trees, though old, weary and calling to be chopped down, are still bringing forth fruit. May the same be said of me one day, when I am struggling with my last years, hours, moments here on this earth.

The house is a riot of colour, purples, pinks and greens delight my eyes as well as the butterflies and hummingbirds.

What a joy to soak in the beauty of all our God has created!

“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.” Revelation 4:11 NLT

I'm joining Linda this week for Saturday on the Farm. Come share what's growing in your part of the world.