There is a lot to cover today, so let's get started! :O)
5. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
This verse gives me a lot of hope. God loves everybody. Even sinners. Even people we don't particularly like. Even us, in our 'less shining' moments. He wanted and wants everyone on Earth to return to him when their life here is over. But He doesn't control our actions. He gives us the opportunity, like any loving parent, to make their own choices and mistakes.
6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
And then, like a caring parent, gives their children grace, mercy and forgiveness when we make choices that are not in our best interests for growth. When we sin, we must repent; that is, to show remorse and to redouble our efforts to not make the same bad choice in the future. And we are so blessed to have His grace, that when we atone for our sin, we are welcomed back with open arms.
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#31 Days
As I go through making my plans for next year's garden, I wanted to 'bring more God' into every phase than I have done previously. To begin, I found the following Bible verse:
Jeremiah 29:5 - Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them;
I want God to be in the planning, the planting, the tending, and the harvesting of the garden; He should also be on our minds when we prepare meals to nourish ourselves from the 'fruit of the Earth'. Sure, that's easy to say, but how to do I do it?
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The October Daily prompt for October 6th is:
"Dig out a childhood photo and share something you remembering happening during that the photo was taken. You can post as many photos and describe as many events as you like."
Well, all of the photos of my own childhood are in storage with the rest of the things from my mother's house out in Utah. But I think I can 'dig up' some pictures of my kids as young'uns.
This is my oldest at 7 months of age. He was a rock star at the photographers. And as the first grandchild on either side of our family, everybody wanted pictures. He was born in December of 1996 in a big snowstorm in Utah. My mother-in-law flew in from San Francisco and rented a car to get to the hospital the day he was born. No 'little snowstorm' was going to keep her away. She actually got to see (and hold) 'Sir B' before I did, which made me wistful for years. My own mother came to the hospital Sunday afternoon after church.
Close to the time this picture was taken, he was crawling in our apartment living room, and crawled over the phone, which had a long cord so we could carry the phone into any room. (Remember those days, before cell phones or even cordless phones?) We hung it up and were playing on the floor with him, when we got a call. It was Emergency Services asking if there was a problem. I kid you not. When our son had crawled over the phone, somehow he dialed "911". (He's talented that way. When he was a few months older, he deleted Windows from our computer.)
Here is DS2, also at about 7 months. He's 15 now. The late spring and summer of 1998 in Texas was STIFLING. More 100-degree days of any year there since 1980. I remember looking at an outdoor thermometer at our duplex at midnight one night and it was 98 degrees. Thank goodness 'Squire B' decided to show up two weeks early (May)! He was the only one of my children I got to hold right after he was born. For most of his life, people have said he is the spitting image of his paternal grandfather at the same age. His first year was really uneventful. Again, his paternal grandmother flew in from San Francisco, arriving the day he was born.
When he was born, his little ankle ID matched my wrist ID, and they both had some kind of chip in them so if either one of us crossed the electronic barrier of the maternity wing, and alarm would go off. I don't remember anything like that the first time around. I remember a nurse at the hospital going over hearing tests with me and said his hearing was very sharp, so if it seemed in the future that he had not heard something we said, he was really just ignoring us! Mamaw used to say, "That boy don't care which way the wind blows!" He is very laid back.
Here is my miracle baby (at 4 months); today she is 10. I was 41 when she was born, and had had blood pressure and gestational diabetes with all three pregnancies. She was born at 32 weeks, weighing 3 lbs .4 oz and was 13.5" long (or is that tall). I got to see her 1-2 days after she was born. At 2-3 days old, some elders from my church came in and gave her a blessing. She was able to come home at 22 days (still 5 weeks from her original due date), and she did not even weigh 4 lbs yet. But the doctors said she was healthy enough and they needed the space!
She's the first daughter in several generations in my husband's family. My mother and brother came down to visit about the time this picture was taken. Mom was almost 81 and when we brought Tea out to show her off, my mother started crying so much, we had to help her to a chair and bring her a glass of water. I was working graveyards at the FWPD at the time and my department threw her a wonderful baby shower, which is where the bunny hoodie towel came from. Her brothers (4 and 6 at the time) adored her. Both normally very active, they would sit stock still and 'coo' at their sister when it was their turn to hold her.
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So what is your best gardening tip? This ole novice farmer-wannabe needs all the help she can get!
