For the Love of Spring

B r e a t h e   t h e   f r e s h  -  n e w  -  c l e a n s e d   a i r

Here follows a tribute to the simple beauties of Spring, those cherished gifts that lift my soul...

Chorus upon chorus of singing peepers-

Tiny voices that pierce the night with songs....

R a i n   falling, pooling, forming rivulets...

swelling streams and bursting banks with a driving force.

P e t r i c h o r -- scent of drops on dusty earth

Brighter, softer mornings 

The rooster crowing at the dawn

Bluer skies and greener grass

Infant life -- nimble fawns, fragile fledglings, toddling kittens...

shy daffodils slowly lifting sunny smiles from hiding

The first wild flowers- coltsfoot, dandelions, and paintbrushes...

Chalk and bubbles

The scent of rain on sidewalk pavement 

Misty, foggy mornings in the valleys... 

 heavy silver curtains draped over woodlands....

Dew on the grass ~

intricate spider webs laced with that dew

Morning ventures out into the unknown, fresh air and pale sunshine to greet me

Ooze of mud between my toes

Touch, scent of fresh garden earth scooped in my hands

Earth beneath my bare feet

Noisy geese returning to this land

Red-winged black birds

Robins

                Finches

                                   Chickadees

          Sparrows

Sleeping with the window open, to the hum of the crickets 

and the caress of a night breeze

Singing birds -- in the morning

Twittering birds -- in the afternoon

Murmuring birds -- in the twilight

Budding trees

                   Climbing trees

Colors seeping into every living thing

Warm sun on my face

Gardens worked and planted

seeds sewn

Crocus -- Tulip -- Iris --  Hyacinth 

Cartwheels and somersaults   

Taking walks at dusk

Prayers of thanks for Winter's end

Overwhelmed at the blessing of another year, another cycle of life, 

renewed in my mind and refreshed in my spirit,

nostalgic for bygone days like these, and hungry for new.

I n s p i r e d  

 h e a r t   s w e l l i n g 

t e a r s   f a l l i n g

w i t h   t h e   r a i n

Your Will Be Done

Here follows a matter that has been weighing heavily on my heart for months. I have been writing this piece for a long time, constantly going back over it. Hopefully by now I have gotten my thoughts and words straight. I would love some feedback, because I believe this is such an important issue in the wars of the world today, and we are continually learning... And relearning... And finding our way.

Prayer.
The power of prayer, the need for prayer, the essence of prayer. 

Throughout our individual Christian walks, we all have times (and often this is a constant practice, and should be!) of praying for each other. We go to God with requests for our loved ones and/or fellow Christians, we appeal to other believers for prayer on the behalf of friends, and we ask for prayers of healing, encouragement, and strength for ourselves.

Prayer is an intimate lifeline between us and our Creator in the quiet dawn of the morning, and it is also a strong bond between Him and us all, joined together to petition for a cause.

We pray for each other, we lift one another up, and after all has been said to God that can be said, we turn our own words to each other to keep encouraging, keep blessing, and keep inspiring. We do what we can to meet the spiritual and physical needs of our brethren.

This is what Jesus instructed us to do. Praise God for His humble servants on this earth who do walk in this way and live to follow His calling each day.

But I have been pondering something...

What happens when we pray against each other?

We have prayers requests for matters about our health, our financial dilemmas, and other personal issues that need God's touch. These are mostly things that we know God wants to help us with, for He is our provider and wants none of us to be hurt or to go hungry or to be left out on the streets. Obviously. (Not that He doesn't have a perfect plan for how to turn all these things to our good, should something harmful come to pass!)

But then we have our other prayer requests that go a little deeper and are a little more complicated. We ask for prayer in our struggles with other human beings, and sometimes, in our struggles with other people who are... Christians.

This is a zone where we must use caution and discernment.

Are these prayers being asked with the themes of, for example:

- "Help me to do right by my neighbor..."?

- "Help me to be Christlike, so that all my interactions with this person give God the glory and point them toward Him..."?

- "Let all that is right and true and of You be what is emphasized and victorious in this situation..."?

- "Lord, protect all of your children, and put an end to this dissension between us..."?

- And most importantly, "Let Your will be done. Let what is right be glorified, and what is wrong be cast away. Maybe we're all wrong in some way, and we are all just broken here before You, needing Your grace and strength to mend the tears ripped in this life."?

OR are prayers being asked with these themes...?

- Calls to arms?

- Battle cries for vengeance against those who have wronged us?

- Prayers for them to fall, to see their blindness (failing to own that we are equally guilty of blindness as well, time and again...) and to ultimately come around to choosing what we think is right for them...?

And are prayers asked with quiet humility, with rejoicing in the knowledge that God has already won the battle, or with anger and confusion and weeping?

Let me note that there is nothing wrong with being angry, or confused, or with weeping. But where do these emotions come from, what/who are they directed at, and what is their purpose? Question these things.


My thoughts have been plagued by this image of how much of a struggle is going on in the Spiritual world we cannot see with our physical eyes. I see Christians fighting Christians. I imagine all the contradictory prayers.

One person cries "Lord, make her stop!"
The other person also prays "Lord make him stop!"

Satan attacks us by using us against each other. He has been doing this from the beginning. He clouds our minds and garbles our speech at every opening we lend him, and stokes the flames under our desires for revenge and self-satisfaction. We engage in spiritual warfare using Jesus' holy name to undo one another... I think that is taking the Lord's name in vain. I think that is grieving the Holy Spirit.

What makes us think we have all the answers? Who are we to look at something once with our human eyes and then plead with God to fix it the way we see fit? Who are we to wage war and take action without consideration for our fellow believers and their loved ones?

What if God already knows what is going on? What if God already knows the right solution? What if God already has the perfect time, the perfect plan in mind? What if God has your best interest at heart?

Oh wait... He does.

I Corinthians 2:16
"For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?"

I think that too many of us, (myself included!), see one chapter of an entire tale and decide that we are going to handle it. We detect one problem, and seize hold.
How are we going to handle it? Our way, of course. Each of us naturally starts out thinking his way is right. Who goes into a situation thinking, "Oh, I'm probably in the wrong."
No, that isn't our first reaction. We go into something with the information we have, assuming our initial perspective is right, that we understand and know what should be done. We forget to keep eyes open and keep gleaning information and keep asking God for direction. Or we don't consider that maybe getting involved in something is not necessary at all...

Then we become too confident, too stuck on taking action that we forget to look up, to ask if the Lord knows a better way, or maybe even knows the whole story better than we do. We think we understand this story better than anyone else, because we are living right in the middle of it, and the problem has fallen into our lap to be fixed.
When in actuality it's an opportunity to cast your burdens on the Lord.
In our eyes, this fight is our responsibility to respond to, when in actuality, the battle belongs to the Lord. 

I Corinthians 3:18-20 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks that he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written "He catches the wise in their craftiness", and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."

We forget that meting out judgement and punishment is not our place.

Romans 12:19
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 

I think He means it when He says it.

But we justify our actions by saying "Well, he did it!" or "She did it, too!"
Why does that make it okay?

Romans 12:17
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. 

Maybe we should act like mature children of God and commit ourselves to God's instruction, rather than hiding behind the shortcomings of others to make things "even". Let's take responsibility for our own actions.

Jesus Himself says...
Matthew 5:44
"But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."

If you want a definition of Love, go to I Corinthians 13:4-7, and then you can flip back to Romans 12:9-21 for a more expanded-upon instruction about how to Love and how to Live a life pleasing to God. Educate yourselves! Let Him write His words on your heart! Love your enemies. Love is an action.

Pray for your enemies. 

I write all of this to say...

Whether someone is your enemy or your friend, whether you know them well or have only ever heard of them and their situation... whether they seem to have hurt you, or a friend, or a vague acquaintance, we have a responsibility to Love and strive for Peace with everyone. To be kind, especially to those who are fellow believers, and to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Can you hear all the voices of Christians throughout the world right now? We're crying, we're whispering, we're screaming to God. You are, I am, every one of us is, in our own private way. We detect a problem, we focus on what we see directly before us in the physical realm, and we assume a lot of hasty conclusions.

"God, please fix this. Make so-and-so see they are wrong. So-and-so asked me to pray that such-and-such a thing would be resolved and that so-and-so would be stopped from doing such-and-such."

How many people are a drive away, praying for the exact opposite of what you are asking God for?

There is power in prayer.
There is power in the name of Jesus.

And when we are all using this Holy Name and all making requests and issuing orders to God that oppose each other's prayers, I think our Christian unity, our strength and power through Him, is being devastated.

Jesus did say pray for your enemies, not pray against your enemies.

And when God doesn't answer a wrongly-asked request or meet a pridefully expressed demand, we get angry at Him, or we push harder with our own will upon the people we are trying to get things done against.

A thought struck me so hard today.

What if we simply prayed "God, let Your will be done."

What if we did that. All of us.
Just stopped the white-knuckling and the desperate scramble for control.
Stopped assuming that we know how to solve the problems, that we know the hearts of others.
Accepted that The Lord knows all hearts (yes, even yours), the Lord knows the right time and season for everything, and that The Lord will take even the things the Enemy intends for harm and use them for good.

We have such a short attention span. One thing goes wrong, and we think God has lost control. So we have to take control again ourselves.

Prayer is our lifeline to God. He wants us to come and lay everything in our hearts out before Him. Don't hide anything, He sees it anyway. Express everything you feel to Him. He genuinely cares. And He knows what is best for you. For everyone!

Romans 8:26
...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Then accept His hand as He reaches out to guide you. Let Him carry you. God is not looking at you with contempt. Ever. When you belong to Him, you are made perfect in His eyes. Now He wants to help you live up to that full, overwhelming potential He placed in you. He wants to make your paths straight, to guide you through your own human foolishness. He understands how you feel. He truly does know.

And He knows what is BEST.

Proverbs 3:5&6
Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. 

Pray. Pray without ceasing. Tell God everything you feel, make your requests known to God. You can even not say a single intelligible word- just cry, or be silent. He knows your heart no matter what your mouth utters. Be still before God and let your heart commune with The One who made you, loves you, and will never let you go.
And then?
"Your will be done."

Even Jesus was afraid. He was afraid of what was to come as he was about to be separated from His Father for the first time in existence. He told God how he felt, he made His request, but then He gave it to God with the perfect submission of "Your Will be done." Because he knew God's will and plan were perfect.

When we pray for each other, let us strive to pray with a correct focus and an understanding of God's will. His will is justice, His will is peace, His will is that no man may be lost, but come to Him.
We are near-sighted quite often. God sees what is really going on in all our lives and hearts. We misunderstand each other so much. God's timing is spot on, while we are impatient.

He never once instructs us to hurt one another, to go pray against a fellow believer. We are supposed to love in all ways (and sometimes that is tough love), and to catch a brother when he falls (show Him the Word when he strays from it). We are supposed to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.

Imagine if we all prayed for each other and placed each other in God's hands.
We could be no place safer.

And then, though we are all speaking to God with our varied troubles and requests, out of our differing circumstances and levels of maturity, we are all of one accord when we submit to Him with "Your will be done."

Let us stand united. Or broken together.
Humbled and submitted to the One True Way.
Even when we don't quite understand.

And God’s peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:7 AMP

It is heartbreaking to see Christians fighting Christians, and warring at each other in prayer. I believe we need to evaluate ourselves with the eyes of Christ and change our perspectives accordingly to imitate the prayer attitude shown in Jesus.

9 Songs for Morning Devotion

Music is powerful.

I think there is is something built into us as human beings with a deep sensitivity to it, or maybe it's a vulnerability, because it has the capability to make us feel. How much more emotional does a scene in a movie feel when there is a certain type of music playing? Would it just look awkward if there weren't music there to accompany it, to indicate to you what kind of response you're supposed to have to the scene playing out?

Sweet, slow melodies make things romantic. 

Drums get you excited or make things suspenseful. 

And solitary piano notes make you feel sad.

Personally, I believe there will be background music in Heaven. That's something life is missing here on earth: music to accompany every emotion and circumstance of daily life. How much less confusing it would be! Maybe we'd actually know what is going on with each other that way, instead of having to read their minds and make dangerous mistakes... :P

Anyway, music is a gift. We use it to express many things; it's an outlet for the heart. 

And since music is powerful, words that accompany music are powerful. (Well, words in general are just powerful!) It all has a very deep effect on us. Words stick with you, and so do tunes. Combined with each other, and pouring into your ears everyday, they make a difference. 

Positive or Negative.

Music affects your mood.

Music can change your perspective.

Music gradually influences your entire life.

I want to start my day off with good music to adjust my focus in the morning, as soon as I wake up. Today I finally put together a morning playlist. Nine songs (a 35 minute-long playlist) that are basically a devotional. The words are true and godly, and the melodies are happy and upbeat. These are some of my favorite songs.

Being able to listen to these while I do my morning routine should be a great kick-starter to the day, and I encourage anyone who wants to go ahead and steal the plan. 

Good Morning - Mandisa

From The Day - I Am They

Beautiful - Dan Bremnes

Good To Be Alive - Jason Gray

Lifesong - Casting Crowns 

Lift My Life Up - Unspoken

Closer To Your Heart - Natalie Grant

Greater - MercyMe

Architecture - Jonathan Thulin 

Good Morning gets you out of bed dancing, and Architecture leaves you with a clear and inspired perspective on your value and potential in God's sight, and ready to follow His design for your growth. 

Now I'm ready to live this day with Joy and Thanksgiving! 

God is Greater

I want to Live. 

Everyday.

Life is beautiful and overflowing with blessings and mercies,  e v e r y  s i n g l e  d a y .

Sometimes I fool myself into thinking I have a right to be depressed or anxious. 

Truth is, I don't. 

And I'm being lied to, because the only person in the world who says it is acceptable to forget why I'm really here on this earth, that I am overwhelmingly blessed, and relentlessly Loved, is the person who created those lies in the first place, and he doesn't belong in my head. 

Actually, he's already been conquered, crushed, and is just waiting to be imprisoned forever. 

He has no power!! Only the power I give him over me. Only the listening ear I lend. 

I love the lyrics to this song:

There'll be days I lose the battle,

Grace says that it doesn't matter

'Cause the Cross already won the war...

...I hear a voice and He calls me redeemed

When others say I'll ever be enough.

And Greater is the One living inside of me

Than he who is living in the world. 

The One who DOES hold power has already won every single inch of the War in this world, and He has promised so, so, so many times that nothing will separate me from Him. He loves me beyond reason, and He will never fail to pick me up and receive me again when I fall. 

That makes me want to cry. 

I am becoming so aware of the need for positivity and optimism to saturate my daily attitude.

Sometimes I find myself a little reluctant to say the happy, positive thing in the face of a situation, because I wonder if I must look like an idiot to those observing. And who wants to look like that. 

But you don't have to be naive to be optimistic. 

I'll say that again: Being positive and optimistic does not make you naive. 

And don't worry about how people will see you. Don't be vain and worry about your image. Have faith! Be positive! Because it is Right, no matter how foolish it looks to the world. 

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things. 

Nothing there includes unforgiveness, or fear, or anxiety! Paul encourages us not to even let that stuff dwell in our minds. Certainly, it comes into our lives. But I think we are supposed to pray about how to deal with it, act in a godly way, and then put it behind us. Let what you meditate on be pure. 

Bitterness, I want to avoid you with every fiber of my being my entire life! God, protect me.

Some days I go through Pinterest looking for quotes and verses to write on my bedroom wall. And then later I feel a little bit of guilt and go back to remove some, because I know I did something wrong: see, sometimes you post something that seems like a sensible quote, but you know in your own heart that you pinned it with an underlying meaning in your mind. 

For example, if the quote is "If you didn't see it with your own eyes or hear it with your own ears, don't invent it with your small mind and spread it with your big mouth." That's sound advice... But I have to be honest with myself that I read it and pinned it with a twinge of anger at someone I might feel did such a thing. 

And is it passing wisdom on to me when I read it? No, it's reminding me of that angry thought. It's defeating the purpose it was intended for. Delete it and make better choices. Store up things that are positive and healthy and inspiring. 

It's just that there is a constant war going on in my head, a war for my heart. 

Who will I give in to? Whose banner do I fly? Which troops am I supporting daily? Am I a spectator, watching and feeling the fight inside... and though I know Who is victorious, tending to focus more on the enemy with a dismal admiration at how well he seems to be doing in pulling down everything around me that is good?

Wake up, Girl! Remember, that War is already won! The Lord won it. And when I feel like the war is going on inside me again, it isn't because God let go of me- it's because I let something ungodly in. The Holy Spirit is fighting it, and I have control over the battle. It's my play now, and if I know He won, I should act like it. 

The enemy's greatest power over me sometimes is preying on my forgetfulness:

If I close my eyes and think that I'm blind, and go about with them closed the rest of my life, then I may not really be blind, but I am living like I am, and I'm no better off than if I really were. 

If we forget God is bigger than anything, and treat everything like it is bigger than God, then we will live with the same misery and hopelessness that would abound if that were true. 

We get to choose. I get to choose. 

Yes, and when I wake up, every morning I need to prepare my mind and heart with the armor of God in the quiet and stillness. These hours are for me to rise, rejoice, and feed that hungry soul with truth and peace. Focusing on building that pure heart and renewing that right mind within me under His careful hand, and thus starving those seeds of harm. 

I'm turning eighteen years old in four days. 

All of a sudden.

And I remember looking toward that day "only twenty-two more months to go..." like it was last week, and now it has just gotten here, oh so swiftly. 

I haven't been wishing time away- I never wanted to live the months like that- I wanted to learn and prepare for what life was bringing. And it has paid off every single day. Even when I didn't have the right perspective one day to notice, it was still paying off with blessing after blessing and new knowledge learned and new experiences grasped. 

How beautiful it is that even the seemingly worst circumstances have proven to be the biggest opportunities to grow. 

I wasn't ready for this twenty-two months ago.

I wasn't ready for this four months ago.

I think am ready now.
I certainly don't feel like it some days, but I'll take it as it comes, and not fight that Bigger plan. He knows better than I do. 

My life is about to be filled with more responsibility and more opportunity than I ever dreamed possible. This year is going to be crazy. 

From getting my drivers' licence, to graduating, to figuring out my plan about college, to finding employment... to taking my best friend's hand and starting the steps on a precious and purposeful new adventure... this whole journey is one I want to Live.

With gratitude,

With enthusiasm,

With humility,

With wholeness,

With patience,

With peace,

With grace.

I want to Live life to the fullest, and I mean God's fullest. He makes each of us with so much potential to be His messengers, to be His light. And I don't want to stand in the way of that! I want to be surrendered and malleable, I want no dark roots of anything ungodly keeping Him from any corner of my heart. 

And the days where I feel like a miserable failure, I need to remember that He doesn't see that when He looks at me. 

I mustn't believe the lie. 

There is so much growth for me to go through as a daughter of Christ. I want to seize His hands with both of mine and get started- again! Sometimes I have to start all over with the very basics, just because it is ridiculous how easy it is to forget something so obvious and let doubt worm its way in.

Oh... how did I forget that I'm not supposed to be afraid? He says 365 times in the Bible not to be...

Sigh... human. Delightfully human, and lost without Him. 

Life is an ocean with endless waves of good and bad, and I need to learn to view it all with His eyes and act as Christ would. Walk on the water, keep my eyes above the waves. 

My God says that I am made whole. So I will banish all thoughts of brokenness.

My God says that I am forgiven. So I will put to death all feelings of self-degradation.

My God holds out a hand to hold, arms to fall into, and speaks words for me to heed and have carved on my heart. 

I am given all I need, every day, beyond measure.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

I am learning to run freely,

Understand just how He sees me,

And it makes me love Him more and more. 

-- Greater by MercyMe

For the Love of Winter

It is so easy to complain about Winter... the darkness and cold press in and keep us indoors, feeling like we've been cooped up for so long. When will Spring come!

Well, with still a few months of chilly weather to go, let's make the best of it. :)

So here is my personal list of things I love about Winter- you know- those little magical moments and moods that you can't get any other time of the year. 

Feel free to contribute, and let's love Winter together. 

❄ ❄ ❄

Thick tendrils of lazy wood smoke drifting up into a gray sky...

The ruckus of crows and a swarm of their ruffled jet-black feathers as they congregate 

in the bare branches of a gnarled tree, scanning a snowy field... 

A spontaneous trudge through the drifts after a snowstorm,

Wandering, wading, breath puffing, seeing the world 

has changed coats in the mere course of a day.

Mittens, scarves, fuzzy socks and flannel shirts...

Staring up at falling flakes in the dark as they flurry about you, and feeling 

like you're racing through a star-field in outer space...  

Peering through warmly lit windows from 

the outside.

Frostbitten stars gleaming in a cold, clear empyrean...

Snowflakes gathered in piles on a windowpane from the outside...

Finding Jack Frost's intricately frozen artwork 

on a frigid glass tapestry in the morning.

That sharp breath of unexpectedly peppery winter air that zings through your lungs...

Cheerful tiny sparrows frolicking in snowy branches as morning sun rises...

...Frosty whiskers on the cows and their steamy 

breath while coming inside to milk.

Gorgeous, vivid sunrises that not only grace the horizon, but envelope the entire sky.

Cold wooden floor boards under my feet in the morning, 

soothed by slippers...

Daddy's boot prints in the snow, imprinted with smaller feet that had to jump to fill his strides.

Hot tea steaming in the air...

Twinkling soft Christmas lights...

Trips to Grandma's house.

Finding little rabbit or mouse trails in the drifts, 

and wondering what they were busy with this morning...

Candle scents of pine, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar cookies...

Being tucked into a cozy bed at night and hearing distant snowmobilers, and being all the more grateful for my current state of warmth...

Feeling the wind moan in the walls and knowing I'm safe from harm. 

Practicing my handwriting on the foggy window-glass. 

The first snow...

...the smile I get with the thought of someone that first snow brings to mind. 

Hot cocoa topped with whipped cream or melted marshmallows, 

and sprinkled with peppermint candy dust... 

in my favorite mug. 

Hot soup and warm, buttered bread.

Unexpected, welcome visitors. 

The satisfaction looking at a large pile of split, stacked wood. 

When the trees are encased in ice and the sun glitters through the prisms. 

Glorious sunsets that dance in the clouds- streams of light, color, and majesty. 

  

For the Birds ❄ Christmas Treat

Ingredients: 

2 cups beef fat

6 tablespoons birdseed

4 tablespoons dried cranberries 

One morning, after I had had barbecue short ribs in the slow-cooker the previous evening, I took the pot out of the refrigerator to whip up a treat for the birdies. ;) 

All that good fat rises to the top up the broth and solidifies in the cold, so it's easy to scoop off and put to good use. 

It actually looks really appealing... like soft soap. 

 

To make it easier to use, you'll want to put the fat into the microwave for about 30 seconds, just until it's softened and a little liquid has pooled on the bottom like here....

( The kitchen smelled like barbecue while I did this, and the two spoiled kittens we have running around the house thought I was making something for them. They planted themselves in front of the microwave and mewed their little noses off. )

Now mash it all together with a fork...

We had a bag of premixed seed for wild birds such as sunflower seeds, cracked corn, and white millet. You can select whichever seed your bird-feeder frequenters tend to prefer.

I threw in some dried cranberries, too. It's Christmas... I can share...

~~Mix it all up~~

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and select your cookie cutters.

Carefully distribute your mix, and use a toothpick to guide the "batter" into all of those little nooks and corners to get the full shape in your finished product. 

 Now you can either slip it into the freezer, or set them outside to chill. 

I thought I would be clever and put a toothpick in each one so that when they were hard I could slip a ribbon through them to be hung up. That didn't work for me. 

The holes were too small and the toothpicks were too firmly stuck inside for me to remove them without breaking the hardened suet. 

I didn't want them to thaw any, either, or they could get ruined. So I ended up breaking them off and just tying ribbon around the middle of each. So the molds with pointy little edges like those leaves are the best to use. 

   

The giant rose bush is where all of those little finches and sparrows hide out on these wintry days. So that's where this suet gets hung.  

The Lord even cares for the sparrows.

So I say that Merry Christmas is for the birds, as well as us. :) 

Herbs & Jars ♥

It has just been a fun, mad dash to harvest and dry herbs around here before they begin to go to seed. I've been researching in the middle of projects and cluttering my bedroom floor with crispy leaves and scrapbook paper. Kind of a rushed way to learn things about each herb, but there will be time. For now, I have simply been looking for the right methods for each plant to be dried. They all take different lengths of time and some need special attention before they're ready... 

About a week ago, I rigged up this little line from the rung of a ladder to the spindle of a chair in one corner. Pinned in experimental clumps were lemon balm, cinnamon basil, globe basil, sage, chives, parsley, catnip, and oregano- respectively. I knew those mini clothes pins I picked up at Hobby Lobby would come in handy. 

My room is the coldest in the winter, and the hottest in the summer. It's ideal for hanging herbs, and with the window open or the fan going, the air-flow is great. 

Lemon balm has been decidedly the fastest drying of all. It has been ready within three days, followed closely by catnip, actually. The slowest is definitely parsley along with oregano. 

Time to prepare some containers for these herbs once they are dried! This is the fun part. :D

Before

After

Yesterday, while the milk tank washed, I ran up to the weedy side-hill by the barn and collected wild yarrow flowers to add to this mix of drying vegetation. Just in time, too. We got quite a rain storm! I intend to do a lot of looking into of its use as a fever reducer.

And the day before, I picked a swathe of spearmint. It's been growing wild along the creek banks both at the barn and by the pond ever since I can remember. I sort of associate the scent with frogs now, due to my childhood romps through the mud with siblings on amphibian-catching adventures. 

The spearmint was dry within two days. 

At present, I've moved dill, sage, lemon balm, catnip, spearmint, and some basil to their individual jars. 

The aroma in my room was really strange. Plants that were half way between living and dead, strong odors and sweet scents all blended together (plus remember the frog-related smell)... it was a different atmosphere. XD

Sage came out so nicely. It's a different look from most of the other leaves...

Globe basil can probably be allowed to grow a bit bigger before I pick more. Its size certainly doesn't lessen its strong smell, though! 

I had an eager little helper. ;)

While processing the catnip, I had my cat Emily mosey on over. She inhaled my fingers with deep interest and affection. :P

And lastly, cinnamon basil. Very pretty purple flowers... the odd thing about it is that it tastes like anise. I've been calling it my licorice basil.

 Ahhh... everything is coming together.
On the subject of gardening, the snapdragons in the barn garden are so glorious, and new color shades and combinations develop each year. My favorite summer-autumn flower. ^_^

I asked God to bless the garden as the dirt was worked, the seeds panted, and the weeds pulled. Throughout the obstacles of torrential rain storms that should have washed the seeds away, thieving bunnies, and swarming slugs, it truly has survived all odds. Everything prospers and I am so happy.
And look! I attempted rosemary twice, both times with failure. And now a tiny sprig has appeared nowhere near where I planted it. Mysterious ways. ;)

 Thank You, Father.