Life in 3D - Homeschool Blogger

Time for prayer

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:18:00 -0500

This is an email I sent out to friends and family today, as well as the local homeschool group.
_______________________________________

Hey, folks. If you've spoken with me anytime recently, you know that I believe we are about to witness some major changes both in our country's structure and in our religious freedoms, not to mention the fulfillment of more Biblical prophecies than any age since the time of our Lord. David Wilkerson has been right on these issues time and time again, and here are a couple of articles quoting him, as well as his own blog. Yes, we will face "trials and persecutions" (God's Word, not my own), but God promised that He would shelter us through it ("just as in the days of Noah"). We have an incredible opportunity to show the world how wonderful and powerful He really is. Trust in Him, expect His peace, and then wait for His words for the world around us -- He said not to worry about what we will say to them, because He will give us the words He wants us to speak . Be ready with open mouth; He's about to speak.

(I was intending to send a bunch of Biblical references with this, but I'm taking too much time at it. If you want the references, let me know; I felt it was more important to send this to you than wait on my study time.)

Dani

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91097

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91296

http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

So, what's up?

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:48:00 -0600

Too much at the moment. Normally, my life is just a steady string of activities, responsibilities, and general mayhem. Right now, though, all these things are overlapping.

Probate stuff is still on the table; we did end up getting a lawyer, mostly to get some decent legal advice, but also to put some sort of pressure on the estate's lawyer to get something accomplished. I dropped the Girl's Night Out ministry; ARMS died out in our town (we have a really strong secular group in our town, and just kinda got edged out -- though we'll bring it back someday); and the pastor moved me from doing all the women's stuff to supervising and organizing -- helps me have a more flexible schedule to do whatever is necessary at the ranch. I might have someone to take over the church website. And, at the moment, homeschooling is on autopilot; she's studying by herself with minor direction from me, other than prods to get it done.

The biggest activity right now is in the writing department. Hubby is still doing his weekly food column, and I'm looking at a full schedule for the next couple of months as well -- building industry articles and Relay for Life soon after that. The fun ones, though, are causing the most stress at the moment. My dh is a huge train buff, and was asked to put together the train history of this area for the Grant County Centennial. First it was just for a display at the main event. Then our paper (the biggest one in the county) asked him to do a series of histories going by decade over the course of this year; the kicker is that they want us to do it together. You have to know that this is a new level in our relationship. Each of us can write with the advice of the other, but writing together?

Once we got our minds around that, the paper also asked us to do a food/recipe piece for every decade as well. That's even harder for me -- I know very little about food. But it's all happening, slowly. Which is the thing: tomorrow is the deadline for the trains and food articles for the paper. Either Friday or Monday is my deadline for the builder stories -- I can't remember which. Sunday is Dan's deadline for the regular food column. Sometime in all that, he has to finish writing up two of five train histories, and I have to reconfigure his blog to book form.

All before next Tuesday! Because at 10 am, we are supposed to be bright and bushy-tailed and ready to spread the historic word to the general public. Yay! We'll see.

So, in the midst of this, we get a wii, we get deeply hooked on Facebook, and we still have to eat and sleep. We bring it on ourselves, I know. And in the end, we're really going to enjoy all this. Remind me of that tomorrow night.

Let's start out with some bad news ...

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:08:00 -0600

... or good news, depending on how you look at it.

Two weeks after that last post, I was called to the family ranch to pick up Wayne, Dan's uncle, and take him to the emergency room. He never went back home. After three days, he was released into our care as a hospice patient, and died three days later in our home.

Pretty traumatic on the emotions, watching him fade away that quickly, but I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. We had the opportunity to minister to him in ways we couldn't at a nursing home or from a distance. We sang to him, and read to him, and talked to him about eternity. I hope he heard more than I think he did. Doesn't really matter now anyway; he's already at the feet of his Savior, learning far more than I ever could have taught him.

The funeral was wonderful. My family music group sang, and all my sisters joined us so the original 10-voice choir was there. We were in a beautiful, old-style church with incredible acoustics, and we sang the a capella piece "God So Loved the World." Then I had the incredible privilege of telling all those people about Wayne accepting Christ, and how his whole life changed at that point. It was a wonderful day of ministry, and the only time most of us really broke down was when the Vietnam Vet blew taps.

We've been incredibly busy. The will grants the ranch and everything else to my hubby, so we had to jump in before probate is complete to deal with the situation at the ranch. Wayne's sister still lives there, but doesn't have any money, so it's up to us to winterize, repair and replace, not to mention clean. It's actually been a huge stressor in our lives, and everything else has taken a back seat. I know I'm only beginning to understand the responsibility that comes with owning this place.

There's already problems with the will; Dan's mother and sister feel slighted, and are trying to change things. I don't believe they'll succeed, but it's all very hard on Dan and I, him especially. If you think about us, just pray. Only God can make this all turn out well.

In the meantime, though, we feel like newbies to the world of ranching, but are looking forward to it. God told us over a decade ago that we would eventually be out there, and we feel that we've finally been given His green light to do what He's called us to do. Maybe after probate, God will make it all clear.

So, rejoice with us that Wayne is with Jesus, and keep us in your prayers. The battle is only beginning -- I believe the next few years are going to demonstrate to us all how our siblings in Christ feel every day, and we will all need a deep, devoted relationship with Jesus to endure it. But we'll have saints in eternity -- like Wayne -- cheering us on and the most powerful Being in all eternity fighting by our side. Bring it on, world -- my God has already won

What's happening in my world

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:08:00 -0500

Way too much, to say the least.

The uncle is saved now! I don't know if I mentioned that in the last post about him. He's still weakening, though, and I know he won't beat this. Miracles can happen, but God showed us years ago what we would be doing here shortly and He's bringing it all together very quickly. The uncle is a part of that, and while we can't imagine not having him here with us, at least we know we'll have him around for eternity now.

One of the ladies in my church had a baby just over a month ago, and then nearly lost her. She was only about four or five pounds, and only three weeks early, which should have been a good sign that something wasn't right. About an hour after birth, she began bleeding from her lungs and was airlifted to a bigger hospital about two hours away. She couldn't breathe on her own, and nearly died several times, but we had people clear across the country praying for her. When she finally began improving, the father asked how long until she could go home; the doc said they had no way of knowing because "these babies always die." They still don't know what was wrong, but she's home, healthy and putting on weight. If you think of it, pray for the mom; she's buying into the lie that God is punishing her for her past. I firmly believe He's trying to grow her faith and she'll come out stronger in Him on the other side.

The abuse ministry is going well, and really touching lives. I don't know that I've mentioned this before; you can check it out at armsonline.org. It's a Scripture-based domestic abuse program that helps women see who God believes they are (His precious children!), and then gives them the tools to heal. It neither promotes divorce nor staying in the abuse, but rather teaches that you can't heal completely without Jesus Christ, and that He will tell them what the best decision is based on His plans for their life. If you'd like to know more, check out the website or send me a personal email. I'm very particular about proper understanding and use of Scripture, and this is the only program I've seen that does that. I'm personally watching lives change every week.

The Girls Night Out/Stonecroft/Christian Women's Club group is having some issues. Mostly, the economy is making women question whether they can go out for coffee and socializing. But our chairperson is moving one year into her two year shift, and I refuse to step up to do it because I can't. But I've been involved in leading this group for three years now, and I probably would have quit if she hadn't beat me to it. Just burnout, really, and the fact that I really don't fit in with the other ladies leading this. Most of them are local girls who all grew up together, have all the connections in town, and most of them have money. I'm definitely not in their circle. Maybe I'm just feeling a little frustrated with it all; we'll see what happens once we get a new chair, probably in the next month or two.

Women's ministry at church seems to be doing okay (with the exception of no one showing up for Bible study tonight -- two with unpredictable infants, two out of town, two sick and two probably facing busy weeks that I don't know about). The ladies are enjoying our social events and finally really getting to know each other well enough to open up with one another. We're heading to a local farm co-op for the corn maze and harvest activities this weekend, and then to the Nutcracker in Spokane in December, both repeat activities that we all look forward to. Now if I can just get everyone back to Bible study as well...

Still don't have anyone for the children's ministry, but the four of us doing it on a rotating schedule are handling it okay. One of the board members made us shelves, so we're finally trying to get it all organized. It actually looks like a tornado hit it right now.

The worship team has gelled into a band, and a good one too. We enjoy our time together, bantering maybe a little too much now and then. I kid them that we should take the name of the Muppets' band -- Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Would fit us, but I'm not sure Sharyn wants to be called Dr. Teeth. In all, though, worship is actually nearly distraction-free and very uplifting. But we're not perfect, so of course we have plenty to laugh about.

My sweet man was asked to teach a couple of weeks ago. This is basically the first step in training him up to be a leader of some sort. Our movement gives on-the-job training instead of seminary degrees, and then watches to see who the Lord anoints with a strong ministry; then they're sent out to start a new church somewhere. Very effective, actually. Dan's lesson was good ("but too short," as our pastor said), though I haven't heard the recording yet. I figured it was better for him that I teach Sunday School that morning. But how exciting and stressful at the same time. He had such a hard time putting it together, and knowing I do it every week was rather intimidating. Poor guy. Pastor gave him the most help, but now he's looking over my shoulder too to see how I get it done. Good learning experience, and with the way this election's going, he may need to use those skills a little faster than we once believed.

Health topics are interesting these days too. We're thinking I have an odd thyroid condition where I'm producing T3, but my body isn't converting it into T4 properly, so I get thyroid symptoms. This is why I'm always so blame cold! Wow! Somebody might have an answer for me! But the protocol is fairly intense; the only up side I can see right now (besides being warm someday) is that it's only allowed for up to one year. Long year, though. We'll see. And pray. And hope. And try to be patient. And dress warmly in the meantime.

I think that's enough for now. I have another long day tomorrow; the uncle has a chemo treatment. Please keep praying for him; he really needs to learn about God's peace and God's plan in a rather short time frame.

Maybe I'll write about my kid tomorrow.

G'night.

"Kids say the darnedest things..."

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:44:00 -0500

Wasn't that the title of a TV show? I know it was; just checking to see if I'm the only one that's heard of it.

You have to know that my sisters and I have the strangest children on the planet. Mine asked me to find her a man when she was five years old. Yep. Wanted to be sure she had someone to live with her when she grew up, and wanted me to start looking now. Or then, however you want to look at it.

Earlier this year, I found my little one in the neighbor's driveway with the neighbor's girls, sitting on bed pillows in the gravel, making crayon signs for Ron Paul and waving them at passing cars. Yeah, we train 'em young in this part of the world. I only wish I could say it was my idea; it was actually hers, and done without my permission.

One of my sisters has an extremely political family. She and her hubby both have degrees in political science; he's a state auditor, she was an intern at the state capitol with one of our best local Christian representatives. She homeschools (or satellite schools -- I'm not sure what the term for her program is) and watches FoxNews in the background most of the day (outside of Backyardigans and Wonder Pets, that is -- the kids would never forgive her abandoning such great music shows). So the kids hear and see quite a bit of what's happening in the world of politics.

More than I had guessed apparently. She called my mom the other day with the "daily funny" (something that has become nearly a daily practice with all four of us girls). The three of her older children -- aged 6, 4 and 3 -- were having a political discussion in the living room. (Yes, you heard me right. Only in this family....) The oldest made a comment about Biden. FoxNews was interviewing Obama. The 3yo misunderstood her and had a complete meltdown, believing that his sister couldn't properly identify her political candidates.

Yep. You never know what the little munchkins will come up with next.

My youngest sister now has two little ones, the older one at 4yo is known for an incident when she was 2yo where she asked a complete stranger in WalMart if he suffered from ED. Yeah. She'll never live that one down.

This time around was a bit more reverent. My sis had been hoping for a dining room table, her soon-to-be hubby has never experienced. She found one in pieces in the basement one day (one of those handed-down apartments with plenty of other people's junk in the basement), and discovered that all the chairs in the place were a matched set. She prepped a special meal for her family and the friend that would babysit the kids that night.

They sat down to eat and my niece informed everyone that they needed to say their "praises." My sis, having come out of a JW experience with first hubby still doesn't have any sort of religious beliefs that she can pass on to the little ones, but is willing to let the kids go to church with Grandma and Papa when they're up, who do try to have them pray at meals and bedtime.

My sis agreed to do that, and K began to pray for them. "Thank you for the fish and the vegetables, Mommy. God bless the Lord. Thank you that everyone has food, and that everyone has juice. Amen."

Sis was the one who called; that's the other cool part. What a wonderful blessing that little one was that night. And while all the horrible things in the world try to influence our precious little ones, how wonderful that God created them to mimic the good in life.

We have the coolest kids in my family!

Update on the uncle

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:10:00 -0500

I thought I'd share what's happening on this front too.

Dan's uncle has been battling lung (and brain) cancer all summer. He's done with radiation and part-way through chemo. The brain tumors have disappeared, but the lung cancer is still rearing its ugly head. He's been in and out of the hospital numerous times with everything from a respiratory cold to pulmonary edema. The nurses are now saying he's in end-stage cancer.

He'd lost all his hair, and become incredibly fragile. He looked like he'd aged thirty years.

On his way to this last hospital stay, though, he accepted Jesus as his Savior! Finally! I've been praying for this man for ten years, and I know the rest of my hubby's family has been praying for even longer.

He's been so different since then (two weeks ago?). The added "age" dropped off, the haunted look disappeared, and the touch of paranoia has begun to fade. He laughs again, though much more shallowly. He's fascinated with Scripture, and can't wait to ask us questions on visits and phone calls.

I've always known that incredible transformations happen when certain people opt for eternal life, but this has been so dramatic!

My SIL is a nurse, and I've done too many articles on cancer survivors to have too much hope, knowing it's already metastasized. The two of us feel like the others don't want to address how serious this is. I know that's pretty negative, but there comes a point where you just know what the outcome will be. At this point, we're all just praying for as much time as possible to spend with him; they've at least acknowledged that much.

What we all agree on, though, is the sense of relief we feel. We know where he'll be now, and he knows it too. He and I had a wonderful conversation about eternity this weekend, and he's comfortable with the topic. It's such a sweet peace to know that when we lose him here, we have the hope and promise of seeing him again there. What a joy that is.

If you think of it, continue praying for him. This is still a painful journey he has to travel, but at least now we know his destination and we know he's prepared for it. Thanks.

Out of the mouths of babes

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:56:00 -0500

I have to share one of the coolest stories I've heard in a long time.

My youngest sister has basically embraced the idea that she doesn't need to go to church. While I disagree with her very strongly, I can do nothing but pray for her and her family. On the other hand, she doesn't mind her 4yo attending church with other family members, or watching VeggieTales, or anything else involved with Christianity. So the little one prays over meals at Grandma's house, and at bedtime too, while not doing so at home.

This weekend, while doing some cleaning in the basement of their hand-me-down apartment, my sis came across a dining room table and a set of four matched chairs. This, in itself was an answer to prayer, as she had been talking to the soon-to-be hubby about wanting to have meals at a table, but not owning one.

She set it up, made it all pretty for a meal with the family and the close friend who would be babysitting that night, and cooked a fabulous meal.

When they all sat down to eat, little K said, "We have to say our praises." They all looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and said OK.

K said, "Everyone fold your hands." And they did.

Then she began to pray. "Thank you for the fish and the vegetables, Mommy. God bless the Lord. Thank you that everyone has food. Thank you that everyone has juice. Amen."

Wow! What can you say? "God bless the Lord" is rather amusing, but she's at least picking up on the gratitude, and that (eventually) we speak to God in our prayers. How awesome! I've just had to laugh and thank God for touching that family in such a unique way.

He does work in mysterious ways, doesn't He

Second blog

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:24:00 -0500

For any of you still reading my infrequent ramblings, I wanted to tell you about the new collaboration between my hubby and myself. We started another blog a few days ago! Our hope is to share with you some of the interesting info we're collecting on our region of the globe, and to somehow organize it in the meantime into a book.

Here's the link until I get it added as a link here: www.homeschoolblogger.com/bigbend. Please realize that we are still trying to get the bugs worked out; there are some interesting color and font issues going on right now.

I know I'm not real consistent here, and I can assure you I won't be any better there, but maybe with my hubby's help in posting our finds, we'll have enough up to keep you interested.

Republican convention

Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:23:00 -0500

I'm incredibly fired up, and not necessarily in a happy way.

Let me lay a little background for you. I grew up Republican. I was active on campus in college as a Republican. My family members are Republican. I think I currently hold an office as a Republican (I haven't heard from them on the election yet).

Last election, though, I became an independent, in position if not party. I felt betrayed by Bush, a supposed Christian who made a lot of anti-Christian decisions and clearly departed from Republican foundations. I started looking at the Constitution party, simply because they claimed to want to return to the Constitution. Lately, though, I've decided not to follow them either; their party platform says only Christians are qualified for office -- while I'd rather vote for a Christian, that particular stance nullifies the freedoms our country is founded on and tells me that Christians are more willing to vote for "one of our own" than someone who is truly qualified for office. You want to vote for a Christian? Become a Christian candidate we can vote for.

Anyway, someone at my former office told me about Ron Paul. He ended up being the co-chair of our local Meet Up group, and once dh and I decided to put our support behind Paul, he was the one to supply us with the 4x8 sign we nailed to the highway end of our house.

We found that Paul was the only candidate out there who actually voted according to the Constitution. When the federal government was going to be granted powers held by the states, he consistently voted against it. He's adamantly against abortion, but voted down measures limiting it because, according to our Constitution, those are states' rights -- not something the federal government is supposed to be meddling in.

We knew some of his plans were shocking and unconventional -- like destroying the IRS -- but I seem to remember that our country was founded on the idea that no government had control over our lives, that we should have a say in any government we created, and that war against an oppressive government was sometimes warranted. I acknowledged that voting Paul into office may have led to civil war, but if that was what it took to get my freedom back, I was willing to enlist myself. (They'd never take me with my health issues, but I'd sign up anyway -- just give me or let me use my gun like in the revolutionary war.) I was 100% behind this man, as were a decent number of our friends and family, including my 87yo grandmother and my 8yo daughter.

At the county caucus, the Ron Paulers stole the show. Two-thirds of our delegates were RPs, and we were hearing the same from the rest of Eastern Washington. But when our delegates got to the state level. the head of the state Repub party pulled some pretty blatant illegal stunts, allowing in appointed delegates from other counties (illegal in our state) and hijacking our state caucus. There's actually a lawsuit going on over this.

So we were devastated to hear Paul was pulling out of the race. We didn't know who to vote for now; we didn't like any of the voting records of the other candidates -- and yes, we looked up the records ourselves! I know how McCain has voted, and I knew we didn't want him leading (or waffling over leading) our country.

A few days later, a former congressman from our area called me and asked if I'd run for PCO in my neighborhood. As a RPer himself, he asked if I would work to reinvent the Repub party from the inside out. My goal became to get on the platform committee for our county caucus, and to get to the state caucus next time around to stop the illegal moves (I'm just slightly vocal when I'm upset!). Paul had told his followers that this was the only way to return the Repub party to its foundations of small government and big freedom.

So I watched the convention closely tonight, knowing that Palin really seemed like my kind of gal. We turned on CSPAN two hours before she spoke, and were disgusted by what we saw and heard. Every speaker leading up to the big wigs praised McCain for his lengthy track record voting for us conservatives. I screamed "No, he doesn't!" at my TV too many times to count. I've read his record! He's a liberal! We don't have liberal and conservative parties in the two main ones anymore -- we have Marxist and liberal! I was pretty upset by this time.

Finally, Palin took the platform. I love her! She has a sweeter version of my sassiness! While she debunked the left's and the media's lies about her with a modicum of grace and a slight smirk, I would have levelled the place with a smug glare. She did it with humor and eloquence. DH and I purely enjoyed her speech ... all except the parts where she praised McCain. I would love to have her as President instead of him, or better yet, Palin and Paul in some order as our ticket. I pray McCain doesn't bring her down, because her record of bucking the system is what this country needs. I hope that someday she wakes up and realizes that she can get a better co-candidate next time. But in all, I was happy with what I saw of her.

Then came the roll call vote. Being a devout RPer in mourning, I counted the votes for my favorite candidate. Paul received 15 votes, four from my own state. At the end of McCain's overwhelming victory, the final tally was declared -- and they messed it all up! They gave Paul only five, got Romney's two right, and even understated the total for McCain by one. Plus, there were about forty votes (I think that was the total) from N. Carolina that weren't even allocated to a candidate.

That's when I nearly lost it. I know the liberal Repubs chose McCain months ago, and they would do anything (as we saw in our state) to get him on the platform, but ignoring us RPers is not a good tactic. Yes, Paul is out of the race, but the point was to send a message to the Repub party that they need to make some serious changes. Yes, Palin is a step in the right direction, but she's tied to someone who can't seem to make a consistent stand, who consistently votes against our Constitution, and who IS Washington-as-usual.

Did you know that the Repub party did not invite Paul, a Republican senator, to the convention? That he was told he could come -- but alone -- and they might be able to swing a temporary pass for him? And then they miscount his votes? And the CSPAN anchor has the gall to say, "And why does that even matter?"

I'm upset, frustrated, and heartbroken tonight. I want so much for my country, and I'm so worried for it. Obama will literally destroy this country in four years, but McCain will surely severely cripple it in the same time. Pray, people -- only the grace of God will save this country. So much is so severely wrong, and the people around us -- maybe even you -- don't know or don't care. Pray and vote, though I can't suggest who to vote for now.

On weeding...

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:27:00 -0500

I finally made an attempt to get outside today and get something done out in the sun. My intention was to prune the roses; they'd been left to their own devices all summer, and had run out of places to sprout new buds. So I turned up the tunes while dd was doing her math, opened the window so I could hear it, and headed out with clippers in hand.

Half an hour and one rose bush later, I noticed the morning glory blooms reaching up above the flax -- quite a feat in my crazy flowerbeds. So I abandoned the two climbing roses in favor of saving my gardens from being strangled.

I cleaned out three flowerbeds before I wandered over to the herb garden. Already, I had fed two armloads of the vicious vine to the chickens, and the heat was getting to me. But my poor herbs were all bent over and tangled together. So, despite the screaming coming from my hamstrings, I tackled the neglected patch.

This herb bed was a dream of mine back when I married my darling husband. He's a chef and I'm definitely lacking in the cooking department, so I was trying to find a way I could contribute in the kitchen. I had drawn up multiple plans for herb beds, everything from traditional English knot gardens to postage-stamp plots around a hoped-for mailbox, but as yet, I hadn't had a mailbox, let alone a piece of dirt to plant in.

When we moved into this house a decade ago, it was a faded, old mobile home set in a forest of what I call "spider trees" -- those evergreen shrubs that attract every little bug in the desert. We tore out the shrubs, moved away for three years, and then moved back in with a small child in tow. Now we had bare ground and a poorly planted lawn; I wanted something fantastic to come out of the humiliation of being an architect in a trailer.

The west end of the house faced the pasture, the railroad tracks, the road and the beautiful Beezley Hills -- all the things that kept us entertained, but it also bordered the driveway. It wasn't a place we'd go to sit and watch the sunset, and other than my small (at the time) white rose bush, I didn't have anything I could put there that I would venture out to care for.

My solution to this was to plant herbs there. I figured that there wasn't enough exhaust and pollution there to worry about killing them or making them unhealthy for us, but they'd also have plenty of sun. They'd be close to the house in the cold winter months. Best of all, I'd have a reason to go take care of them, seeing how I was going to provide my husband with the choicest herbs for his culinary creations.

I planted three flavors of thyme, two of oregano, my hubby's sage plant from his mother's house, a few chives, and a handful of strawberries. That was six years ago. Now the tarragon is overrunning the old sage and the rose bush, the remaining Greek oregano has filled out the rest of that half of the bed, two thymes remain and have edged out the strawberries, peas, and second sage, and the two types of chives are being taken out by the mint that managed to sneak its way in. The rosemary never survives the winter, and the lemon balm hasn't yet taken hold.

I love this herb bed. It has a wild mind of its own, and besides the mint bed, it's the only area of the yard that I'm particularly proud of. No matter how seldom I actually weed it, I always wander back into the house dreaming of pasta and baked potatoes and summer and purple flowers covered in honeybees.

Today, though, I was angry. These horrible weeds had taken over my precious herb bed in my absence, and were destroying my sweet plants. Another armload of morning glory over the pasture fence and I was ready to give up, but compassion overwhelmed me and I dove back in, cursing the green invaders.

Suddenly God began to speak to me. It was the story of the harvest that was infested with weeds, but the workers were told to leave the tares until harvest time, when they would be separated at last from the good grain. I was having such a hard time finding the roots to these vines that I was pulling out beautiful oregano and thyme along with them. Every time I grabbed for vine roots, I also got herb roots.

At that moment, I understood God's heart. I know a young lady who's straying from Him -- more than one actually, and this applies to all of them. I've tried to counsel them, to help them, to explain God's heart, to warn them from my own experiences why the path they're on is so dangerous, all to no avail. And my heart breaks, but more out of knowing the hard road they have ahead of them than out of truly understanding the heart of God.

Today the Master Gardener was telling me to leave it to Him. He was saying that He'll deal both with the crushed plants and the evil weeds. He's the gardener and I'm just the hired hand. He knows how best to deal with them, because He loves them. I love my little (big?) plants because I planted and raised them; He loves us because He created us! He's angered when the weeds come in and strangle His precious children, and He knows which are weeds and which are just happy invaders who mean no harm. He can care for the wounded and strangled ones, without damaging or uprooting them in the process.

As the Gardener's helper, I need to hold up the wounded ones until He steps in to deal with the problem, and prayer is the best beanpole I know.

Matt 13:1-5