gardening

Unless the Lord Builds the House, or Grows the Figs

/ Bill Jones / 8 Comments

Fig Preserves

We finally found success. Sharon was able to make strawberry-fig preserves this year.

I’m not sure how long we’ve had the tree but it’s been a while. There were 2 or 3 winters that were cold enough to kill it back and it would start over. The last few years there haven’t been enough figs at one time to gather (but I did munch on them as I walked by the tree).

Fig Tree – Fruitful after all these years

Here’s the tree that finally bore the good crop this year. It’s still relatively young, so hopefully we can look forward to many more years of figs.

I guess the lesson is to be patient – continue working with your trees (or your Bible Study, or your ministries, or your prayer life, or yourself, etc.) and hope and plan for the best. And, of course, rely on God’s help, because nothing will be successful without Him.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalms 127:1 ESV

Can Weeds Reveal the Glory of God?

/ Bill Jones / 16 Comments

Volunteer Weeds

We’ve all heard the saying that a weed is any plant in the wrong place. I’ve had several plants this year in the wrong place (or at least I didn’t put them there) but I wouldn’t call them weeds. I’ve posted about all the sunflowers the birds dropped around the yard that brightened up everything wonderfully. (If you look closely you can see the bumblebee on one of them)

Volunteer Grain

I assume the plant above came from bird seed from one of the feeders in the back yard. It did quite well where it wasn’t supposed to be. And I like it there. (Good timing and contrast with the guara that’s faded for the season.)

Volunteer Vines

These vines come back each year along the fence. I never planted them there – they just showed up. I look forward now each year to them coming back. Just what the fence needed.

Joe Pye Weed

I had to put this one in since it’s called a weed – and it’s exactly where I planted it.

I do have real weeds (and quite a few of them) in the garden and flower beds by this time of the summer. They are definitely the wrong plants in the wrong places – but I’ll work on removing them along and along.

Thinking about weeds brought this Scripture to mind: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

We can be in the wrong place if we’re out of the will of God (and that’s a different blog post). But, if we’re following Him, God may choose a number of different places for us. Because He chooses them, they’re the right places. I believe we can properly expand the verse above to include not just whatever we do, but to add wherever we are.

Even if we seem to be in the wrong place, we can be like the plants above that aren’t called weeds anymore. They became welcome companions because in their beauty, they reflected the glory of God.

Different From the World Can Be a Good Thing

/ Bill Jones / 10 Comments
Shrimp Plant

Shrimp Plant

Here’s a Shrimp Plant Sharon and I bought at a Flea Market a few years ago. I don’t know what the scientific name is, but the colors and curl do resemble a shrimp. Something different, at least around here.

And different can be a good thing, especially if it means different from the world around us. Caleb demonstrated that when he and Joshua were the only spies who came back from the Promised Land with faith that they could succeed because God was with them.

“But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.”  Numbers 14:24

God Blesses Us With Peppers… and So Much More

/ Bill Jones / Leave a comment

Last Harvest of Peppers This Year

I had a pleasant surprise when I checked the peppers Saturday. There were a lot  more than I expected and all good size and weight.  There are a few small ones still on the plants but I’ll figure this as the last “big” harvest of the year.  More everyday blessings from God in the garden!

“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of theLORD thy God.” Deuteronomy 28:2 KJV

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” Ephesians 1:3 KJV