, For my birthday I always love to receive flowering plants. Growing up we had a beautifully landscaped yard, filled with Egyptian iris, roses, and many other pickable, long-stemmed flowers. I looked forward to going out in the yard to see what kind of flower arrangement I could come up with for the house. Each one was unique; every week a new creation of beauty. At our new home, however, I have to start over. To be sure, it is a beautiful setting with the woods and mountains, but it started out with very few flowers. So for my birthdays I ask my family for flowers and more flowers to plant. Yesterday they brought me home a beautifully variegated dapple willow, sunset and white roses, along with a Japanese plum tree. I couldn’t be happier! Right now they are sitting in my living room, awaiting their new home. That home, though, is my next issue. It is all clay and highly acidic soil here. With clay, the plant roots become encased in a sun-baked pot of dirt which doesn’t drain or receive the water well. When watering, the water streams off and doesn’t sink into the ground. The hard soil rejects the life-giving water. In order to survive and thrive, I will need to dig out the old clay dirt and start over with fresh, nutrient rich topsoil that can receive the nurture and care necessary for the plants to thrive and rebloom. I was encouraged by my Bible app devotional for today, as it explained that the Hebrew word, “bara,” means to fashion or create (always with God as the subject) of heaven and earth, of man, of new circumstances of conditions, transformations, birth, something new, miracles. Our God was and is and shall always be a creating God. It is why we, as His image-bearers, find joy and pride in our gifts of creativity, whether that’s art, music, writing, building, gardening, or any number of work or hobbies. But while we always must use something He created to reform something of our design, He always makes something new and entirely good. From the beginning of our relationship with Jesus, He recreates us into a new and entirely good creation…completely NEW dirt from which to grow and bear fruit: “I will give you a NEW heart and put a NEW spirit in you! |
AuthorHalley Faville lives with her husband and children in their mountain home in Oregon. Archives
August 2024
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