Some Pictures For Your Enjoyment

No, nothing to eat yet from the garden.  It's still a bit early.  But here are some more recent photos of the garden for you to enjoy!

Okay, not the garden.  But my African violet just keeps blooming...it's so pretty!

The cucumbers are really taking off!

My corn.  I planted four, and a squirrel dug up one.  Now there are three and a sprout.

Two pumpkin plants.  I can almost smell the pie...

One of the pepper plants.

My parsley from the Farmer's Market.  I used some in my lasagna tonight.  Yum!

My patio plants--from top left, clockwise: mosquito plant, red maple from Greenfield Village, miniature rose from my co-worker on Secretary's Day, mosquito plant, and parsley.

 A side note--I took a stem from one of my mosquito plants to see if I could get it to grow.  I tried soaking it in water for a few weeks to see if it would sprout roots, like some other plants do.  It didn't, but the stem is still very much alive and healthy, so I'm going to plant it in a pot and see if I can get it to grow like that.  I'll let you know what happens!

There has been quite a lot going on in our lives here lately.  I don't feel like going into the details, but the past few weeks have been emotionally and physically trying.  Sometimes I wonder why life can't be all sunshine and daisies and chocolate, but really, life hasn't been that way for anyone since Eden.  We have to take the good with the bad, and find a way to cope with whatever comes.  For me, coping comes from the faith I have in God's control over our lives.  In John 16:33, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, telling them that He would not always be with them in the way that they have always known, and their lives were going to change dramatically: "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  Whoa.  That's quite a statement.  Not too many people can say that they have "overcome the world" and actually mean it.  But Jesus did, and wasn't lying--He did something that no one else could or will be able to ever do!  He conquered death.  He won the battle, and the enemy could not change that outcome, no matter how much he tried to (and oh yes, he tried hard over the centuries).   I have heard people say that there are only two constants in life: death and taxes.  And guess what?  No one can escape from either of those.  Many have tried, especially the taxes (Willie Nelson is the first that comes to mind), but ultimately, no one succeeded.  There is nothing to fear with death when you have faith in Christ.  Yes, your body still dies.  You have to say goodbye.  But you will live again with the One who created you, and among loved ones who also believed.  That's how I want to spend eternity.  And we will pay our taxes faithfully each year until then.