Jeremiah 29:11

 

The above Bible verse has been placed in front of me several times in the past 24 hours.

Again this morning, it appeared on a Facebook post I was browsing.

It seems to be a cornerstone verse for the Christian Women's Job Corps where I spent a mere one hour yesterday.

Thanks, Lord, for reminding me that you are my Leader, my go-to, my Saviour, my Comrade, my Pinnacle.

Yes, you have prospered me. 

I have not been harmed.

I have hope for today, tomorrow, the rest of my aging life.

I have plans and hopes for the future.

Yes, YOU know the plans.

I am at peace with YOUR plans.

Thank-you, Jesus!

In the meantime, I need to seek YOUR face within my worship, my Bible, my devotions, my erratic prayer life and my Bible studies.

Let me conclude this early morning with a bouquet of flowers and a verse!

Flowers of God" (Excerpt)
By Jean Penner
Softly growing in the garden of life,
Are beautiful flowers from God,
Lovingly planted inside our hearts,
Lining the pathways we trod. 

Off to Spinning Class

 

See me in the photo? I am holding on for dear life. Off to spinning class I go this morning. It's a fiber festival workshop at a ranch near Bandera, Texas.  The teacher, Joy from Lubbock, said she would help me resurrect my wheel that was in the flood. Dear Hubby has cleaned it for me. I do NOT know the first things about spinning wheels. And then I thought it to be a goner in the flood but photos sent to spinners have concluded all the parts are intact.

We will see!

I look forward to this process. Why, you ask, have I taken on another element of fiber art?

Why? I ask myself the same question, but I have and will be fiddling with this wheel for the rest of my life. I like the architecture of spinning wheels. Maybe I am one of those folks who buy grand pianos for their impressive looks in the living room. I think spinning wheels are quite lovely little artifacts.

And maybe, just maybe, I will learn to spin some delightful fun yarns for my weavings.

Gotta run to become

the next spinner

of yarns!

That has a double meaning, eh?

Cactus, Succulents....why not?

                                                   

                 (The above is a delightful little book I checked out of the library. It can be purchased on Thriftbooks for $6.39.)

Maybe it's because my flowering plants haven't flourished.

Maybe it's because I like to learn new stuff.

Maybe it's because I think cacti and succulents are almost indestructible. (I am sure they are not!)

Maybe it's because no one else I know is a cactus guru.

                                                    So here I go................

I am not a cactus guru yet, but now I have to put my interest where my dollars have been recently spent.

I have purchased numerous cacti and am about to figure out exactly what I have. 

I purchased "rare tiny cacti" from Walmart and a couple larger healthy looking cacti from Lowes this past week.

The greenhouse is calling this early morning. By the time I get to it the sun will be up, if it's coming up, and I will be using the plant identifier on the phone to zero in on what I purchased. 

Focusing on cacti makes sense to me. You water less, you worry less, you take from their strengths and resilience. Of course some have spines and gloves need to be worn. You have to be careful with some folks too.

I did purchase special soil, first online, not a big bag. Now I have a large bag from Lowes. 

It's a foray into the Land of Happy Cactus! It's a foray into one more learning experience.

                                       Come with me. Let's see where this venture takes us. 

                                              Maybe I will even produce some blooms!

                                                              

The Bible and Poetry

 

I just ordered the above book from Amazon.  Wanting to know more about poetry in the Bible, the following review excerpt makes the book quite desirable:

Prose seeks to lock down ideas with logic and clarity so there is no wiggle room.  Poetry, by contrast, is all about wiggle room. 

Poetry is all about “glimpsing” something — say, the kingdom of God — without constraining it by rules and tenets, without defining it.  Poetry is about open-ended ideas and images that are there to be “explored.”

Prose tries to build a room and determine every item inside that room. 

Poetry stands out in the open — whether in a desert or a city or in a jungle — and is awash with a great deal of thoughts, emotions, sensations, some of which are to be expected but others, such as a bird suddenly flying past at eye level, are unsettling, maybe in a pleasurable way but maybe a distressing way.

https://patricktreardon.com/book-review-the-bible-and-poetry-by-michael-edwards-translated-by-stephen-e-lewis/

I am quite sure that this book will entail focusing, quiet meditation and prayer. All these are qualities of action that I seek.

                       *                   *                 *                *               *

When my husband retrieved the mail from our Hunt, TX "mail van" the other day, the post office dude said something about "no books today." I had no idea he was paying that much attention or perhaps, I do order many books! Then my husband told him of our losses, including all the books I had owned. I guess I am slowly regaining a library of joy and imagination. As Dolly Parton has created her Imagination Library for children, I too am in the process of such a creation.

https://imaginationlibrary.com/