Fri., Sept. 14, 2018

Isaiah 40:28 – Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He doesn’t grow tired or weary. His understanding is beyond human reach,

I LOVE FLOWERS.

I love having flower gardens in our yard. I love having flowers around our house. I love walking by and seeing different flowers blooming at various stages of the spring, summer and fall.

I love having fresh flowers in the house. After we moved to our current home, I decided that I would always have fresh flowers in the house. I chose to have them on our kitchen island. I love walking into our house through the back door, scoot the small butler’s pantry and into the kitchen where there is a vase or pitcher of fresh flowers or a seasonal plant on the island.

On our porch, I have pots of annual flowers. This summer, they have been fantastic. We have had a warmer summer in Wisconsin, with more humidity than normal. This means the coleus, angel-winged begonias and sweet potato vines have exploded.

Yet, I also love having perennial flowers in the gardens and beds around the house and yard. Over Memorial Day weekend, I decided to dig out some of the boring plants in the beds and install more color and variety. My neighbor Claudine offered to give me some perennials from her flower beds. After spending over an hour poking through Claudine’s flower gardens, I pushed an overflowing wheelbarrow full of plants back to my house. I went to work, digging and moving and putting these flowers in my yard, along with some plants I had purchased at a couple area greenhouses.

Did I mention it was an unseasonably warm Memorial Day weekend?

This fall, some of those plants are now coming into their own. I need to spend an afternoon “tweaking” the flower beds. Some plants are bigger than I expected. Some already have little baby plants growing off of them. All beds have a few weeds growing in them.

As much as I love the bursts of color that annuals can quickly bring to a flower garden, I love using perennials as the foundation. The flowers that will grow back year after year. The plants that bring structure and depth and stability to the flower gardens.

What brings structure, depth and stability to your daily life? What provides the strong foundation that you go back to again and again?

For me, it’s faith in God. God is perennially a part of my daily life. Another word for perennial? Everlasting. Meaning God has no beginning and no ending. There forever.

Many things in my life will change. Where I live. My job. My career. The flowers around my house. One thing is perennial. One thing is everlasting. God.

Does God make the perennial list in your life?

Almighty God – sometimes, it’s hard to understand who You are. When hurricanes are barreling down, and floods have drowned out people’s hopes and dreams, it is so easy to question where You are. Remind us anew that when You promise to be a part of our lives, You promise to perennially be there; not always remove every awful or potentially awful thing in our lives. May we appreciate and value Your perennial and everlasting presence in our lives. Amen.

Blessings –

Dianne

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