Wow!
It's hard to imagine I haven't posted since spring! So much has happened since March.
I learned how to start my own seedlings and got wonderful tomato plants, broccoli and brussel sprouts. I think if my tomato plants lived through the blight that crept through the northeast, I would have had gobs of tomatoes. They managed to grow beautifully tall and a lovely shade of green, until the sickly brown color took over and they did not survive...not one out of 33 plants! Oh well, maybe another year. I have to do some tomato blight research...I'm not sure if you can replant the next year without treating the soil. So much to learn about gardening-and I do not think one ever stops learning new things about tending the garden.
AND...I am STILL decluttering. Just today I tore my living room apart-for the umpteenth time! Each time I do it I thoroughly clean and decide what to give away and throw away-at least 15 items each. It's amazing what gets left out or stashed somewhere it does not belong. So there is also a 'put away' basket. Will it ever end? I have been on this simplifying path for what seems like eons...but I guess it's only since last spring. I just cannot fathom how I accumulated all this stuff! I am ashamed. But I will continue my quest for simplicity and one day I will have it conquered.
We are still learning what it means to walk the Lord's "Narrow Path". The journey so far is one full of discovery and it has been so enriching! We have met so many kind and wonderful people who truly heed the call to 'follow Jesus'. The call to come out of the world, once heard, is vastly life-altering (as it should be) and we will never be the same.
And so I am learning to live what some call the "Doctrine of Non-Accumulation". Now, it's funny, before I ever knew it had a 'name'...I was led to live it. Sometimes I slip...like last Wednesday when I went with my friend Linda to a Salvation Army store...and bought the most shabby chic tea cups and a creamer and sugar bowl with an old-fashioned design on them. For some reason, I have a hard time resisting dishes...I'll have to get that in check! But I made myself get rid of some things in their place. I am determined to not bring a new thing in without purging an old thing out in its place. Still, this can be defeating my purpose and I do not do this often anymore.
Speaking of all my teacups, some day I hope to be able to have hospitality again. Oh, I do miss hospitality. I love blessing people, and it's so nice to have them over and dote on them and show God's love to them. Yes, I miss that very much!
With Thanksgiving coming, I've been trying to think of ways to be a blessing. A 'Secret Blesser'. Not letting my right hand know what my left is doing. I once knew a woman who put together bags which held all that was needed for entire Thanksgiving meals and gave them away to people she knew or heard that needed them. Once upon a time, a long time ago, we were recipients of one of her Thanksgiving bag deliveries. What a blessing that was! Love in action. That is the Kingdom of God!
One more thing I'll add before I finish this post. I am very excited about a new site I will be launching soon. It's called "Simple Acts of Love" and can be found here . I haven't put anything up on it yet, but I will soon and I'll come over here and let you know when it's ready and add a link for it on the sidebar. It will be a site that has ideas and little tutorials and such on ways to show simple acts of love to friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers as we know it is possible to entertain angels unawares! My goal is to keep it simple and easy for the most part. There will be some in depth projects too. We'll see as it goes how it all plays out.
When I get a chance tomorrow, I'll take a picture of my new shabby teacups and saucers and my little creamer and sugar bowl and maybe post a photo or two of a display I've set up while preparing this place for Thanksgiving. I'm not going overboard, but bringing in some things from outside to display God's Handiwork. God's creation is so beautiful and awesome-I encourage you to take the time to enjoy it and ponder His love for us.
Try to Keep It Simple. Just enjoy the Lord's creation as you prepare the Home-Sweet Things to show hospitality to your loved ones.xo
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