All things made new...2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (NKJV) 2 Corinthians 5:17

If I'm willing to listen, God is always willing to speak to me no matter what my location or who I am with.  While picking rocks with my earthly father yesterday, my heavenly father spoke to me and I've been pondering it now for almost 24 hours, so I thought I would share as maybe it will be some sort of encouragment for someone else.

As I was sifting through the garden soil with my hands, I felt a sort of peace come over me.  God told me to think of my heart as the garden.  Above the soil lays a smooth layer of green grass, but what my eye sees is NOT what He sees. God knows what lies underneath the smooth layer of grass before it is plowed up--just as He knows my every thought and the condition of my heart even before I speak or take action.

The first step in having a garden that flourishes is to prepare the land.  As I have already learned through our new garden experience...Even though it would seem easier to pay someone to come in and rake the rocks out the easy way, it just doesn't work as great as you'd think it does.  So...I found I needed to take the time to remove the rocks myself with the help of my father.  Rocks must be removed so our vegetables can take root and have room to grow under the soil.  Same goes for my heart...sometimes it would seem easier to pay someone to remove our ROCKS (pain, frustration, loneliness, bitterness, discouragment, jealousy, etc...)--it usually doesn't work the way we'd hope it would.  So...we must take the time to remove the rocks with the help of our heavenly father who loves us no matter how rocky our garden is.  If we don't allow Christ to remove our rocks, nothing will flourish as it was meant to.  Will we ever get all the rocks out of our garden? No. But, through the many hours and years of repeatedly preparing the land, the soil will become easier and easier to work with and the plants will flourish more and more as long as it is continued to be watered.  Just as our hearts need to be watered daily by the Living Water.

Pain, frustration, loneliness, bitterness, discouragment, jealousy...Those are UGLY words and who wants to be UGLY, right?  I have learned through some of my own "changes in heart" that these feelings are not from God...they are from Satan, the ultimate deceiver.  The more he can get our mind focused on something, the more he can use it to create rocks in our hearts and our relationships.  Then, before we know it...we realize something has been "simmering" in us for so long we don't know how to let it go.  Afterall, we can't just forgive and forget what happened, right? Satan is hoping we'll think it is impossible.

Even though I've heard this my whole life, God reemphasized to me yesterday in the garden that only through Him can all things be made new and beautiful...and only through him are all things possible.  This doesn't just me "some" things--it means ALL things. We may not ever completely "forget" about our rocks, but we can get to a point of forgiveness and change.  I  realized I always need to be willing to roll up my sleeves, get down on my knees and sift through MY OWN "dirt and rocks"--even if it means getting tired, sore, sweaty or ceasing to do something I like to do.  He loves me, rocks and all, and has loved me since the beginning of time.  But He won't do a work in me unless I seek Him, trust Him and WAIT on Him. (Waiting is the hardest!)

In my 33 years of life, I have learned that humans (including myself) will go to great lengths (time and money) to make their outer layer appear more attractive. If we were really honest, do we go to the same amount of lengths to make our inside match the outside? Money cannot buy the type of improvements I am referring to regarding our insides...but time can...Time spent with your Heavenly Father.  I hope you aren't weary and worn out by the dirt and rocks in your life, but if you are...it's never too late to take off your work gloves, realize Satan is trying to have control over your situation and let God, the very first and most experienced gardener, have control of your heart.  True...I don't know what you are going through or have endured in your life and it may be painful and seem too difficult to handle, but with Christ all things are POSSIBLE and MADE NEW. If we do this, we will be rooted in Christ and can grow into the person He has always meant for us to be.

Rocks...Part 2!

We received rain since my last post, so our rock picking was delayed.  This worked out good for me as my body was SO sore after the 1st day that I wanted a few days to recoup!  It gave me insight and appreciation as to what people who have hard labor jobs probably feel like everyday...Oh and by the way...my 62 year old father was hardly sore at all. (Who knew he was in that great of shape? LOL)  Anyway, Brett (my 2 year old son) and I tried to get out in the garden over the weekend to pick more rocks and we were in mud 1/2 way up our shoes so I decided we would need to wait a little longer.  Yesterday's wonderful 60 degree weather finally allowed us to get back out there and work some more.  Dad worked about 2 1/2 hours and I worked about 1 1/2 hours yesterday. Brett is showing you our 2nd load of rocks below...He is so proud!

So... dad got out and used the rotary tiller again today...guess what??? WE HAVE MORE ROCKS! Digging a little deeper in the soil revealed some even bigger ones...He estimates we will probably have to pick up those rocks and probably till 1-2 more times...Dad picked up rocks to fill the above bucket to the max (see below)...Afterall, we can't have a partially filled bucket, right? Not with all the rocks we have to pick up! :-)

But...you probably know what I'm going to say...Someday it will be BEAUTIFUL!

Work smarter? Not Harder? Ha...

So if you know anything about me...I like to think things through and make sure I'm not wasting time and effort on something that can be done a more efficient way...Which led me to thinking..."Surely there is a machine for rent that can pick up rocks!"  I called a rental place and they said the only thing they had that could assist in our rock issue would be a rock rake.  So...I called my dad and ran this idea by him in which he replied, "I don't think it's going to work like they say it will, but we can try it."

The PERK of having a dad who does some farming on the side is that he has a lot of equipment that most people would have to rent and learn to use.  He's actually had a rock rake for years and had almost forgotten he even owned it...so he hooked it up yesterday and we gave it a try...

Guess what?  It didn't work...just like dad said it wouldn't. (He's so wise...)  So...we had to do it the "old fashioned way".  We rolled up our sleeves and picked rocks for almost 2 hours yesterday...Along with the hundreds of rocks we picked up, dad also found an interesting piece of history...This is an old turning plow point.  He estimates that it is 50-75 years old...Yes, some old farmer was probably plowing that same piece of land and had to quit for the day because that same old rocky land broke his plow.



Here's the 1st load and we aren't even half way through...But...with some hardwork...someday the garden will be BEAUTIFUL!

We Broke Ground!

Since the land where we plan to put the garden hasn't been plowed up in probably over 30 years, our first step is to get the land turned over and start removing rocks...


I got a surprise message from my dad last Saturday telling me he had decided to go ahead and purchase a rotary tiller instead of us hiring someone to come plow up the garden.  By the time I spoke with him, he had purhcased it and already had it attached to his tractor ready to go...Here he is with his new toy...



Dad and Dean came over and BROKE GROUND on Monday, January 23...It's starting to look like a garden now!

But...look a little closer...YES...We have a ROCK GARDEN right now...

We expected this might be the case since Southwest Missouri land has the reputation for being so rocky...Now is when the hard work is going to have to kick in...But soon it will be BEAUTIFUL!

Thinking Back...There's just something about fresh fruits and veggies...

When I was a young girl, I remember my parents and grandparents had gardens that seemed like magical places to me...One day the ground was bare, then the next day it was full of a variety of beautiful vibrant colors of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Those fruits and vegetables seemed to taste better than anything to me and it was so fun to go out and just pick something off the vine and eat it right there...DIRT and ALL! Yummy...

Obviously, I now realize that A LOT of work went into growing that garden, but I really never saw that except for a couple of times going out and pulling a few weeds from our strawberry patch.  I was always ready to help when it came time to pick strawberries and blueberries, but most of the time I would get side tracked by the juicy berries and most would never make it into my bowl for passing through my mouth first! I remember my dad telling me stories of when he was a boy and would go pick blackberries with my grandfather and they would hook a bucket on their overall straps so they could use both hands to pick.  Every now and then, my grandfather would ask my dad, "have you got your bottom covered?" (meaning the bottom of his bucket) but my dad would also be eating more berries off the vine than he would be putting in his bucket.  There's just something about fresh fruits and vegetables...Yummy...

A few times in my life when my dad had a good crop we would go with him on a Saturday morning down to the square in Ozark and sell our excess at the farmer's market...People seemed to flock to the market and it didn't seem to be a hard sell at all...We always sold out and it was SO much fun to "run our little business".  There's just something about fresh fruits and vegetables...Yummy...

With all the knowledge of gardening and farming surrounding me from my dad, Grandpa George (my mom's dad) and Grandad Schuenemann (Ryan's grandad) and Dean McGee (close family friend)...I have decided to put forth a really good effort in learning from them and growing our 1st BIG family garden this year.  The majority of people I have told so far have said, "Do you know how much work it's going to be?" To which I say...no, but I have a good idea of what to expect...BUT after this year of experience I will have a lot better idea. You may just start calling me a "PRO" after this year...Ha Ha!  Thank you for your positive support in this endeavor and I plan to document our experiences here if you are ever interested in stopping by to see our progress.

Here it is...Dad and I plotted it out and this year's garden will be 50' x 100'...You can't see much but it will be BEAUTIFUL!