Growing

It's the end of springtime- Easter's arrival meant it was really feeling like it- you can't deny the world its celebration and its vibrant colors when we also celebrate a risen Lord, and as the weeks have gone on Spring's vibrant blossoms and buds have begun to give way to the bright sun and bustling gardens that have really taken off.

My grandmother planted things every Good Friday, and I added to my garden in that spirit.  A tomato and a bell pepper joined the ranks alongside the greens on Good Friday.
When I missed her on Mother's day weekend I added sage, thyme, parsley, and another tomato.  I found a strawberry pot like the one we got her for Mother's Day a while back, and I might just pick up the plants to fill it this week, even though it'll be another pot to move and be careful of on our journey South.
 I've started dreaming of next year, when everything won't have to live in containers that have to move, and when I will have a raised bed tucked alongside our little house.  Next year- when there's a yard and a little space for me to start seedlings, when peas and squash and cucumbers join the ranks, and sunflowers and bulbs are in the yard.

Next year.

But... there's joy in my tiny garden, and in my house.  There is something about watching the dog play outside the kitchen window and having the grill right outside the door- something about all of the oddities that made our strange little first house a home.  It's now.  And it won't be next year. It's bittersweet to think about the packing boxes stacking up in the next room, waiting to be filled.

Jon's career means we move in 4 weeks, and God holds something for us in the anticipation of planning and "probably" and "hopefully".  And my vocation becomes more deeply rooted in meeting people where they are, and in the glory God shows us every day in nature- in the great green growing times we have in our sights.

Preaching Preacher's Wife

Yup... That's me.

I didn't really realize it or come up with that phrasing till we were sitting in the fellowship hall of Jon's new church.  He starts there in a month, and it'll begin a new chapter for us... married for barely 6 months, and still getting used to one another.... And now to get used to a new town, new church, new jobs for both of us(I'm starting to look. Prayers, friends) and to make another house a home.

I'm tempted to blog all of the changes to the parsonage, because changes there will be.  And there are voices of preachers' wives and parsonage remodeling on a budget out there, but I don't feel like any of them sound like mine.  I want to write more, and this would be space for that- not just home decor and moving posts, but spirituality, curriculum thoughts and ideas, and gardening and seeking to care for God's earth.

But what I need to do now is run errands and make a couple of returns before I go to the dentist.  Ouch.

Stay tuned.  My hope is to write more.  Sooner than last time.