Spending An Inheritance

Last night I heard a man say that he was spending his children's inheritance. He laughed to tell us that the legacy he would leave for his children "to fight over" was who would pay the bills for the debts he left behind. He said this to illustrate that we need to be concerned about leaving a legacy of Faith in Christ, telling us that our attention should be on piling up treasures in heaven not on our bank accounts. I find the illustration flawed.

The Bible tells us we are to be wise stewards of what we are given. In the case of financial responsibility vs. profligate spending... Scripture comes down in favor of responsibility. Money is not to be an idol, it would be a false god (1Tim. 6:10). And amassing a fortune is not the goal of the Christian, the eternal glories are what we should seek after. (Isa. 55) But shouldn't we be faithful with everything we are given-- including money? Yes! All that we do as Christians should be found to glorify the Lord. I cannot see the glory in profligacy. I do not see good stewardship in living beyond our means and leaving debt to our children.

Throughout the Bible there are mentions and examples of God's attitude toward our money. The Old Testament sets up elaborate structures for the division of an estate. A double portion of the worldly goods goes to the eldest son along with the religious leadership and position as head of the clan. Proverbs 13:22 tells us a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the wealth of the wicked shall be given to the righteous. And while we are in Proverbs, the Proverbs 31 woman is such a great wife because she can turn a profit on real estate investments and manage to feed and clothe the whole household while hubby is off confabbing with the other elders at endless church meetings.

What we do with money matters to God in the New Testament too. The apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker, when not imprisoned, in order to support himself in his ministry and not to burden the church with his debts. Jesus helps His disciples pay tribute fees by providing money in the belly of a fish (Matt 17:24-27).

Matthew and Luke both repeat Jesus' parable of the master who left his three servants with varying talents. In Luke 19 and Matthew 25, we are told that the master rewards those servants who are faithful with a little money by blessing them with more riches and responsibility. Those who are faithful in a little, we are told, will be given more... and told "Well done." And in Luke 16 when Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd manager the message is repeated with a twist: he who is faithful in a little is faithful in much and he who is unrighteous in a little is unrighteous in much... (Luke 16:10). Christ goes on to asks if we have been unfaithful in dealing with "unrighteous money" who will trust us with true riches?

If we spend our time and our money and our children's inheritance; if we are wasteful of the blessings that God gives us on this earth; if, in fact, we tell the Lord that He has not blessed us enough but MasterCard will fix that for us and the kids can pay it off later... Is that faithfulness in the little things? Does a legacy of debts and overspending tell our children that we served the Lord? I can't think so.

The Lord is faithful to provide for all our needs, down to the last dime. In the face of eternity, money is completely without value, it is meaningless, a small thing, a tiny test of our faithfulness, but if we are faithful (meaning responsible) with our money, using it to glorify God, then we show the Lord that we can be trusted with greater things and bigger opportunities in which to serve Him faithfully. And we leave our children a true inheritance.

Morning Sunlight

I love the way sunlight changes, and changes what it touches. The light of the sun is transforming in our world, just as the light of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is transforming in our souls.

110" x 130"

Simple squares, from a massive (commissioned) quilt.

Fortunately, I can tie it rather than quilt the mammoth thing.

My 300th Post

Did you realize this is my 300th post?

Moreover, aren't the colors of these daffodils just stunning?

They're Back

Have you ever had Dandelion pancakes? To your pancake batter add just the yellow parts of the flowers -- there are plenty extra in our yard if you need some -- and cook your pancakes normally. Yum.

(Note: Do not attempt if you spray your lawn with anything -- only organic dandelions taste good).

Sunshine

Were you outside today too?
Wasn't it lovely? And did you see those puffy white clouds? Cumulus I think, but also those blue-grey dark ones like shadows cast against the blue sky by the over-bright sunshine. I think it would have been too hot, that sunshine, if not for the wind that stirred the day from hour to hour. Scudding those clouds and whirling freshness into the warming air.

Springtime Fruit Compote

Orchards everywhere begin to flaunt their blooms, promising fruit for the months to come. Let's make a Spring blossom inspired fruit salad.

Fruit Compote

Start with a dozen or so cherries (maraschino or dried), for the cherry blossoms blooming on my tree.
Add 1 diced or sliced pear because Leslie shared her pear blossoms.(link)

Slice in 1 Banana because, as you can see in this photo (taken a few years ago in May) in the banana house at Longwood Gardens, the bananas will be blooming now too.

That funny purple part is the flower I'm told. More curious that beautiful, but bananas make for a great fruit salad.

And just for fun, just because the grape hyacinth are also blooming, add a handful of white or red grapes to the mix as well.
Zest with lemon juice like spring sunshine (to keep it from browning) and serve.

Thalia, The Orchid Narcissus

I planted 300 of them several years back, because daffodils really are the only things that the rodents won't dig up and munch on over the winter and the deer won't nibble in the spring. (Many a tulip has met a sorry fate.) Now every year I think how much I like these simple, white, splendid flowers massed around the trees near my "White Garden" ... and then I think maybe I should get some more Thalias.

Spotted Lungwort

One of these is "Mrs. Moon" Lungwort, and one is "David" Lungwort but I can never remember which ones are which, they're all just Lungwort at this point. We have several in the dappled shade garden, and though just now they are blooming, the spotted leaves provide interest then long after the flowers have gone. The spots on the leaves are different as well as the colors of the blooms (although the pink bloom does fade to blue and the blue flower buds out as pink). ...actually, Mrs. Moon may be the one with white blooms that the rabbits snacked on and was too sad to be photographed...

Bloom Sequence

Each day brings another flower opening, another tree blooming out in fuller blossoms. The early daffodils give way to the mid-season daffodils.


I may not have my bloom sequence planned so well for the summer months but in spring the continual bloom is well sequenced. Daffodil gives way to daffodil in a never ending parade of beauty providing the framework, the foundation, of the spring garden.

New trumpeting daffodils take the place of the tiny Minnows, Quail, and Tete-a-tete's. The Rip van Winkle daffodils which remind me so much of dandelions are fading away now also, but the blooms of the Chromacolor and Decoy (among many others) distract our attention from the loss of those early bloomers which we welcomed so eagerly just a few weeks ago as the first sure sign that spring was here to stay.

And already the Thalia daffodils (Orchid Narcissus) are beginning to bloom out. They will be quite a show by next weekend. Followed by the Poet Narcissus and the Winston Churchills. I love my daffodils.

It doesn't hurt either that all the care required with these deer-proof, low-maintenance bulbs is to stick them in the ground and watch them come up year after year with no care on my part, save to move them about as it suits me when the clumps grow large enough to divide.

Quotidian

The word "Quotidian" means every day, common.

How wonderful to have such an uncommon word -- a word you don't hear every day -- to express that familiarity.

Oh, the irony to be found in our English language. :D

A Lesson in French Toast

The smell of French toast lingered in the air. And I was hungry. I had left the house before breakfast and it was now passing noon. My stomach rumbled.

"You saved me some, right?" I asked my sister knowing how much she loved Mom's French toast and fully expecting to hear that only one or two pieces had been left for me.

"No. We ate it all."
"What? Why? But I'm hungry."
"Actually," added Mom "we were just thinking of starting lunch. Did you want to get started peeling the sweet potatoes?"
"I can't believe you ate all the French toast!" and I stomped off into the kitchen.

As I stood at the kitchen sink peeling sweet potatoes I heard giggling from the next room. Listening more closely I heard my sister say "She's actually in there peeling the potatoes?!?"
"What's so funny out there?" I was still mad about the French toast. They had no business eating my breakfast and then laughing at me too.
"Didn't you check in the fridge?" My mother wheezed out the words, gasping for breath as she laughed.
While, rocking back and forth in her chair spasmodically in her amusement, my sister managed to add "I can't believe you thought I was serious."

I was having a gullible day, and had missed the joke. It had never occurred to me to open the door of the fridge and look for myself but if I had bothered to check I would have seen my breakfast sitting there that whole time. I had nearly missed it because I didn't look for myself.

When we hear a sermon, or listen to a speaker, how often do we just take them at their word without checking? We should be reading our Scriptures and checking that what we are being told really is the truth. In Acts 17 Paul and Silas travel to the town of Berea and the people there listened, learned, and double checked to make sure they were being taught the truth. Verse 11 tell us they ... received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

I have a feeling the believers in Berea would have thought to look in the fridge for their French toast. Opening our Scriptures is like opening that fridge door: We shouldn't just believe what someone says about the Bible without looking. We should check for ourselves. After all, we may be having a gullible day.

The Trout Lilies are Blooming

I can never decide if these are named Trout Lily because the leaves resemble fish in some dappled underwater way, or because these flowers tend to first sprout-up right around trout fishing season. Either way the woodland corner is blanketed with these small yellow native blossoms now.

Soaking Up Sunshine

I cannot seem to break myself of the habit of wanting to sit outside in the spring sunshine, letting it soak into me. Unfortunately it has been mostly raining this week and the ground is very wet right now. So, although I was careful to try to sit on a rock, I did find that while I soaking up sunshine, I was getting soaked as well. But what does that matter? The sky was blue today, the air was warm and the birds sang as though they had every cause for joy. And so they do.

Jacob's Ladder

The small flower of the Jacob's Ladder is blooming out in blue bells between the rungs of its separated ladder-like leaves. It is earlier than ever this year.

As For Me and My House

In the Book of Joshua there is a well known passage (24:15) offering the Israelites -- and us-- the choice between serving false gods or serving the Lord God Jehovah.

Choose you this day, whom ye will serve...

The time to make a choice is now. The Israelites had seen plenty of miracles, they had more than enough proof at that point that God is real. What more proof did they need?
In our own lives we are often tempted to delay making a choice until we get more facts. We want God to come down and tell us face to face whether He exists or not.... and then we'll think about if we want to follow Him.

But while we wait who is it that we are serving?

If we choose not to serve God... well then we are not serving God; and not serving God means not following, not worshiping, not being saved by Christ. Which means the choice made was Against God.

And if that's the decision you come to, that's your choice. We are granted the freedom to choose. We are told to choose.

Choose you this day...

Today is the choice we make to serve God? Or not serve God?

Like the ancient writer I say, no matter what choice anyone else makes, ...as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

Daffodils and Quilting

Marie Webster(1859-1956), a famous quilt designer and quilt historian, designed many beautiful quilts using flowers as her inspiration. I've obviously been enjoying all the daffodils springing up in the garden, so it's not surprising to learn that Marie used daffodils in her designs as well.

I don't typically link to eBay, but Marie Webster's beautiful daffodil and butterfly whole quilt design is excellently documented in the photos from this eBay seller and the quilter who made that quilt did some pretty fine work as well. You'll want to follow the link to check out the close up pics. It's a beautiful quilt.

Note: Another well known daffodil quilt design, the 1929 Mountain Mist pattern known as "Dancing Daffodils" found its genesis or inspiration in Marie Webster's block pattern "Windblown Tulips." The design/flower was altered and the pattern began to be published on the Mountain Mist batting wrappers in 1929.

Poetry Contest

Utmost Christian Writers has announced the 2009 poetry contest winners.

Hint: I'm on the list.

Check out my poem "The Finality of Rain"

Flower Filtered Sunlight

Happy Easter

Plum Blossoms and Quotes

Flowers have a mysterious and subtle influence upon the feelings, not unlike some strains of music. They relax the tenseness of the mind.

~Henry Ward Beecher

Like the musician, the painter, the poet, and the rest, the true lover of flowers is born, not made. And he is born to happiness in this vale of tears, to a certain amount of the purest joy that earth can giver her children, joy that is tranquil, innocent, uplifting, unfailing.

~Celia Thaxter, An Island Garden

I want real flowers, perennials which not only grow and change and die, but also rise again and astonish me. A garden shouldn't just bloom and look pretty; it should develop like the rest of life. Otherwise it, and we, live only to be spaded under.

~Emma L. Roth-Schwartz

Flowers seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity.

~John Ruskin

Pushinka

Pushinka in bloom, also known as Blue Squill.

Interestingly, JFK (as in US President Kennedy) had a dog named Pushinka which was given to him by the Russian ambassador. Evidently in Russian pushinka means "Fluffy."

Nature Notes

The goldfinches are back. They flew from tree to bush in front of us as we walked this morning, filling the air with flashes of yellow and cheerful song. A nesting pair, well, a pair at least whom we hope will nest... Two golden crown kinglets also made an appearance eating the winter-wizened berries in the autumn olive bushes near the pine wood. And on the highest tip of a maple tree we saw a bluebird puffed and proud.

We also saw the great blue heron at the pond again a few days ago; stalking the spring peepers no doubt, although that chorus has not been noticeably dimmed by whatever thinning the heron has accomplished. They are as noisy and peeping as ever one could wish to find in a spring pond.

The robins and mockingbirds make their presences felt again as well, for although we had some stay all winter there are now so many that the lawn seems to undulate, not with growing grass but with the gleaming backs of feathered birds. Worms beware.

Thinking of worms, as an organic gardener I am happy to say I believe the worm population has boomed in the last few years. It used to be in turning the soil that six shovels of dirt would reveal one scrawny worm, but now, with all the composting and caring for the soil that we have done we are likely to find more than six worms in each shovel full. That's good for the garden soil and for the robins.

The Seasons Are Confused

The Onion Snow came last night and rests now on plum blossom buds and daffodils. It weighs down the blooms of lungwort and though the new green grass insists it is spring, it does so under a layer of white. And the pussywillows, already blossomed out to sweet pollen laden catkins, find themselves wrapped in the late cloaking flurries.

And Today it's Snowing

Dozens of daffodils nod in the garden. Squill and grape hyacinths bloom under budding and leafing trees. The rock cress is making a show of white flowered beauty... and snow flurries echo that whiteness as they fall.

Thinking Linking

Bravehearted Gospel is a new website launched by Eric Ludy. Here's a quote from the about page:

There’s a vast host of Christians today that feel a longing for something more, a hunger for the manly grit and epic grandeur of the Gospel to return to the Church. There is a gnawing feeling in many souls today, that something just isn’t right – something is askew in modern concept of Christian practice. It’s polished, but it’s not powerful. It’s showy but it has no substance. It’s warm and inviting, but it doesn’t seem to work at the tire tread level of life. ...

The Bravehearted Gospel website is both a blog and resource website for bringing back the strength and power of the Christian message -- the masculine strength of the Bible. And, I should add, Eric's wife Leslie Ludy has an excellent Christian website on the feminine side of things: Set Apart Girl.

Decoy Daffodil

When Daffodil Hunting it is necessary to properly camouflage oneself. It is encouraged that one dig a large hole in the ground or sit behind a screen known as a blind. By scattering around (in the area of the blind) Decoy Daffodils, which resemble real daffodils when seen from above, you can fool the daffodils into thinking there is no danger. Then when they fly over and attempt to land you can....

No, that's not right. That's duck hunting.

So I have no idea why these pretty daffodils are called "decoy" -- but isn't that bloom lovely anyway?

Answering Questions

The new photo for the P.S. Quilter's Tips is a baby quilt I did for my nephew. Invariably when left in gender neutral situations the baby quilts that I make with a hint of pink end up going to baby boys -- and I have yet to make a quilt for a baby girl that wasn't a nice combination of blues. The block in the photo (shown above and in right column) is called Rites of Spring and I pulled a picture of the block out of a quilt magazine, probably 10 years ago now. Naturally I enlarged it a little when I drafted it out.

The purple flowers a few posts back are orchids in the orchid room of the greenhouses at Longwood Gardens. I don't remember the name of that variety, sorry.

My internet was only out for two days. Not only is it back up and working just fine now, but Yes, I did manage to survive while it was down. What did we ever do before email? :D

Sunrise and a Song

In the morning when I rise
Oh, in the morning, when I rise
In the morning when I rise
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus, Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

Not Helping

Recently I have been asked NOT to clean my sister's kitchen. "Don't even do the dishes."

I have been told that I will never be asked to change my nephew's diaper. "To respect his privacy."

And my niece "has enough note paper. You don't need to buy her anything."

Other people in similar situations might be hurt by this seeming exclusion, perhaps feel unwanted. And in the past I might have sympathized with this self-pity. Don't they want my help? Am I not good enough? Why don't they want me to be a part of their lives?

But here are the facts:
My sisters are adults.
They have their own ways of doing things.
And they love me as much as I love them.

They know that if they asked me to, I would do the dishes and wash the windows, clean their bathrooms and prune their rose bushes. I would change poopy, stinky, ugly diapers; and I would spend my last free dollar on things for my spoiled young relatives.

But:
They love me enough to say, "Sit down. You're a guest. I didn't ask you to dinner so you could cook it for me."

They love me enough to say I will NEVER have to do diaper duty.
(Judging by the whiff of him that baby boy can make a huge mess. I'm sure my feelings are so hurt that I will not be asked to deal with that! ... That's sarcasm, in case you missed it.)

Yes, they have their own ways of doing things and perhaps that time my sister said, a little too quickly, "No! That's okay. I can manage." Really meant If you help organize my files I will never be able to find anything ever again -- so hands off. But there's not one chance in a thousand that she ever meant she didn't love me and want me to be a part of her life.

Don't scrub her gungy bathtub. Don't change his bloated diapers. Don't worry -- I won't.

I think it's a pretty good deal, actually.