The Savage Five

I look down at my hens and chicks and I see a mother.  A mother that is producing offspring.  A mother who has taken in nutrients and energy and grown to the point where she can give to her children. Hens and chicks remind me of the importance of spiritual mothers. II Timothy 2 Paul recounts the significance of mothers. I thank god whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.  As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.  I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.  For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of god, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and  self-control. There is an impartation that occurs between faith filled mothers and daughters a...

A flower's beauty and fragrance is designed specifically by the Creator  to attract specific types of pollinators. Color, fragrance and structure tell the observer of this intentional design if you look closely. But why is important for a flower to attract pollinators?  This is the means of producing after its own kind.  Can it do this completely on its own?  No! Just like a flower that requires visitation by an animal that has special features that align with its structure or cling to its pollen, so the Christian life is created to draw others in to the fragrance of Christ while benefiting itself by those times of feeding. But thanks be to God,  who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession.   And through us spreads the fragrance  of the knowledge of Him everywhere.   2 Corinthians 2:14 Those that visit the flowers have a return for visiting the flower and the higher the return the more apt they are to make a stop at a ...

I am a beekeeper going on 12 years now and each season brings it's own set of concerns and frustrations.  There are always a variety of potential threats lurking, waiting for just the right opportunity to arise so that they can get the upper hand on the community. One such threat is the small hive beetle.  It doesn't sound very threatening does it?  The small hive beetle is an opportunistic parasite who, when given the right opportunity, will lay eggs in or around the filled honey comb. If the colony is strong, meaning their numbers are large enough to maintain good housekeeping skills within the community, then the small hive beetle is unable to take up residence and cause major problems in the community. If the colony is weak, like the split colony that I created this spring, not having enough healthy nurse bees that go to each cell and clean them out in preparation to receive an egg from the queen at any given moment, then the colony is in jeopardy of great infes...

I hear this tap tap tapping.  I keep looking out into my yard thinking someone is walking towards me with flip flops but there is no one.  I continue my work. Interrupted again, I gaze into the trees after a few minutes and I think that maybe this time there is a squirrel being feisty and wacking something on a tree limb. The continuous sound keeps interrupting my train of thought as I write so I look again and see a wood pecker tapping away at the large maple tree across from me. Woodpeckers aren't what destroys a tree per se.  A tree's bark is the first line of defense in the fight against a hostile environment where mold, bacteria and viruses lurk in waiting to seize an opportunity. The Christian's first line of defense is his or her identity in Christ.  When we come in contact with the world around us, our mind set on Christ and our knowledge of being completely accepted in His sight deters invading thoughts that fly our way seeking an opportunity to wrea...

I pray  this passage from the Valley of Vision along with the writer; Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion,  instruction, discipline, example,  that my house may be a nursery for heaven,  my church the garden of the Lord,  enriched with trees of righteousness of  thy planting, for thy glory; I want that for my house Lord!  That my home would be a nursery or hothouse for heaven!  That my church would be the garden of the Lord where He rests and delights in the good fruit being produced there. But the writer makes a keen observation as what precedes this is of utmost importance.  We must be devoted to the call that God has placed on our lives as mothers, daughters and sisters.  We need to be sanctified in the area of our devotion to our work but more importantly to the Word of God. How can we instruct, discipline others. or expect to be an example to our families if we are not in the Word, being continually re...

Prayer from Ezra 7 We thank you that Jesus is our great high priest and because of His priesthood we have full access to the Throne room of the Great King and we have been granted, as joint heirs with Christ, full access to the kingdom. We thank You that Your good hand is upon us.  We ask that you give us a love of Your word and a heart to study it, that we would be Bereans and that we would be doers and teachers of the Word as well. Let our lives be freely offered to You in our service, our time and our finances, so that we would provide whatever is required for the house of God to be built and maintained. Lord, help us to work at this with all diligence to our full capacity for You and You alone. We thank You for Your favor and grace and for extending Your steadfast love toward us through Christ. Give us a revelation of Your hand on us so that we would be filled with courage to rally Your people to do Your work alongside us! AMEN Prayer from Ezra 8 O Father, We ...

Each morning, I pray before my feet hit the floor..... Lord, give me a revelation of You! I have 10 blog posts in the waiting, so I ALMOST thought that the Lord would just have me use one  that I had already started.  But I felt like I should take a quick walk through the garden to see if He had something specific for today. As I was pinching the suckers off of one of my tomato plants, I caught a shimmer out of the corner of my eye..... BRIGHT, SHIMMERING, GLORIOUS!  A dragonfly perched underneath the leaves resting in the early morning sun! I smile with delight, knowing full well that God, once again, has been so faithful to provide! How often do we go through our lives, not seeing our gloriously faithful Father? We busy ourselves with the tasks of the day, and readily go to work with the activities of the day in our own strength, not realizing that God delights in showing us, very specifically His faithful provision for our lives. We not only fail to s...