What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
Hello to you! It’s Tuesday evening as I write to you. How are you?
Today’s prompt makes me think of my younger self. The best advice I would give is to slow down! When I look back on my 58 years, much of those years I can’t even remember. Everything is a blur. I burned a candle at both ends through much of my life. I barely have any memories of my childhood. The memories I do have are just fragments of mostly traumatic events. Most of my memories are highlights. I used to write in journals everyday but stopped because I was running out of storage space! I have a big black cedar lined trunk full of journals, calendars and sketch books. I have wrestled with what to do with everything for years now. I don’t have any children of my own to pass my stuff on to so someday whomever takes over my estate will probably just send everything to the dump. Most young people these days don’t want stuff from their elders. I am the end of a tree.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
Hello! How are you today? It’s Friday here and Earth Day. I kind of think about holidays of this sort like this: “Why just a day?” For me every day belongs to the earth….without the earth there are no days. This morning I am thinking about the first garden and the first trees:
In Genesis 2:9 we learn about the tree of life and it’s purpose
Genesis 2:9New International Version
9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees(A) that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life(B) and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.(C)
When I’m out walking around, as I’ve mentioned, I feel like I’m in a garden. Each tree is doing unique things to make it’s leaves. There is a tree that captured my attention and I shared with you that is now making tiny little red buds all over it even after making leaves. Some trees are still in the process of waking up of have no leaf buds at all yet. The purple flowers I’ve shared with you have spread to several yards….the two little wild pansies have become a whole cluster of them! In ever nook of earth “things are doing things!”
Last night before bed I was talking with God and as I spoke I realized I sound a lot like my Grandma Schmidt! I began to remember and think of her with so much love. She and my Grandpa taught me early on about nature and the connection of nature to knowing and loving God. She loved her garden and grew such amazing flowers! Big white Kennedy roses. I loved going camping with them. My Grandma Becker and I shared a love of trees. When we walked together she would show me her favorite trees who she thought of as friends. Each one expressing itself in a unique special way. I’m so grateful that the early people in my life taught me what a precious gift this earth is.
Everywhere I look I see intelligence….the wisdom of the master gardener of all creation. For me, each day I get to draw breath is earths day:
Tulips Isn’t this one a pretty color? Every time I see these I think of the blue bonnets in Texas….I think of Sam. He was my little bumblebee. One time after he walked through a yard of blue bonnets, I later found one in our backyard! I counted the rings, this one was about 8 years old before it was cut down….a baby in tree years I mentioned to God that we hadn’t seen any blue flowers yet and the next day….blue! This is howGod works with me lol – I thought there were just two wild pansies and God will say how about a whole bunch of them?! Lots of tulips right now in various yards growing in many different spotsWe got a little bit of rain again – I love seeing the sun peeking through the clouds Smokey getting some time out on a walk – he goes a lot faster than Link does so not much time for pictures lol! A Eden in our times – all the elements to life hereThis part of our walk makes me think of where I used to go play as a child Link is so patient with me and I with him. He likes to stroll which is great for when I want to get pictures Link is so excited Smokey is visiting
A couple messages from todays A Woman’s Spirit book:
In celebrating the good in me that was always there, I will continue to flourish. – Jill Clark
Improving a small part of me at a time isn’t too much work. Cultivating my assets in this way promises that today will be good.
Did you know:
The oldest LIVING tree is called “Methuselah” and is 4,765 years old. This tree is nearly 1,000 years older than any other bristlecone alive today. It lives in a secret location in the White Mountain range of eastern California. The oldest known tree named “Prometheus” was cut down in 1964 by a doctoral student.Feb 24, 2015
To be 