I love the spring.
For every day
There’s something new
That’s comes our way.
Another bud
Another bird
Another blade…
~Author Unknown
Came spring on warm wings
but the hotter pinks arise
as sweet April advances
~Natalie Scarberry
You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. ~Psalm 51:16 ✝
The peace and beauty
of a spring day
had descended upon
the earth
like a benediction.
~Kate Chopin
Pink, pink, and more pink! Yes I know there are others colors in the garden, but what a lovely color is pink, the quiet hue on the sweet side of red. And then there are the wonderful names of the different shades of pink! What’s not to love about monikers like baby pink, berry pink, salmony pink, watermelon pink, and of course hot pink. Though most of the pinks tone down the color red, hot pink stimulates the high levels of energy associated with passion which the color red often signifies. Even in realms other than the garden pink is a revered color. For example, cities in the world are associated with it, businesses are linked to it, and then there’s the refreshing taste of pink lemonade consumed on hot summer days all over the world. It’s also a color mentioned in a host of song lyrics, and of course pink is the color of romance and young love. As a color long considered feminine, it was once a color associated with the Virgin Mary. Last but not least pink is the color of innocence, and as such it is oh so appropriate for the birthing of a new spring.
You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety. ~Job 11:18 ✝
Listen, can you hear it?
Spring’s sweet cantata.
The strains of grass pushing up.
The song of buds swelling on the vine.
The tender timpani of a baby robin’s heart.
Spring!
~Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
In the glow of the dawn,
Welcome a new day,
Greet the golden sunlight or rain,
Nature in all its subtlety.
Whip of the wind,
Earth unfolds,
Softly falling rain,
Growing plants and buds blossoming.
Visions of the earth, with glories of nature,
Beauty of the daffodils,
Sunshine and rain from a rainbow,
Awe! Nature in full bloom.
~Blanche Black
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. ~Isaiah 35:1-2 ✝
And so spring begins in my small nook of earth with a smattering of roses and a new piece of yard art. I took this photo early this morning of a portion of the north quadrant of my back yard.
I think that no matter how old or infirm I may become,
I will always plant a large garden in the spring.
Who can resist the feelings of hope and joy
that one gets from participating in nature’s rebirth?
~Edward Giobbi
If your purse no longer bulges
and you’ve lost your golden treasure,
If times you think you’re lonely
and have hungry grown for pleasure,
Don’t sit by your hearth and grumble,
don’t let mind and spirit harden.
If it’s thrills of joy you wish for
get to work and plant a garden!
If it’s drama that you sigh for,
plant a garden and you’ll get it.
You will know the thrill of battle
fighting foes that will beset it.
If you long for entertainment and
for pageantry most glowing,
Plant a garden and this summer spend
your time with green things growing.
~Edgar Guest
He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. ~Job 8:21 ✝
The photo is of my cherry tree in bloom against the backdrop of my neighbor’s blossoming redbud tree. It’s such as this that weds my heart forever to a garden and my soul evermore to the Creator of all that is.
When you read Celtic nature poetry,
you see that all the senses are alerted:
You hear the sound of the winds,
you taste the fruits, and above all
you get a wonderful sense of
how nature touches human presence.
~John O’Donohue
Nature isn’t just around us like the walls of a house or a building; it moves into our space and through our senses to touch us in very discernible ways. We live and breath and move on divine, holy ground and in that realm many of our life experiences come by means of our God-given senses. Even in the reading of Scripture spring’s coming is announced by the mouth in song and the ear in hearing. So this week as we approach Easter, be mindful that one should not only hear about Christ’s resurrection or see images of what happened on the Cross at Calvary, but we should also feel the agony He suffered and in a very real sense “taste” what His sacrifice accomplished.
May your body be blessed.
May your realize that your body is a faithful
and beautiful friend of your soul.
And may you be peaceful and joyful
and recognize that your senses are sacred thresholds.
May you realize that holiness is mindful,
gazing, feeling, hearing, and touching.
May your senses gather you and bring you home.
May your senses always enable you to celebrate
the universe and the mystery and
possibilities in your presence here. . .
~John O’Donohue
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. ~Isaiah 35:1-2 ✝
**Images via Pinterest, collage created by Natalie
Let me arise and open the gate,
to breathe the wild warm air…
To let in Life,
and to let out Death.
~Violet Fane, British novelist, poet, and essayist
Blow, Breath of heaven, blow! Blow through the land and over the waters. Carry away death’s dark vapors and let life in. Let the “wild warm air” of springtime spark life in every nook and cranny. Let every mountain, plain, and valley break forth in gladness. Let the ceaseless waves of the seas and the rushing currents of rivers roar with a renewed passion for life. Let the clouds suckle earth’s waters and then send rain from heaven to moisten the earth and let loose her flowering. Let life, whole and vibrant, dazzle us into a new awareness of You.
Blow, Breath of heaven, blow! Blow through us and take us down to the bottom of our souls where You, O God, the Breath of all things, are present “deep within all that has life.” We who have recently traversed winter’s dark domain yearn to feel your warmth and vitality course through our bodies and all that has life again. We long for earth and sky’s vast array of bright colors to take away winter’s preponderance of grays and browns. O Holy One, come; let us see You “in every emanation of Creation’s life.” We give you glory and thanks for all that You are, for Your ever-lasting goodness and never-ending love, “for creatures stirring forth,” “for plant forms stretching and unfolding,” “for the stable earth and its solid rocks.” O blessed Breath of heaven, arise and blow life afresh through Eden’s gates!
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. ~Psalm 33:6 ✝
**Both images via Pinterest
Spring has returned.
The Earth is like a child
that knows poems
by heart.
~Ranier Maria Rilke
The cycle of nature—the progress from seed to fruition
to dying-off and then renewal in the spring—
was mirrored in the wild fields and the cultivated garden alike,
while the fragility of harvest—the possible interruption of
the cycle by drought, wind, or other natural calamities—
established the pattern of how humans understood
the workings of the cosmos. The oldest of surviving
sacred stories have their roots in the garden
and reflect how humanity sought to understand
the changeable patterns of their world and, at the same time,
to imagine a world no longer subject to change.
~Peg Streep
See! The winter is past…flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is hear in our land. ~Song of Songs 2:11-12 ✝
**Image via Pinterest, text written by Natalie
All goes back to the earth,
and so I do not desire
pride of excess or power,
but the contentments made
by men who have had little:
the fisherman’s silence
receiving the river’s grace,
the gardener’s musing on rows….
~Wendell Berry
To find the universal elements enough;
to find the air and the water exhilarating;
to be refreshed by a morning walk
or an evening saunter…
to be thrilled by the stars at night;
to be elated over a bird’s nest
or a wildflower in spring —these are
some of the rewards of the simple life.
~John Burroughs
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. ~Psalm 19: 7 ✝
**Image via Pinterest
There be delights that will fetch the day about
from sun to sun and rock the tedious year
as in a delightful dream …for a garden is Arcady
(a region of rural simplicity and contentment)
brought home. It is man’s bit of gaudy
make-believe – his well-disguised fiction
of an unvexed Paradise – a world where
gayety knows no eclipse…
~Edited lines by John D. Sedding
Shhhhhhh! Do you hear it? Okay, okay, try again. Listen carefully! Did you hear something this time? Did you? If not, did you see anything different? Surely with the vernal equinox only 4 days away, you’ve heard and seen the come-hither voice of springtime and the early signs of it that daily grow more visible and audible. In my yard and elsewhere birds are aflutter and atwitter as they bring nesting materials to birdhouses; colorful crocuses, upright and abloom, chant lovely, little ditties; green perennials whisper quiet anthems as they rise from wombs beneath the soil in search of light and warmth; iris spears that were cut back in the fall now stand tall again offering up gladsome refrains; busy, buzzing bees scurry about in search of nectar and pollen; swelling buds on cherry trees whisper pretty, pink ballads; and on and on go the sights and sounds that make the human heart leap as the faithful promise of Spring materializes once more.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. ~Psalm 6:11 ✝
When we pray,
our hearts glow
a glorious joy
that lights our souls
and all the world around us.
~Terri Guillemets
First and foremost, I want to thank those of you who have been praying for me during this time. I so appreciate that and your prayers definitely helped me stay strong and worry very little. My knee replacement surgery was two weeks ago today, and it went very well. I returned home three days later on the following Sunday. I was walking on a walker when I left the hospital and able to get up and down steps. The two weeks of in house rehab started immediately and has also gone well. They told me when I left the hospital I was well ahead of where most folks are after three days, and the PT’s have been repeating the same kudos as they worked with me here. So I’m very pleased with how things are going. This last Sunday, the PT’s took me off the walker and put me on a cane. Then today I went back to the doctor so he could take the staples out and the incision looks good, but I gotta tell you guys that taking those staples out smarted quite a bit! There was some oozing from one of the sights where they pulled out a staple but the fluid was not yet infected. However, just to be on the safe side, they’ve started me on an antibiotic for the next ten days. So now I’m facing 4 weeks (three times a week) of out patient rehab at a local facility. And yes, there is quite a bit of pain involved in the rehab so I still need prayers please, both for the rehab and that the antibiotic stops any chance of infection. I’ve been trying my best to keep up with your blog posts, but some days it’s harder than others to do so. For example, tonight I am very tired and hurting as well so I will not be able to make it through the list this evening. Please bear with me as I do miss reading your entries. It looks as though spring is definitely getting underway here and I sure would like to be out and about, but I shall have to be patient a little longer. Unfortunately patience has never been my strong suit. Oh, well, the Lord is always the unrelenting teacher of lessons He wants us to learn. I pray all is well with all of you and thank you again for all the support. Much love and huge hugs, Natalie
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ~1 John 4:11 ✝
**Image via Pinterest
Sacred Touches 