The columbine is the state flower of Colorado. They are blue and deep purple in the mountains. Where I live this salmon and yellow color grows the best. When you read the word columbine, did you think flower?

Each color of this special flower brings a different feeling. I always think of the High School shooting when I see the purple columbine. I think of the native prairies when I see the salmon color.

But this one bring pure joy to my heart. I think of God’s gift of sunshine. I think of smiling faces of every age and mostly I think that this thing called diversity in the world is so great.

Our faith comes to us in our good and bad, relationships and experiences. The more of each we have the more likely we are to appreciate differences. When you think of the word columbine think not only of a single feeling but think of the diversity in the world.Think about community.

I wonder where you find diversity in your community life?

Blessings,
The Faith Gardener

The journey of presence is the journey with grand children. If they are close by you know you will be part of birthdays, holidays and no reason at all days. But when they move far away, it is hard to be present. 3 years ago after their house burned to the ground, my oldest daughter and her husband and the four kids moved 1000 miles away to do a Doctoral program. It was a really hard time to have them leave because they had a newborn and the pain and stress from losing everything and moving was written on their hearts.

In the past three years I have driven, flown, mailed, Skyped, emailed, phoned and surprised the kids trying to be a presence in their life. When baby 5 was born I was there for 10 days giggling, cooking, cleaning, laughing and sleeping VERY WELL. Now their journey brings them 2 1/2 hours away. They are moving in. Not into my house but into my life in a way I hope to be present more.
I feel so blessed.

I wonder where you feel most blessed by family relationships this week.

I don’t do too many photos of my cat. She doesn’t sit still often. My daughters are a tad worried that I love Apricot the cat so much that I’ll become a cat lady in later life. No worries! This is one special cat and I hate changing litter boxes!

Apricot likes to hide in the garden. It is a game we play. I will be weeding away or picking vegetables and she “hides” in the foliage a few feet away. To support this lovely little game, I ignore her. I walk right by and don’t speak; at least with words. I smile, which is not an action in a cat’s universal translator.

When I am least expecting it, Apricot runs with her collar bell ringing and pounces on me. I make a huge deal out of this and after a thousand head rubs, she stretches out next to me and the day goes on.

Faith for me is anticipation. Like the game Apricot and I play, I smile and know that faith is right there. Hiding in plain sight in the people I meet and the experiences I have. And yet, as with everything… there is always the litter box!

I wonder what is hiding in plain sight in your life this week.

I always place a bayberry bush where deer might come into the garden to each evening, as a deterrent to bulb nibbling. I use the nasty thorns and always remember when I’m weeding to stay away from the beast.

And then once a year for only a few days, the beast blooms. And the resulting beauty brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart. Wow! In a few moments I forget the beast and celebrate the joy.

In today’s world there are many thorns. It is easy to remember the sting of angry words, broken relationships and pain. Faith brings us hope. Hope with the knowledge that alongside the beast there is beauty. All grown by the a Creator that loves and tends us.

I wonder where you will find the beauty in the beast in your life this week?

I look in the mirror each day and I think of gravity. And not in a excited scientific way. I think of gravity in terms of aging!
Today I saw one of the most fantastic celebrations of people working together and the effects of gravity. The Panama Canal is something we studied in American history but never did it seem real. Until you see the boats softly floating downward or upward as water flows, you don’t really think of this natural phenomenon gravity as bringing beauty.
Yes, the touristy stuff drives me nuts. The sell from our guide that Americans saved the day made me a tad irritated. But this Canal is the reason Panama is a country. Presently container ships pay $100,000.00 a one-way trip through the canal. I guarantee there is something in your kitchen that came across the Panama Canal.
So tomorrow maybe I’ll look in the mirror at gravity a bit differently!

The interesting thing about a track is that it is really the beginning of the road. First one goes forward and as others follow, the track becomes a road.
I will be on the road soon. I’ll send pictures from along the road, the track traveled first by others. This track will lead me to the Panama Canal, the Panamanian rainforest and new birds and animals. The track will lead me to the Embera Culture and the Spanish explorers. My track will lead me to orchids and to a native zoo.

Rad along the next several weeks. May my track become your road.

Blessings
The Faith Gardener

There is nothing more beautiful than the face of an infant. Look at the concentration on Lucie’s face. Don’t you just wish you knew what she was thinking? The beauty of a child when they are concentrating all their senses are focused on learning.

I wonder what it would be like to be that focused on learning at my age. My mind is so full of “stuff”. What’s for dinner? Do we need milk and eggs? Is the laundry finished? How can I get a book published?

Deep breathing has always helped me focus. I went to three high schools in three different states. By the third high school I was pretty angry at the world. But a wonderful HS choir teacher taught me to breathe deeply from my gut. This skill has helped be focused enough to feel awe like a child. The breath of God helps me focus.

What helps you focus in your life?

Home schooled grandkids are really cool. First of all play time is not limited to holidays from the school calendar. Second of all we get to be part of the schooling experiences. In this picture we were part of recess. Over Christmas I read with my oldest grandson to sock up some chapter points/pages while reading. Gifts can be bought according to what kids are studying.

Okay, you could say that all this is true for kids in public or private school, too. But I love calling during the day and hearing the happy happenings of the grandkids in school at home. I sometimes get to involve the kids in my writing projects. And I’m always trying out my activities on the kids.

The gift to me is he involvement. I raised 2 girls and it went so fast. Sometimes now I can leisurely listen to the 5 munchkins who call me “Grandma” and I am inspired by them.

Thanks God!

People dreaming together is what I think is the basis for faith community planning. God is in my dreams. Vocalizing my dreams to others is kinda risky and yet, I often ask faith communities to dream together. By asking ourselves how we visualize and dream our faith community we start to take responsibility for the dream.

The second part of dreaming is scheming. To those of you who are asking, “but what about just dreaming for the sake of dreaming?” Well, that is important. Very important. It is also important to figure out what part of your communal dreams can be realized. The question becomes, “How can our community of faith partner with God to make the dream a reality.”

It takes passion to dream. It takes courage to share the dreams. It takes incredible love for God to work toward the dream together.

Pray for Zion Lutheran, who will be doing Dreaming and Scheming for Children and Family Ministries this weekend.

And keep dreaming. God is with you.