Before and After

On this chilly, rainy day, I decided to review my photographs from the past year in the Israel Prayer Garden.  It’s hard to believe that the garden we now enjoy was an overgrown, neglected piece of earth just ten months ago.  I have done my best to select some before and after photos of the garden for you to enjoy.  Of course, you can always go back to the beginning of this blog if you want to review what God accomplished in the garden in such a short amount of time.  And I’ll enjoy listening to the rain on my roof!

Welcoming Winter

One of the lovely things about living in Texas is the winter.  Yes, it does get cold–sometimes.  And, yes, ice and snow can wreak havoc, as we discovered last year during the Super Bowl.  But while our friends up north are shoveling snow and pulling on the long underwear, we are enjoying stretches of spring-like weather and skies so blue it makes you cry!  Last week was one of those stretches.  As we took down the lights and restored the garden to its unadorned state, we were blessed with chilly mornings followed by warm afternoons.  Flocks of robins descended on the garden in all their cheerful chirpiness, woodpeckers crept up the bare trunks of the oak trees in search of lunch, and the bluebirds flashed through the leafless trees.  We know that cold weather will return, but when the sky is so blue and the air is warm enough for a short-sleeved shirt, it’s easy to imagine spring!  While we wait, we continue to plant trees and prepare for the arrival of grapevines for Asher.

Shabbat Shalom!

Light of the World

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5).

During this season of celebration, we give thanks that the Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to the truth of the Gospel.  His light dispels the darkness of sin and condemnation and opens the door to revelation and restoration.  As we lit the menorah in the garden for the first time during the Festival of Lights, we rejoiced that we are partakers of the light.  May the Light of the World–Jesus–shine on you in a whole new way this season.

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas from Texas,

Pam and the Israel Prayer Garden Crew

Frosty Beginnings

On days like today, when the nighttime temperatures dip into the twenties, I miss the triple-digit heat of the dependable Texas summer!  Winter gloves are cumbersome, and pruning back perennial foliage is precise work requiring more dexterity than those gloves provide.  When fall wanders into winter territory before its time, I turn to the book of Job for consolation:

Does the rain have a father?  Who fathers the drops of dew?  From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? 

In spite of the fact that cold weather is a challenge for me in every possible way, I take comfort in knowing that God has His reasons for winter.  As we continue putting the garden to bed for the cold months ahead, I can trust that this time of rest will produce good fruit.  Spring will come again, and with it the new growth from plants made stronger because of this dormant season.  And as I wait for spring–even before winter has officially arrived–I can rejoice in the faithfulness of God, who makes all things beautiful in every season in His garden.

Shalom!

Oh, Give Thanks Unto the Lord!

As Thanksgiving dinner fades slowly into memory–aided by an overloaded digestive system–I want to take the time to thank our generous Father for all of His gifts.  Since my first blog post back in March, we have witnessed restoration and transformation in the Israel Prayer Garden that transcended drought, heat, wind, and time.  During this season of thanksgiving, when we pause to express our thanks for family, friends, and freedom, I want to thank all of those who have given time, plants, labor, gifts, and prayer to see God’s vision come to pass on this little piece of earth in Corinth, Texas.  As the garden enters its well-earned season of rest, we bid a temporary farewell to the heat loving flowers and their pollinating partners and we say hello to the subdued colors of fall and winter.  Soon the garden will be hung with lights in preparation for the Festival of Lights.  Before the decorating begins, here is one more look at the garden on a welcome rainy day earlier this week.  Thank you, Father, for rain, and we trust that more is on the way as we prepare for the sabbath.

Shabbat Shalom!

Changing Seasons in the Garden

Since my last post on November 2, we have been experiencing the changing of seasons in the garden.  We had our first frost, another welcome shower, and a visit from the Denton County AgriLife Extension Horticulturist, Janet Laminack.  Next week, members of the Denton County Master Gardeners Spring Garden Tour Committee will pay us a visit, as well.  They start planning and preparing well in advance for the May garden tour.

So much is happening, inside and out, here at Global Spheres that I have just a few moments to post a few pictures.  Hope you have enjoyed your Shabbat as much as I did!

Shalom, y’all,

Pam

November in the Garden

As the days shorten and temperatures continue to cool, we are spending time preparing the garden for its season of rest.  Of course, while the plants rest, we will be celebrating the first Festival of Lights in the Garden!  While we plant bulbs, perennials, and wildflower seeds, we are also beginning to imagine the trees and porch adorned with the traditional blue and white of Hanukkah.  So, as usual, we have been busy in the garden.

On Tuesday, the current president of the Denton County Master Gardeners Association, Jenny Estes, visited the garden for the first time.  It is always a treat for me to see the garden through another person’s eyes, and when that other person is a gardener, the treat is multiplied.  As we completed our tour, Jenny asked if I would be willing to put our garden–including the community vegetable garden and composting operation–on the Denton County Master Gardeners Association Garden Tour next spring.  Well, of course!  I will keep you all posted on developments, but suffice it to say that I was truly honored and humbled at the same time.

I’ll leave you with a gallery of photos taken over the last week in the garden.

Shalom, y’all!

Indian Blanket for the Garden

Saturday, October 29, 2011, was a historic day for the Israel Prayer Garden.  Apostle Jay Swallow, Minister to Native America and our brother in the Lord Jesus Christ, joined us in the garden for a special declaration and presentation.  Under a clear blue sky, our own Dee Dee Roberts, a member of the Cherokee tribe, read the following declaration from Apostle Jay:

“Under a mandate of the Holy Spirit, I now bring from invisible to visible a prophetic act pertaining to the future of all 568 Native Tribes of this hemisphere called America.

“In the guardianship of the Israel Prayer Garden and its many expressions of maintaining a watch in prayer and spiritual warfare for the Nation of Israel, and as First Nations of this country called America, we seek to add a more visual commitment to Israel by symbolically planting the wildflower called ‘Indian Blanket,’ an official wildflower representing the tribes of the Nation of America.

“As these seeds of commitment are prophetically sown in and around the plants representing the twelve tribes of Israel, our Native Tribes will be joined together in providing a ‘warrior watch,’ not only over the beloved Nation of Israel, but to provide the security over the many facets of prayer warriors that will come to pray and feel the blessed atmosphere coming from the Israel Prayer Garden.

“And, as a leader among the tribes, I give these seeds into the hands of the caretakers.  Before spring of 2012, I will bring forth all the tribes official agreement to stand with Israel in her place in the Kingdom of God.”

Apostle Jay Swallow then presented me with a bag of seeds that will be planted strategically throughout the garden as a testimony of this commitment.  Before we left the garden, Apostle Jay took authority, as a child of the King and a representative of America’s First People, over the weather patterns in our region.  He declared a restoration of the natural order of rainfall essential to harvest and prosperity on the land.  To which we all echoed, “Amen!”

And so, we will plant Indian Blanket seeds in November and wait for their blossoms next spring!  Thank you, Apostle Jay Swallow, for these seeds of commitment.

Changes

Sometimes change happens suddenly, and whether it is a change in circumstances or a change in the seasons, our challenge is to adjust and find our footing.  Monday morning in the garden, I witnessed an exciting sign of the changing season for the very first time.  Donna, Sue, and I were on the east side of the garden planting ornamental grasses in the tribe of Naphtali.  Suddenly, we looked up to see Daniel Arenas on the northern edge of Asher, frantically waving his arms and pointing to the eastern sky.  Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect since planes make their approach to the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport right over the garden.  When we turned to look up, we beheld an amazing sight: hundreds of migrating birds hovered in the air above the garden.  I’ve been watching birds for years, but this was my first time to see snow geese on their annual migration across Texas.  For several wonderful moments, we watched these magnificent birds break rank and soar above the garden like a black and white whirlwind.  Just one more reason I am so thankful for the blessing of the garden.  If we had not been outside digging in the dirt at that very moment, we would have missed that amazing sign of the changing seasons!

That same night, we enjoyed the first of several seasonably cold evenings in north Texas, dropping the nighttime temperature into the fifties and forties and bringing more rain to our parched state.  After a high temperature on Monday of ninety degrees, we enjoyed a crisp, beautiful day with a high in the sixties on Tuesday.  This time of year in Texas really does make the summers worth it all–at least, for me!

Work continued this week on the walled spice garden in Gad. 

 

 

The sukkah in Manasseh hosted several visitors during the Feast of Tabernacles week.

 

 

On Thursday, a group from Tulsa, Oklahoma, came to plant the Treasure Chest Garden at the entrance to Zebulun.

Over the next several weeks, we will continue planting, removing spent plant material, spreading bark mulch, and preparing the garden for the colder temperatures of fall.

I will leave you with one last picture: Zebulun’s boat in a sea of river rock and grasses.  She may not be sea-worthy, but she is sturdy!  Whether or not we all share Zebulun’s entrepreneurial motivation, she is still an inspirational sight.

 

Shabbat Shalom,

Pam

Morning in the Garden

Come, and let us return to the LORD;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Hosea 6:1-3

When my children were small and came to me with a boo-boo, all they usually needed was a kiss and a band-aid.  As they grew older and bolder, the kiss and band-aid often turned into a trip to the emergency room for stitches, bone setting, and burn treatments.  In the same way, there are times in our lives when the injuries we receive from the world can be fixed with a kiss and a band-aid.  A quick word of encouragement and a promise from the Word will take care of so many problems!  But every once in awhile, we need a trip to the emergency room.  Some wounds require special attention, and God is present and available to His children to bind us up, revive us, and raise us up to live in His sight.

Whatever you are experiencing today, don’t neglect to pursue the knowledge of the Lord whose going forth is established as the morning.  Seek His face today and receive the joy and refreshing that He longs to share with His children.

Shabbat Shalom,

Pam