It’s only March and my rhubarb is unfurling.
In the frozen, snow-covered parts of the country, Spring is only a word on a page somewhere near March 21st, but it has hit full force (early) here in the Pacific Northwest.
The rhubarb is pretty lonely. I had grand plans to get some spinach seeds in the ground last month but well, here it is March….
I have been pining over seedlings and seed catalogs since early December. Nothing got ordered.
No trips to the neighborhood nursery for the newest and best.
So many good ideas.
So much work.
The stray sweet pea seeds have already started twirling in the soil, I’m sure there’s a nasturtium seed or two. The mint is definitely trying to take over (I thought I’d pulled it all out!)
The garlic leftovers have managed to send up shoots–who knows what else might be lurking there?
My un-planted garden mirrors something I’ve been reading in ‘A Million Little Ways-Uncover the Art you were Made to Live’, by Emily Freeman, founder of Hope*Writers.
Emily posits the idea (p. 59) of the difference between ‘discovering’ and ‘recovering.’
- Something new.
- Something different.
- Something beautiful.
Instead of all that hard work, what if this year I simply set about uncovering the garden to recover what had been lost? Maybe rescue some things….?
It would be like a reunion with what was already there, but only hidden………like a treasure.
Maybe God is calling you (like He’s prodding me), to uncover some of the brambles and brush in my soul–the layers I’ve used to hide the real me.
Maybe He’s daring you to dig beneath the layers, expose the hidden things to the light and reveal the dreams that He’s put there in the first place.
Instead of being ‘suspicious of (my) desire’, or my capacity for making beauty, I’m learning to rest in the truth of my ‘image-bearing identity’ that glorifies God.
I’m daring to expose the soil of my barren soul, the ‘me’ that God made when I was created. I want to begin looking instead for what might be growing there already….the poem God has written on my heart that only I can live.
thanks, Dolly, for reading. Our lives are a work of art, for sure.
Oh, you are welcome, Nancy! I'm so glad to share the wealth of wisdom OTHERS have written to speak to us all.
I'm learning to let go and start peeling layers off and see what God has underneath….a little at a time 🙂
Thanks for stopping by and your encouraging words, Janet. May God bless you in your 'hunting' today.
'Reconnecting with the essence of who we already are.' Exactly. So glad this spoke to you, Amber. I love it when the Holy Spirit is up to the same thing in different people at the same time.
So much good stuff in 'A Million Little Ways'! Thanks for reading Kelly. (Spring is coming–I promise!)
Jody,
This is such a beautiful reflection…and I've been uncovering and rediscovering my love of reading and writing the past few years…Happy rediscovering and recovering in your life and art 🙂
Oh boy, this is good stuff, Jody. I was not familiar with Emily's book, but you have certainly piqued my interest with your thought-provoking quotes. Your observations also gave me plenty to think about, especially this sentence: “Instead of being 'suspicious of (my) desire', or my capacity for making beauty, I'm learning to rest in the truth of my 'image-bearing identity' that glorifies God.” Yes, Lord, lead me to recover my image-bearing identity that glorifies you! Thank you, dear Jody, for a most inspiring post!
See Jody – we're on the same page today. I'm uncovering, re-discovering the joy I felt when the snow first fell this winter… you're on my bud-hunt, looking for signs of growth and for God's surprising treasures. Theology 101 – gotta love our Mighty God! I love the quote “Having a dream is a reflection of the image of God.” Lovely!
Oh my goodness. How I love these excerpts from Emily's book. I have been doing some uncovering, re-discovering, and yes, rescue, of places of my soul these past months, and it's such a different thing from starting completely from scratch. It's a reconnecting with the essence of who we already are… and that, yes, is a treasure. An adventure. Thank you for sharing this.
I remember appreciating that passage in her book as well. And I'm jealous of your early spring! Although I did hang a few things out to dry today. Yes, sometimes it seems like we like to make things more difficult than they need to be!