We are having a false spring in the North Carolina foothills. Daffodils are bursting through the soil on January 13, far earlier than their usual March appearance due to a week of temperatures in the 55 to 65 range.
Although quite welcome, I’m concerned about how my precious King Alfred daffy’s will respond when temps return to winter “normal” of lows in the 20’s and highs reaching only mid 40’s. I guess I will have to wait and see.
I took advantage of this warmer weather to plant more flower bulbs today after snagging two packages of daffodils on sale for $1.49 each (Thank you, Lord!). Nothing relaxes me more than kneeling on my property, digging my hands into the dirt and engaging in a beautification project. Time disappears as I’m lost in my thoughts. I focus on removing weeds and how to create beauty. Nothing more. Today the bird song was especially sweet.
Winter is especially drab after the colors of autumn and the vibrancy of summer. Bill and I are happy that our first winter has been so mild (read that absence of snow and icy), yet staying in the house due to cold weather is not what we are used to. Florida winters are the best times to exercise outdoors. I miss my daily morning walks! Therefore, getting outside to dig in my garden made me very happy!
The other flower bulbs I planted are new to me. Tiny bulbs called Muscari were sown along the walkway as a border flower. While typing this blog entry, I learned they are actually hyacinths. They should look beautiful interspersed with the yellow dafs.
On each side of the front steps, I planted more daffodils and hyacinth to greet visitors. Here I am after two hours of playing in the dirt. I’m posting this in an effort at transparency (no makeup, dirty pants, hair a wreck and I don’t care).
My Florida friends remember that I began raising monarch butterflies in 2017. I enjoyed that hobby immensely and plan to pursue it this spring here in North Carolina. In August 2019 I planted milkweed seeds harvested from my tropical milkweed plants, but they are growing ever so slooowwwly due to the cold weather. I bought a grow light to help them prosper so that experiment is still in progress. I wasn’t expecting the light to be so small. Definitely ordering another LOL!
In conclusion, I spent two hours today bending, digging, pulling weeds and planting bulbs. But my flower beds look the same. Wait for it … ya’ll know where I’m going with this. In winter we plant so that in spring we reap the harvest. In just two to three months I’ll enjoy beautiful blooms.
“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:18-23 NKJV)
Jesus told us that “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, (plant bulbs?) and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know-how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The flowers and plants I am cultivating are temporary and fleeting in beauty. The daffy and hyacinth will last but a few glorious weeks, but the word of the Lord lasts forever!
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” (1 Peter 1:22-25 NKJV)
Have you planned your spring garden yet? I’d like to hear about it.
If you liked this post, here’s another on the same topic Time, Seeds and Karma in the Kingdom. Happy reading!
Categories: Devotionals Gardens Monarch Butterflies Nature Nature Parables The Kingdom of God
Kathryne
Christian author and inspirational speaker of truth that makes the darkness tremble. Author of two non-fiction books at https://linktr.ee/TattooedKing
Kathryne Leach 
Lovely post. I truly enjoyed it. God bless!
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Thanks Jacquie! Great hearing from you.
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