This Present Day

Today I am reposting a blog writing from several years ago....it came across my memories of this day on facebook and as I read it, ...well, I hope you are touched by my words.....

From 4 years ago...........


As I stepped into my yard this morning, this is what I saw....it almost takes my breath away  when I see my yard every day...I am so thankful for this gift from God..it is a dream come true..to have a garden for a yard.  and I love to share it with you....so.....

Let's take a closer look at the things growing here. I hope you enjoy..I know that there is no way I could have done this without Divine intervention in my life..there is a purpose for this place we call Winterpast and we intend to fulfill it...it has become a well watered garden in the midst of a drought and even though it was a pitiful sight when we bought this place 8 years ago...I am a very thankful woman..

zinnia queen red lime

my boys

figs

cherokee trail of tears bean

Monroe white liriope

my kitchen after visiting the garden.

 this place we live is indeed a case of being in the right place at the right time...this is the time in my life I am supposed to be living on this land growing this garden and most of all ENJOYING it..  there is nothing else that can touch knowing that you are in the place where you are supposed to be, doing the things that you are meant to be doing....that, my friends, is contentment.....

Each of us has a purpose and we will never be satisfied or content until we find the place where we are suppose to be in this life..  Getting to know God and letting Him direct our path is the ONLY way to live a fulfilling life...I do not want to get to the end of my life and say I wish I had lived differently..and I don't want anybody else to experience that either...what a wonderful world this would be if we each found our place and lived our life there...and let everybody else alone....we will be like a grand symphony if we each play our own part...I will let you in on a little secret..when you are NOT living your intended life, you are like a musical instrument that is out of tune...everyone else knows it..and can hear it...so it is so worth pursuing the life and purpose that is tailor made for you...then we will all play and sing in tune with one another.
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As we looked at these pictures, we focused on individual flowers and things in the garden.. but they all come together to make a big picture..each is beautiful in it's own right but as a whole, it is breathtaking....so, if you are a zinnia, BE A ZINNIA..if you are a bee, be a BEE...if you are a bean, BE A BEAN...

BE WHO YOU ARE MADE TO BE!!!!!!   BE BE BE......what are you meant to be?????answer that question and your life will never be the same..it will be worth it all....

thank you for reading along...and visiting my garden.....see you soon...

A Time To Speak

Today I ran across this blog post and really thought it was worth reposting today...I like my deep thought self and think I need to go and find her and bring her back to life..I hope you are inspired by this post from the past....

Last night I woke up with these verses running through my mind......


 ¹ There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
 ² A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
³ A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
⁵ A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
⁶ A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷ A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
⁸ A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

¹¹ He has made everything appropriate in its time.


When I looked at my facebook page this morning, here are two quotes that I saw....one from a friend and one from a stranger.....

"When you decisively cut off and end what must end, you CREATE THE SPACE for NEW things to show up." 

and  this one......

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." - Winston Churchill

 

I have always thought I was someone that could easily let go of things..well, I am here to tell you..that is not the case...I am beginning to see that there are some good things in my life that I am reluctant to let go of...grin....they are not things that necessarily hurt me...just things that take up space that needs to be occupied by even better things...anybody hearing this?  wink, wink....

I can make a home with the best of them but is that REALLY what I need to be writing about????  it is so easy for me to set a table and to cook a pretty meal or to plant a flower or to pick some vegetables...but is this really what I AM SUPPOSED TO BE DOING???    I am amazed at the most wonderful, beautiful blogs and the creativity and the passion and the anything.you.ever.wanted.to.see.or.do.pictures  that are out there in blogland..we are truly a generation or two or three of amazing women and we are TELLING and showing the world who we are...or are we???

With the divorce rate at more than 50% and all of the children having to be shuffled between hostile parents..where are the voices for these women and children?  where are the blogs that say..I have lived through difficulty and not only survived, but have flourished??and this is how I did it..

and the voices that say--- I have a dysfunctional family and DIFFICULT family members and here is how I learned to be victorious and walk without becoming bitter??

I am one of those voices..I had much rather post pretty pictures, but that is not really what I am all about...I can do pretty.. after all, I went to charm school!!

But even better for me is to write about LIFE..the real kind..the down and dirty kind that really hurts and cries out for someone--anyone--to listen...well, I am listening....and I intend to share my journey so far..how I have overcome...and WHAT I have overcome too...it might step on some toes and it might hurt some feelings but most of all...

IT MIGHT SET SOME PEOPLE FREE!!

and give some hope in a very dark and lonely place....I have been through a LOT...a very much LOT and most of it I never had any idea it would be part of my life......really, on the inside, I am just a young woman wearing a string of pearls and a cashmere sweater and sitting quietly on a church pew somewhere being sweet.....HAHAHA..that was MY PLAN!!  but it is not what I got when I surrendered my life to my God......He got me up off of that pew and made me LIVE!!

I am a divorced and remarried woman...I have a strained relationship with my sister..a mother in law and sister in law that want me GONE!!...a stepdaughter that..well...  I.have lived with lots of money, and with little money....have been accused and rejected..well, you get the picture...my Mama died too young and left a void in my life and my Grandmother died less than a year later..leaving me feeling very alone...and my very own personal JUDGING committee that likes to write ridiculous and hateful and threatening comments on my blog.....

soooooooooooo....

I understand a little about the dark side of life...

buttttttttttttttttttttttttttt...

I am here to tell you that we do NOT have to live underneath all of this..not at all.....we can OVERCOME!!!!!   ALL OF IT!!!!!!  YES...ALL of it.......

we can live 

FREE from the fear of what man can do to me.....

there is real hope..choose life.....

Just like in this picture of my garden..it is apparent that seasons come to an end...as you can see........
I am so thankful for the ending of this season of my life and the BEGINNING of a fresh, NEW one......

This garden did what it was supposed to do and it did it well..  but it is time to move on..pull up the spent flowers and vegetables and  to plant some new ones....some that can withstand cooler temperatures...

It is a new season....let's embrace it......

Letting go is important..even when letting go means losing something that we are comfortable with...there is something new and better that will take it's place......but first..we have to let go...

so happy to have you here today..on a fresh path...

I would love to hear from you and what you think....

 

I am sharing over at Marty's  Inspire Me Tuesday  

and Efforts and Assets

come and visit.... 

Dedicating Babies

 there just are no words...

 to describe my love for my grandchildren...

 it seems like only yesterday that I was dedicating this lovely lady..my daughter...and now it is her turn....

to dedicate her own little daughter..MaryElla

three generations...my heritage.....

and now they have ALL been dedicated to the Lord....can't wait to see how their lives continue to unfold..

 BUSY!  that sums up my life...I don't know how all of you ladies do it..running your lives and blogging at the same time...

While the Dew is Still on the Roses

I often feel like the little girl in this video as I walk in my garden in the early morning..  I think there is a specialness that only a gardener can know about this morning walk while the dew is still on the roses.  Many times I hum or sing this song as I wander about my garden.  I hope you listen to these words as you scroll through my pictures......of the dew on the roses...

It's what makes me the woman I am...walking and talking with Him...alone in the garden.  I hope you find some alone with Him time today....like a child hand in hand....it will change your perspective on life...

I am thankful for my garden because of who I meet there....

Have a wonderful day....

Still Lifes

Sometimes life seems to just be standing still...it is in those times that I contemplate a LOT....

We are in between ........seemingly lost in between.....what we have known is going away and what we have not known is coming quickly...

I love to arrange still lifes and photograph them .I like to ponder beautiful arrangements and look at artistic composures..

BUT......

I like living in action.....not in still lifes....

so for the moment, I feel like I am about half here.....one foot in the world of a business office in our house and one foot in the world of a business gone public....moved out of our house...
and one foot in winter and one foot in spring..

I am just glad that I have some stability to stand on...knowing God and knowing who I am..and knowing I am loved by my husband.....but other than that, there is a lot of limbo around here.........

I keep repeating to myself...

CHANGE IS GOOD!!

An older woman told me one time that the only thing in life that you can be sure of is CHANGE!!!
Boy, was she right.....

With one eye toward the future..I am standing today and trusting and putting one foot in front of the other....
because the most important thing is not stopping.....keeping on keeping on....

Being feminine

If you are a woman, you need to embrace your femininity.......

I am glad I am a woman and spent many years not quite sure if I wanted to be feminine or not..you know that whole never fix your hair or makeup stage.......I am not really prissy but I DO always wear lipstick....and earrings ......and perfume.....and I NEVER wear a hat to cover my hair...it is always presentable.....so I have things around my bedroom that remind me how fun it is being a girl....we should celebrate who we are and not try to change it ..
Be A Girl  and do it well....

Eiffel tower charm

 This sterling silver charm bracelet was given to me by my Uncle Dan when he lived in France in the 60's..he sent me and my sister a charm from all the different places he visited during the 4 years he lived there....and the turquoise charm was my Mama's she gave me about 40 years ago..one of my treasures......

some of gallery wall in bedroom..see me taking this pic?  lol

Simply be kind.........and feminine.......if you are a woman...

 Characteristics of a real woman.....

 

Strength and dignity are her clothing,

And she smiles at the future.

She opens her mouth in wisdom,

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

She looks well to the ways of her household,

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

But a woman who  fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

I am glad you stopped by today......

come again soon..

Mona

P O V

pets

POV...what is this???   point of view.....

We have been watching the Next Food Network Star..which I love.....we get to know the people and this year I have a definite favorite....I have noticed that the ones to go first are the ones who do not know who they are...the judges continually say to them...what is your POV????   you have to have that to make it believable..and be who you are........

so, I have been thinking about that and how it applies to me...you would think I would really KNOW my POV by this time in my life....maybe I am just in need of tweaking it..refining and condensing it....less is more kind of thing........

decorating

building

These pictures certainly fit within my POV....homemaking......and everything it takes to make a life worth living....

God....He makes it all

family......a husband that is a perfect fit for me.....children..awesome people.....grandchildren...gifts to me

home.....where it all begins

garden

dogs

I have tried and tried to narrow my interests...it is just not possible...I can't do it all but there is a lot that I truly enjoy doing..I certainly do NOT want to be a jack of all trades and the master of none.....I want to live my life with excellence...there are many, many things that you all do so much better than me.....but the one thing I can do better than anybody else is BE ME....fill the space that Mona lives in....so that is what I will do....now if I can just figure out what that consists of.......

from Pinterest

This crepe myrtle is an old one.....and the blooms are the palest pink, almost white....Bryan said yesterday it looks like cotton candy...and yes, it does.....I am not sure I have ever seen another one this color so I hope you enjoy.

flower gardening

Thank you for stopping by today.....

and I hope you come again soon..

Mona