Garden Produce---and God Is Gracious

Saturday Hannah went along shopping with me to the farmer's market in Falcon.

I love that place--a little taste of country and homegrown garden vegetables--and even bananas only 25 cents a pound!

We go to market because we only get a little from our own gardens--though we are thankful for that little,
including this wonderful lettuce, the best we've ever had out here!
We love wilted lettuce salad the best, with a few slices of bacon fried and crumbled, then about 1/4 c. each of apple cider vinegar and raw sugar added to the hot grease. You let that come to a bubble, then pour over the lettuce, and use a little lettuce to clean the pan,
then stir and Yummy!

The kids were also so happy for the multi-colored heirloom carrots they grew!

Enough beets for several pots of borsch and a few other dishes.

But we don't get enough from our own garden, so we go to the market.
And sometimes we can't seem to scrounge up nearly enough inspiration from our own minds and spirits, so we go to devotionals and biographies and such material for the help we need.
This book is one of the best I've ever gone through, from Caring for the Heart.

One thing I like about it is that it was written by another conservative lady who did not throw away her conservative beliefs and standards just because she needed personal help and counseling and was working through issues and getting help for her struggles through knowing and trusting Christ more intimately and personally.

It was comforting to read a book written by a conservative Mennonite lady who was able to let go of unnecessary expectations of herself and others without throwing the baby out with the bath water. 
Wearing modest clothing and believing things like that marriage is between one man and one woman till death parts them does not need to be a hindrance to drawing close to Jesus and feeling His unconditional love.

Him loving us unconditionally doesn't suddenly  set us free to do wrong
or give us license to live any way we want to live or dress any way we want to dress regardless of how it affects the opposite sex.
There is something wholesome about young ladies and middle-aged matrons who are dressed simply and modestly as well as attractively.
People can see joy in your face regardless how you dress. 

 I could relate to this lady so well because she knew what it was like to work so hard to try to be right all the time,

and to not be able to relax and rest in Christ.

She knew what it was like to just try so hard about everything, and to struggle with depression and low self-image,

and so on. But little by little she learned to trust Jesus with her problems in very real ways

(which may come more easily to those who have had a loving upbringing and no major traumas in their lives.)

Each little chapter is so good, followed by a prayer. 

Here is an example of one of the chapters that spoke volumes to me, called "The Alarm System."

In it she talks about that ZZzzinging alarm that goes off in some of us ladies' minds when something is unfamiliar or scary or we think something may be wrong or something bad may happen.

She talks about how she learned to recognize them simply as alarms (perhaps based on traumas or fears in the past) rather than as truth always.

She learned to take time to differentiate between the alarm feelings that were based on truth, 

and those based on falsehood or fear. 

That devotional in particular helped me so much!!

Then below is another example--"The heaviness of negativity," and how she learned (and is still learning)

to turn her negative thoughts into trusting ones based on truth.

She talks about our value not being connected to our performance.

On this page, for example, she reminds us that not everyone responded to Jesus positively. 

He was the Supreme Example of love and goodness, yet how many people turned away from Him!

Even His own disciple Judas turned against Him and betrayed Him. 

Did that mean Jesus had not loved Judas enough and was a failure at ministering to him?

"The final outcome of a situation does not determine whether a person is a success or a failure."

"Jesus, not our success, is the determiner of our value...That value remains at 100%.."

I would highly recommend this delightful, prayerful, thought-provoking, healing, comforting, encouraging, simply written devotional book to my conservative friends

unless you are always on top of everything,

have everyone around you saying wonderful things about you,

feel yourself to be always a brilliant success

and never worry about being worthless or about what  other people think of you or never try too hard to always be right instead of wrong.

This book helps us to lighten up a little!
You can order it from Caring for the Heart Ministries, whose link I put on my blog a few days ago, 

by emailing caringfortheheart@msn.com or calling them at (719) 572-5550,

or online from Biblical Concepts Distribution at www.biblical-concepts.com. 

From CFTH the book is $13.

I thought I would share about that book since it's been such a blessing to me about how we can learn to go to Jesus very personally and know He cares,
 to be delighted with Jesus and to know more and more how much He loves you,
and to rest in His presence and not be in bondage to negativity and fear and doubts and legalism.
He receives us just as we are--including those of us who were raised with care about how we dress and conduct ourselves.
He loves us just the same in our long skirts and careful necklines,  in our simple hairstyles and lack of jewelry and make-up, just as He loves ones who haven't been raised or taught to value these things.
But we can have a BIG heart toward those who don't agree with us on every issue.
There are sisters in the Lord who love Him with a pure heart, I believe, who don't dress or believe exactly like I do,
because I have been friends with some of them for years and I find that they have strengths and depths of character and honesty and authenticity that some people of my beliefs do not have.
The foot of the cross is level ground.