Whispers to Our Hearts by Jaye Lewis

Hello friends,

Our vegetable garden is unbelievable. Daily, our vegetables grow inches. We’ve raised them from seed, under lights, with reflective insulation, air, and heat mats beneath. We planted the seeds in fiber cups, like peat-pots, and when necessary, our tomatoes were than transplanted into bigger peat pots. Most of the seedlings are now in raised beds, and they are remarkable.

My husband and daughter are watching over, and caring for each raised bed, making sure they have proper moisture and liquid fertilizer. The raised bed soil is a combination of bagged garden soil, vermiculite, composted cow manure, and sand. How differently things grow when not grown in heavy clay.

I feel that it is imperative that we all raise as much of our own food as possible. Food that can store. Food that can be frozen, canned, or dried. We grow our own herbs, and we air dry them, eventually storing them in large paper bags on top of the refrigerator all winter. Because paper bags breathe, we can be assured of transfer of any moisture through the bag where the air is warm and dry. Now it’s time to take the bags down, remove the leaves, and store them in tightly closed jars. We always throw in a few silica packs, which come in over the counter and some prescribed medications. If it helps, good, but if it’s needless, as least it makes us feel better.

I know that there has been much talk about global warming, and how we should all panic, but I’ve been watching the seasons, and things are blooming up to a month early. Our maple trees have shot forth with more seeds than I’ve ever seen, as well as our birch tree. The Rose of Sharon is starting to bloom. Our salvia is beginning to bloom. The roses are lush and shouldn’t start blooming for nearly a month, late spring. Everything is exploding.

In my estimation ― just by watching the habits of plants for sixty years ― we are in for a hard winter, and perhaps for many years to come. Now is the time to start a garden if you have the room. We’ve raised our seeds in fiber pots. Most seed companies carry them. Also look in Home Depot or Lowes, or your local farmers market, where you can buy seedlings now and get a more personal approach. Organic farmers love to share their knowledge. There are books in abundance at Amazon.com. One of the best is called Square Foot Gardening.

As you can see from the picture above, all of our raised beds are set up like little greenhouses. We’ve had two late freezes, and we’re expecting another this weekend. We cover everything in the yard especially the new apple trees, apricots, peaches, and other fruiting trees.

We all have a sense of urgency about this. Whatever God wants to teach us through our weather must be according to His own will, not always understood by us. However, I hope we will all listen to the pressure of His lips against our ears. Hear His whisper. He will guide us. He loves us. We are His children.

Remember the Icelandic volcano? All that sulfur dioxide is in the stratosphere. We will find a weather consequence for at least two years; however, all the earthquakes and volcanic activity have also moved the earth’s axis, which the global warming lobbyists laughingly tell us only affects our time, by less than seconds. Well that’s just silly. The tilting of the earth is what changes our seasons. We must pay attention to the weather, the trees, and our perennial plants, which are part of the earth’s ecosystem. Jesus said, we must pay attention to the times and the seasons. Well, maybe we don’t anymore, but we must. Now we must.

Father in heaven, we cannot know all of your will for us and our planet. We are aware of our sins against You and all of your creation, and we repent of our arrogance. Lord, as we turn to You, and listen to Your whispers to our hearts, may we be guided by your holy Wisdom and Grace. May we follow your instruction as we stumble along. Pull us, Lord, out of the raging torrent and bring us into a life of peace and joy.

With love,

Jaye Lewis

www.entertainingangels.org