Burma and my Other Grandmas - 625

  Wilma had been praying for several years that God would help the elderly that were confined to their houses due to physical limitations or other health issues.  She would say, "Lord, please comfort the shut-ins."  Sometime last year God had been coming through on her prayer and i was part of that answer, well for a few of my grandmas so far.  i didn't see it coming, i was just looking for more lawn jobs and several elderly women needed help at a reasonable price.  The Lord told me, "Don't worry about the money.", and that has been my approach to work all year.  He didn't tell me that i would get cookies and coffee, or iced mocha's and good conversation. 

i was blessed with three grandmas who i just hang out with each week, whether it be for a breakfast biscuit and coffee before yard work, or watching church on Sunday's before i make an omelet for us.  There have been more blessings in the relationships i have with these women than money could ever fulfill.  Today Burma and i watched service and then i surprised her with a tomato, garlic and pasta frittata with fresh herbs.
  Burma is a blessing for certain, as are Ava, and Peggy.  i pick up with Wilma's prayer and pray that other elders out there are cared for by someone, family, or in my case, just an adopted grandson.  Blessings to the elders as there is the wisdom of our past and lessons worth listening to.  Better company than an old book because you get to relive their history and learn their wisdom.

Love and Blessings in Jesus,

~ antbrother

My All-Star Son - 624

My youngest son and his local coach-pitch baseball team were undefeated this season and are part of an all-star tournament.  He's got some talent and a lot of heart.  Sam also had his first chance at playing catcher for this second game in the series.  After a close loss the night before the team re-focused and really played a great game and had a strong win.  Such a blessing to watch, win or lose, there is heart in these kids and coaches. Another benefit is that we get to play catch in between batting rotations.  :)

Amory heads to a state tournament this month and we're looking forward to that.

Baseball anyone?

The New Man - 623

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that i think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

  Over the last seven years God has been remaking me into something different, someone He can use for His purpose.  Back in Atlanta in the year 2000, i began praying earestly for God's Will to be done in my life, not knowing what that would entail.  His process has taken a bit of time, but like the potter that is remaking a vessel, there can be no rushing this process.  The old vessel must be destroyed first, pulverized to a powder and remixed with His special ingredients before it can be thrown again on the Potters wheel and made into the vessel that He intended us to be.  i am now seeing, in hindsight, all the things that He has done with me over these years and i humbly say, "Thank You Fathe r."
  One of the most precious things that is done when God begins His work in you, to remake you, is the softening of the heart and turning to the heart from the focus on self to the focus on God and others.  He cannot put us to work unless we are equipped and made right for His will and purpose.  Call it re-wiring, re-creation, or scripturally reborn in His image, but this new creature has to be made in order to walk the paths of good works that He has established for us.  Part of that purpose for me has been to become a farmer, gardener, and grounds keeper - to keep and defend His Garden.
  i used to jokingly say to friends in the past that when i grow up i want to be a farmer.  Well, this light hearted comment has actually manifested in the new man that God has created out of the old.  Words are inadequate to describe the intensity of this transformation and the beauty of the result of God's work, but if you could feel what i feel inside, you would instantly understand...  and smile.  God has grown me into something new while He has used me to grow His Garden in a place where one should not be.  Another good work that God has placed before me is prison ministry.  To be able to walk into a cell and share the joy of the Lord is another way that He allows me to plant seeds in others hearts - seeds of love, joy, hope and humility.  Prison ministry work extends past the bars and cells out to the places where people have created their own internal jails.
  This independence day, i urge you to seek God and pray for the completion of His work in you.  Release the bonds and chains that keep us locked in the prison of self, the prison of the mind, and allow Jesus to free you from this world and  its bondage.  The time is Now!

What do you want to be when you grow up in Him?

Love and Blessings,

~ antbrother

The Ride Home With God - 559

  Much has happened since i last posted and i'll try to provide a real quick recap as i have some landscaping work to attend to in an hour.  i was evicted a couple months ago, found a new one room attic flat thanks to one of my grandmothers, the brakes went out on my truck with no injuries, a tornado wiped out the local town of Smithville, a family of five that lost their home moved in with me for a couple weeks (in my one room attic flat), and i was blessed to be able to make a trip to Wisconsin to see my mother off to Heaven and be reunited with my family.  On the trip home my daughter invited me to dinner with her boyfriend on the lakefront in Milwaukee and then i stopped by to see my blessed friend in Iowa and this picture was taken heading back home with God.  This past Saturday we attended a funeral for my friends 20 year old nephew and five people came to Jesus Christ.  It would take a couple hours to fill in all that has transpired in between these major events so i will simply say that God is working in peoples lives and He is shaking us up for the harvest and He is bringing hearts and families back together.  i've been in the fields again and of course in the garden, mine and my mothers. 

  My mother past away and went home on May 20 from endocarditis which is an inflammation of the inner liner of the heart.  She was 76 just short of her 77th birthday on May 31.  She had just gotten over cancer treatment and a lengthy recovery with the blessing of a cancer free report.  Over the years she had several heath issues but she continued working as an in-home care nurse taking care of children until just a few years ago.  i pray that we all have that giving and serving attitude throughout our lives that she had.  My mother was a child of God and she was a blessing to many people.  The  last several years we have talked each Sunday of the past week just to catch up and stay in touch.  We talked often of faith and knowing Jesus personally as the Way home.  She found the Way.  Thank You Father.  We also talked much about gardening and the love for nature that we hold in common.  i was able to spend some personal time in my mothers garden, tending and keeping what she wasn't able to get to this spring. 

 Of course the news of my mother was most important and the grieving process has been hard often and filled with blessings of love and memories.  The grieving is my loss, our loss, but the strong Irish my mother past on to me celebrates her relief from pain and sorrow while all things have been made new for her. Celebrate the passing of a loved one saved.  My brothers and sisters were reunited for a week while we stood vigil each day and night with mom, recalling many good times together and many fond memories.  My daughter was able to see mom as well which was a blessing.  i really enjoyed the reunion as well.

  The local and national weather has devastated many areas across the nation which has had a major impact everywhere.  The local town of Smithville is seven miles from Amory and they lost a lot of people and most of the town in an EF-5 that came through on April 27.  A friend that works with me used to live there with his family of five and they were able to find shelter just in time while their house was destoyed.  During the last few storms that came through, they headed to the post office for shelter, but this time Robbie took the family back to a storm shelter in Amory and ten minutes later they saw the tornado heading for Smithville.  Shortly after trucks with fatalities and injuries began pouring into Amory and emergency vehicles headed toward the damage.  Robbie and his family moved in to my 20 foot square abode that night and spent a couple weeks while we sorted through what was salvagable and they learned how to rebuild their lives from nothing.  Everything was gone but the family was safe and God opened up a door and the hearts of people.  It's a blessing to be able to witness this first hand and to serve out of my comfort zone.  So often we want to place our own needs first, but when you reverse that, forget about yourself and walk in the footsteps of your brother or sister, then you are walking scripture and loving them, esteeming them about yourself.  There are many giving hearts in this country as is evidenced at the recent outpouring of help and hearts following all the damage from weather events.

  The garden has reall been progressing here and the heat has been an issue already.  Mississippi has been running in the 90 degree range for a couple weeks and there has been no rain.  This month we are again ahead of the normal weather by about a month and this has been the case since last year seemingly.  i have been told to plant everything this year and that has kept me busy in the garden.  i am also planning for an expanded rain water collection system that i can rely on when the real dought comes.  Storing between the major rainfalls will be important in maintaining a local food source.  More pictures to come of the garden.  Tonight is church with the prison ministry group which is always a soul filling evening.  May you be blessed and comforted in your losses and remember to count it all joy and love from Father.  He is calling us to be closer to Him so under His wing we may find shelter and peace.

God Bless and Good to be posting,

~ antbrother

Chapter 2 - 510

A friend sent an email to me last week which seemed odd back then.  It was hard to understand in the moment, because i couldn't see past the door jamb at the time.

God closes doors no man can open
and
God opens doors no man can close.

Chapter 1 - Gen 2:8
and
Chapter 2 - Gen 2:15




Love and Blessings,

~ antbrother

Leafing Out with Russell Burbank and The Strawberries - 495

i have been amazed at the rapid growth since the warming temperatures and the spring rains came through. The roller coaster of thirty degree temperature shifts continues and with each passing wave a new severe storm.  We're dealing with flood warning and high winds today and have probably received about 3 inches of rain already today.  This is tornado country here and the spring sprouts daffodils and twisters.

Here's a few pics of the garden coming forth as the naturalized landscape containing edible and medicinal organic herbs and veges.  The apple tree i planted from seed 5 years ago needs trimming and i will attempt to root some cuttings.  There are also blackberries and strawberries in flower within the landscape - these fill in quickly and multiply.  Glad to be able to share this blessing of a garden with you.

God Bless from the fields,
~ ab

Green Up - 465

Some shift started a few weeks ago, green began to come back again.  i posted a few more pictures on the photoblog of the garden progression since the warmer temperatures have changed the flow of growth upward.  i really enjoy spring time.  It is always a time of renewal and restoration.  There are also enjoyable surprises for anyone that is a gardening lover.  Plants begin to emerge from sleep after the first heavy rains of the season.  It is almost a washing away of the gray making room for the green up and miracle of growth that shoots forth from God's creation.  Time to pull away some of the mulch and see what is poping forth from the warming soil beneath.  i know there is definitely a thousand strawberry plants that invaded the mound last year and the bunch onions came back and showed me why they are called that.  Lol...

It has really been interesting watching this landscape transform over the last several years.  i have started from a compost pile four years ago and really started enjoying landscaping more with a passion, one for growing and learning what it is to be a farmer and the other interest in health through growing your own, including medicinal and culinary herbs.  You know what's in there because you provided the ingredients and God made it grow. 

With the accumulation of all the landscaping mulch and yard waste like leaves and trimmings comes the addition of many raised beds and the start of a more permanent landscape.  This year all the plants will be grown in the ground with little or no use of pots.  The watering issue has been a burden the last couple years limited by rain water collection barrels - in summer droughts there wasn't enough - there is a need for a pond but not like this one from the rain today.

The vegetable patch has always been separated from the ornamentals and that was to ensure clean soil for edible plants.  There is also a new source of clean sawdust through the local rip saw operator so that is being added to the composting efforts weekly.  i'm looking forward to growing more this year and slowly taking another step along this garden walk.  i'll have to share some pictures of the dandelion patch that started accidentally. 






Here's and older post that i enjoyed reading from my Wisconsin Woodsmoke book - thanks Mom.

May God Bless You Today even if it is with a dandelion garden,


~ antbrother

More Than Weeds - Wisconsin Woodsmoke by Ced Vig (May entry - pgs. 68-69)



Dandelions will be popping their golden heads out on lawns and roadsides. They were originally grown in the English gardens and brought to the United States by the colonists. They were considered vegetables rather than weeds. The dandelions adapted well to their new environment and spread all over the United States.


Dandelions are super-vegetables. Ounce for ounce, dandelions greens have 50 percent more Vitamin C than tomatoes, twice as much protein as eggplant and double the fiber found in asparagus. They have as much iron as spinach and more potassium than bananas. Picked properly, usually before the yellow blossoms appear and the acidity of the leaves increases, dandelions make for fine eating.


The leaves and shoots of the dandelions can be boiled in water for five minutes, drained and seasoned with salt, pepper and butter.


Another recipe that you might want to try: Using the full flower blossoms and prepared pancake mix, dip each blossom into the mix and drop into hot oil. Fry until golden brown and serve hot. The blossoms can also be cooked in omelets and used in making wine.


When gathering dandelions for table use, collect them in areas where they have not been sprayed with weed killers or chemical fertilizers. Use several rinses of water to flush out the soil particles and small insects.