12/21/10 – The Divine Gardener - We have had some arctic blasts this month that lasted for several days and Al covered the outdoor pipes so they would not freeze and burst. They will stay covered until spring time. That means my gardening season of 2010 has come to an end. Most of my plants will come back up in the spring. The annuals will need to be replanted anyway. We did bring in the 2 crown-of-thorn plants because I don’t know if they can stand the cold, and I bought some distilled water to water the succulents in the flower pots while the wedding guests are in town. They had lost their turgor and were drooping sadly. Other than that, God, the Divine Gardener, will be taking care of my garden during the winter. (Al said I should put artificial flowers in the tubs, like big peonies!) Of course, I have all the wonderful sculptures to enjoy all winter long!!!! Plus I can look at all the pictures as a slide show on my computer. Every pictured plant reminds me of a lesson that God has taught me while speaking in the garden.

It’s too bad the arctic blasts couldn’t have waited until January; now all the wedding guests will see a garden with lots of dead plants. The cold killed most of the plants but Al says that is God’s way of purging the garden to get ready for new growth in the spring. I know that I will have lots of 4 o’clocks and alligator plants because they were seeding abundantly this fall. Al says the garden will be overrun with them in the spring! “How nice!” I thought; “More work!” he groaned.

I did not know how hardy petunias and gerber daisies are! They actually kept their blooms during the arctic blasts!!! The plants that were least expected to survive, were the ones that kept blooming!! Again God the Divine Gardener is telling me not to give up!!! He is purging my body - and my soul and spirit – of negativity and replanting positive attitudes, faith, belief, knowledge of His Truth, and healthy cells!!!! It is 2:00 in the morning and God has planned a wonderful heavenly display for me – a total lunar eclipse!!! It is orange in color. It’s like He is purging the Heavens too!!! The whole universe is undergoing change, and change is good!!!People change as they go through life. I am not the same person I was when I was 25 years old or 35. The things I THOUGHT I wanted then are not necessarily the things I have now or even WANT now. But the things I have now are exactly what I need. God has shown me that.

Have I told you lately, God, how marvelous you are? How much I enjoy your beautiful creations? How grateful I am that You are always faithful? No, I haven’t said it as often as I should. It’s analogous to people not telling each other “I love you” enough. So everyone who is receiving this email or reading my blog, I love you all and I don’t take your prayers for granted! I keep writing, “Keep up the prayers! They’re working!” and that is true, thanks to our marvelous, faithful God. Your support is one of the things I was talking about when I wrote “the things I have now are exactly what I need”. I am reminded of Shel Silverstein’s book The Giving Tree.

I realized this holiday season that I have not been smiling enough at work. My colleagues used to tell me, “You look great, and your smile is beautiful”. I hadn’t heard that much anymore and realized I really missed those words and hugs of encouragement. I had been keeping my door shut when I didn’t feel good and I was missing out on all that support!!! My book 365 Days of Healing by Mark Brazee says, “If you focus on the symptoms, you will always have the symptoms; if you focus on the healing, you will get your healing.” Another way he puts it is, “If you focus on the problem, you will always have the problem; if you focus on the answer, you will get the answer.”That is so true and that is why I don’t write about symptoms or the details of treatments and its unpleasant side effects. I don’t want all of you to be focused on the symptoms/problem and think “Poor Bobby!” when you pray for me. I want you to be thinking positively about the healing/answer! Think positive thoughts and send them my way!! Thoughts like “Wow, God sure is working miracles for Bobby” and “Gee, God has given Bobby so much faith and confidence to see her through this trying time.” The symptoms and side effects are only temporary. They are a mere inconvenience that I have to put up with for now. They will go away when the treatments stop and then I will get on with my life!!!! And I have so much to look forward to!!!!The wedding is in 3 days, I have a wonderful husband to share my long life with, I have a beautiful daughter who cares for me, I will soon have a son-in-law with a heart of gold, I have wonderful friends and relatives who support me, I have colleagues at work who care about me… the list goes on and on!!! To put it simply, I have so much to live for!!!!!!

The pictures show a plant that bloomed for the first time this month, the gerber daisies and petunias braving the cold, the red bogenvilla creeping through the fence, and stepping stones of dragonfly (for me, it represents Heavenly beings such as angels and the Holy Spirit), butterfly (represents change) and Sun (represents the dawn of a new day, and healing)