Only Forward Into Joy
The little wren that has made a nest my birdhouse gourd, begins to sing outside our open bedroom windows at 6AM each morning. “This is far too early” I have tried to tell her. “We don’t get out of bed until 7:30 around here.”
But listen she won’t and sing she must.
Like the rest of creation, she is impelled to sing her praises to the Creator in the freshness of the morning.
I eventually too rise, with baby in tow, to find thanksgiving of my own in the start of the day. Brew the coffee, the steam from my mug streaming in the sun. Splash of cream from the cows 5 minutes down the road. Sourdough starter bubbling over to leaven a fresh batch of bread. Open windows, the air smelling like summer in that mingling of fresh-grass-and-watermelon way. A barefoot walk to the garden to harvest chamomile. Rinse my feet before coming inside. There’s few things I love more than a summer morning, where the air is cooler, but you can smell the heat of the day that’s soon to move in.
“You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”
I have desperately (maybe a little frantically) been working to get the gardens to that sweet place in between planting and harvesting where all that is required is some gentle watering, weeding, and waiting. It’s a brief pause between the busyness of spring’s seedtime and the abundance of summer’s harvest. I feel like normally we would be there by now, but May was so cold and wet and quite possibly the longest month to ever exist, so a lot got behind schedule.
But that’s the beauty of the garden isn’t it? There is no schedule. There are rhythms we can rely on, signs and seasons and patterns that guide our steps. But once seeds are planted and left to grow, there is no “late” and no “early” apart from our own persuasion. Things grow on garden time—which passes not with anxious toil or hurry, but with peace and diligence.
Current Garden Harvests
Chamomile— dried for teas and infused oils
Cilantro— enjoyed fresh & also chopped and frozen in lime juice ice cubes
Garlic scapes— enjoyed in pasta salads and roasted with potatoes. I didn’t have enough to worry about doing anything major with them. Although this garlic-scape butter sounds delicious.
Iceberg lettuce- I’m growing this variety for the first time, and so far I’ve just been picking leaves in a cut-and-come again style, but they’re finally forming heads. We’ve have a bit of heat and surprisingly they’re still not bitter, meanwhile my mixed salad greens are. We aren’t huge salad people but we do love a good iceberg on burgers or tacos. I will definitely be growing this variety again!
Recent Reads
See You In A Hundred Years by Logan Ward —This was SUCH a fun read. I’ve had this on my shelf for a long time and I can’t believe I didn’t read it sooner!
First We Have Coffee by Margaret Jensen —Another one I’ve had on my shelf for a long time and should have read sooner. Incredibly inspiring and strengthening as a homemaker, wife, mother, and Christian. I dog-eared so many pages while thinking to myself “this is what I want our home life to be like!”
The Art of Homemaking by Daryl V. Hoole —Thoroughly enjoyed reading this old book. Some of the practical tips are a little outdated but the “why” of homemaking remains the same and is presented beautifully!
Be Still My Soul by Elisabeth Elliot —This was a reread for me, but EE’s books are always so easy to get through. Straight and to the point. This is one of my go-to’s for strengthening of heart and fixing my eyes.
Michael’s Gentle Wife by Karen Andreola —I cannot believe this book exists. It is the most precious and pure domestic novel I have ever read. If you want to be inspired in your faith, in your home, your marriage, in your motherhood, and even your homeschooling, you will LOVE this book! It’s a treasure and I want to read it again and again.
It is officially summer. I plan to keep showing up here with recipes and maybe journal entries when time allows. My baby is almost one, and sometimes I think I finally have things to say or things to create again, but when it really comes down to it, I’m still not ready to leave the baby bubble. I’m just not interested in bouncing back. In motherhood there really is no back.
Only forward into joy.
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