The weirdest thing has happened in our garden. Last summer I planted a couple of varieties of lettuce and about six of them were butter lettuce. I used quite a lot of their leaves but eventually they went to seed and just got bigger and taller. I just left them. Eventually, when dead, they got removed and that was that. We never gave them another thought until suddenly this happened…..their seed had fallen all over the place and we now have somewhat of a lettuce lawn going on…
This is one close up…so perfect…
And here are more growing in the mint…
This is the original pot some of the first six started their lives….
How prolific is that!? It’s the wonder of God’s creation. He is God of abundance. It’s fun to see them growing…I won’t need to buy lettuce for a while!
So work went well today and my lunch-break was spent down at Living Hope taking part in their coffee tasting. They have a coffee shop opening on 7th August and to choose the kind of coffee they will be serving, they had some coffee tasting. Three coffees were served and you had to vote for your favourite. A was strong. B was stronger. C was not so strong. It was all good coffee. I chose C. Mike chose A.
I had a couple of afternoon appointments and loads of phone calls to make. Mike and I had dinner and then went for a walk around the block. This evening Stacey called, bubbling over with excitement having bought a second-hand hardly used industrial sewing machine which she gets tomorrow. She is just like her Dad when it comes to making these purchases. Nothing is done in a rush. First she Googled, then she called industrial sewing machine companies in Cape Town to find out if she would get parts. She asked to speak to their technicians and asked what she should be looking for in this kind of machine. They were only too happy to share their knowledge and she sat taking notes. Then when she went to try it out, she was well armed with an artillery of information. She test drove it and was absolutely ecstatic with it. Tomorrow it arrives! 🙂 I just love it!
I have bought my Bible across to my desk, because reading it this morning, I can add a few more benefits that I didn’t expect after I came to faith in Jesus Christ – Grace and Peace. They are clearly wrapped up in these verses.
Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
This evening Mike and I watched a Grand Designs about a young couple. The husband, Jon White, had been in the British Marines stationed in Afghanistan. He stood on a mine and woke up three days later in a British hospital. He had been flown out severely injured. When he awoke, he had no legs and only one arm.
Two years later, he was planning on project managing the building of a massive family home that would accommodate his new normal. We have watched many Grand Designs and the one common thread is endless problems, frustrations and anxieties. With this one, it was different. Yes, there were issues, delays and compromises, but instead of complaints and sleepless nights, the owner stood there on his prosthetic legs saying he was sleeping better, getting out every day in the fresh air, working on site, helping, planning, overseeing, learning – his words, despite all the delays, “life is good.”
It was so moving. To have your body so radically damaged and your life so drastically changed takes you to the lowest you can ever be, emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually. To start pulling yourself up takes an enormous amount of strength. In this young man Jon, I saw that suffering produced perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope. He may not have known it, but God was with him each step of the way.
#360 of my 1000 thanks is that God never wastes pain. He will use it regardless of how bad it is.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂