Just had to share...

Here they are!!! It's the firstfruits...or rather firstVEGGIES of my garden!

Two beautiful beans from one of the bean plants we started inside in a jar...I don't imagine that plant will have much more to offer--see when we learned that if you start them inside in just water, they blossom too soon without growing a nice mature plant. Our other beans that we planted OUTSIDE are all still busy growing their plant--like they should be!

I have to admit, it was fun to snap them off...I threw them in our pot of water for the corn on the cob and let them cook with the corn. They turned oh so dark green...and tasted DELICIOUS! Now I can't wait to get a whole crop!

The eagerness with which I searched for these firstfruits brought to mind all the scriptures in the Bible about how we who come to know the truth on the earth NOW are the firstfruits of the Kingdom of God.

James 1:18
"Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures."

Revelation 14:4
"...These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb."

It's so exciting to think that God is as excited about us as I was for these insignificant beans!

The little things...

This weather and season always makes it easy to find little things to be thankful for. Most of mine are outside.

Like...

a tiny little frog the size of the end of my thumb...so cute and perfectly made.

Like...

 

...my 8 foot butterfly bush blooming and releasing it's sweet aroma in the air.

Like...

...finding this pretty little Five Spot posy hiding in my flower bed!

So many things to be thankful for...and they don't cost a dime!

What are you thankful for today?

Time for reflection...

My sister-in-laws wedding was yesterday. It was beautiful, the weather was perfect and everything went smashingly according to plan! It takes a long time to plan...and then in 1 hour or less, everything you've planned has come to fruition--she was stunned that after waiting for 29 years to find her Prince Charming, she's now MRS. Charming and moving into a new stage in her life...

But as you can see from this picture...she's eager to do so!

Photo courtesy of Julie Lamm

I love weddings...it's a time for reflection. I like to ask myself if I still am doing my part of the commitment I made to my husband. Do I still love him even in his moments of weakness or frailty? Do I still submit to him even when asked to make sacrifice? How am I doing in regards to Proverbs 31:12 (my verse for the GMG study says this morning) which says  "She does him good and not evil All the days of her life."

Am I finding ways to do him good? Even when I'm feeling bad? Or cranky? Or just "not in the mood"? I came home from the wedding determined to show my husband AGAIN that I DO mean every word I agreed to at our wedding ceremony nearly 10 years ago. This week I'm going to try to go out of my way to find ways to INTENTIONALLY "do good"...even when I don't feel like it or want to.

This means I have to "knuckle down, buckle down, do it...do it...do it.."
(yeah, I was a cheerleader in my former days...)

So I'm taking it to God and asking for His help...because He's going to have to help me make some changes...and we all know how much we each like to change...LOL!