Gentle readers,
So glad you have joined me for a few minutes of your day.
I have had such a productive Monday, if I do say so myself! Made a list on the frig last night of all the things I wanted to do today. It was pretty long. And truth be told, I didn’t get every single thing tackled that I had hoped to but I have that sweet sense of accomplishment tonight.
I don’t really imagine that you will be able to read my list…my penmanship was terrible and my pencil was not very sharp, but just want to share it with you.
Hangin’ right up there with the fall chili recipe my blogger buddy Casey, from A Little Bit of Cheer, shared in a 5 Day Clean Eating Facebook Challenge. I found a way to s t r e t c h her 5 recipes over almost three weeks! Ha! This recipe made a bath tub full of chili that we ate for days.
PC loved it.
(me, too)
I put another of Casey’s recipes on today’s menu. Eighth item on my list. Just says “dinner” but wow, what a great fajita recipe.
Mmm, mmm, good.
Thank you, Casey.
So, my list and my dinner are not what I planned to talk about tonight. This ADD brain of mine is so easily side-tracked. Especially when I am thinking about FOOD!
Actually, I invited you here to share a devotional I received to review through BookLook Bloggers. I believe I first heard about BookLook Bloggers from two other blogger buddies Lana at Two Teens and Their Mama and Joy at Quilty Joy Joy.
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BookLook provides books from HarperCollins Christian Publishing to bloggers for review on their blogs. I completed a short application to be considered for acceptance as a reviewer then selected the types of books I would be interested in reviewing. Once I received email notification that I had been accepted, I chose my first book, Devotions from the Garden: Finding Peace and Rest from Your Hurried Life.
Instead of being by an author, the title page reads Devotions from the Garden with Miriam Drennan. Almost as if the devotions wrote themselves and Miriam Drennan just gathered them together for us to enjoy. I like that.
This is a beautiful book that I have been savoring oh, so s l o w l y during my Monday morning devotional time. I have luxuriated in the words and photographs of this book like an oenophile delights in good wine. Like that word oenophile? Was going to go with connoisseur but oenophile sounds so much more cosmopolitan.
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No sniffing of the pages, or swishing of the words in my mouth, though.
I have luxuriated over Devotions from the Garden for so long that BookLook gave up on ever receiving my review, temporarily suspending my account for inactivity. Little did they know, I was actively enjoying this book.
Each two-page devotion uses a gardening term or practice to create an analogy with one’s spirituality. Germination; Companion Planting; Sun Exposure; Pruning are all sections in the book. Germination being our initial awareness of God. Companion planting where God leads people to us that complement our lives, our spirituality. Spending a few moments daily in God’s light is likened to sun exposure. Pruning the hindrances from our life that keep us from developing a thriving spiritual life.
Beginning with a Bible verse that ‘plants’ (pardon the pun) in the reader’s mind the parallelism of this gardening analogy, Drennan builds on this comparison and supports her lyrical text with stunning photographs. Each devotion concludes with a concise prayer that wraps the whole bouquet with a neat bow, if you will!
We have had an unusual amount of rain this year. Rain over several days in a row, for several weeks during the year. I read the devotion entitled Rainy Days this past Monday. Drennan began with the following verse from Zechariah 10:1:
Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime;
it is the LORD who sends the thunderstorms.
He gives showers of rain to all people,
and plants of the field to everyone.
She compared the rain in our gardens to the dark times in our lives. She spoke to how we can use life’s tribulations to grow closer to God. The author encourages us to
“…invite the Master Gardener to use this season to revive your spirit, grow your character, or renew your strength in unexpected ways. And when the rain subsides, you’ll appreciate even more the brightness of the sunshine.” [pg. 88-89]
While I have delighted in the lightning, thunder, rain and even hail today that our gray skies have delivered, I generally don’t relish gray skies in my personal life.
Drennan’s words were reassuring to me.
I was reminded…
And in the immortal words of Orphan Annie, “The sun will come out tomorrow.”
Devotions from the Garden is published by Thomas Nelson Publishing. It is available for purchase here. You can read more about the book, including additional reviews on BookLook by clicking here.
If this sounds like a book you would enjoy adding to your library, please enter the giveaway below for a copy of Devotions from the Garden.
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And as always, thank you for stopping by.
Hugs and kisses,
Sharon
Beautiful beautiful review of this book friend! I will have to order that today!
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Sending it to you!
Leslie Roberts Clinganhttps://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com
Sharon
Thank you! Thank you!!! XO
Wendy B
Beautiful photos, looks like this book would cheer you up on a cold dreary day.
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Please email your home address to me again. You are my winner, friend!!!
Carrie @ Curly Crafty Mom
I really like Jesus Talks! Oh my, I can’t make out your handwriting! Haha! I am going to blame it on your dull pencil! I seem to be in a check off list kind of rut this week, not getting anything done that I need to! Now you have me wanting to try that chili!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Leslie Roberts Clingan
Oh, the chili was so good. If you want the recipe, holler. Everyone who made it, loved it. PC has put us on another of his soup-diets for a few weeks (usually lasts about two days). He has requested I make nothing but soup for dinner…homemade, of course, not Campbell’s.