Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29
Four years ago we moved into our house. We had fallen in love with the beautiful views from this house, the nice outside fireplace area, and the fruit trees! Not just fruit trees, but blueberry bushes and 2 small rows of grapevines. Instantly the want-to-be-farm girl in me came out- we could grow our own food! Visions of canning fruit from our fruit trees, making blueberry jam from our bushes, and drying apple slices from our apple trees ran through my head. We thought of all that but, oh innocent little first time homeowners that we were, we did not know just how much work a property like this would entail…
Everything was already a little overgrown when we moved into our new home, so I put pruning- everything- on the to-do list. I had a friend some show me how to prune everything correctly and that spring we made a slight dent in the pruning, we picked a few blueberries and I canned a few pears but then….Life got very busy, our jobs became more demanding and pruning of the fruit trees and grapevines fell to the bottom of our priority list- and stayed there.
Next thing you know I looked out our back window one late winter day and realized that 2 of the wooden supports to hold the grapevines upright had fallen. I announced the happy news of one new project- fixing the grapevine supports- to my husband and as soon as the weather warmed up we were out there pounding stakes into the ground that we could drill to adjoin to the wooden grapevine posts to keep them upright. That worked great all through spring and into summer- until I looked out and saw that the other section of wooden posts (that had not been reinforced) had fallen down and also needed to be reinforced. We went out to fix up our grapevines and I took a good look at them. I realized what the problem was.
Our grapevines were massive at this point; the vines are not supposed to be the massive colossus that had become. The grapevines had grown much too large for the wire and wooden posts they were supported by. The posts were being asked to carry a load that they were never intended to carry.
I’m sure when the previous owners planted the grapevines they had planned, and from all appearances, mostly had kept up with the trimming back of the grapevine every year. But we hadn’t. New growth, upon new growth had added to the weight and size of the vines. Thus our grapevine supports found themselves collapsing under the weight of such a heavy load. Have you ever been in the same position?
Have you found yourself carrying more weight than you were ever meant to carry? One of my favorite hymns is “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” and a line from that song is:
“Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.”
How many times in our lives have we found ourselves buckling under the weight of everything we decided to carry; but were never meant to carry on our own. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The King James Version says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Come to me. You who are weary. Who are heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Jesus knew we would try to take on more than we should, and that we would need to stop and refocus on Him.
I think sometimes we take on more and more, pile our plate higher with things to do, and then when trouble strikes we buckle and ask God why has He given us all this to bear, instead of going to Him and asking, if He will help us to bear what He meant for us to bear, and to release the things that were never ours to carry. We sometimes forget to ask Him to show us rest.
I went at those grapevines that day and started hacking back the overgrown parts. There is still more that will need done, and it will take some time to get the grapevines back into the shape that they were meant to be in. The same may be true from us. It may take time to get some of the extra things off our todo list. It may take practice remembering to take our cares to God, and years of learning to find rest in Him. But just like it will be worth it when my grapevines finally start bearing good fruit because they only only have a few vines to put their energy into now, so your fruit will be that much sweeter when you are able bear that fruit from a place of joy and peace rather than bitterness from over laden load.
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After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. And Johnathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Johnathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
1 Samuel 18:1-4
It had been an exhausting Saturday. We had entertained so Saturday had been filled beforehand with cleaning and cooking, and afterwards with dishes and tidying up once our guests left. I like to host so that normally wouldn’t stress me out, but I had so many loose ends with work that I had wanted to tie up before our company came over but, of course, I hadn’t, and it was weighing on me. This was in the middle of what had been a long and exhausting season.
It had been a season of constant setbacks; we’d feel like we were making progress, and then just as quickly we’d end up right back where we had started. It wasn’t that anything tragic had happened—it wasn’t a season marked with great loss, but it was one filled with endless frustration. It was one of those season where the car died, the heating system needed replaced (right as the cold weather arrives) and the day-in-and-day-out seemed so mundane that I just want to scream.
This particular Sunday afternoon I was supposed to go over to a friend’s house after church for an hour or two—not for long—and I found myself not wanting to go. How was I going to be any fun to be around when I felt like this? I should cancel, I thought, but no, I made a commitment. I went around and around about it. Finally I decided to go. I put on a smile and went. We started talking and before long, my smile faltered…
I couldn’t keep my emotions hidden. Everything was okay so why was I being so emotional? I apologized as I am not usually overly emotional. My friend did the best thing she could do—she gave me a chocolate chip pumpkin muffin! (What situation doesn’t look better after a muffin?) And she prayed with me. Then we just talked; about nothing and everything. A while later I left feeling more restored and ready to go than I had felt in a long time.
I probably wasn’t the most fun to be around that day. A true friend is there anyway. I think we often don’t value friendships enough. We place great importance on spending time with family. We spend a lot of time getting our to-do list done. We place our careers on pedestals. But friends? We’ll squeeze them in when we can. But God created friendship too.
Friends are for helping us get through life. They are for far more than just doing something fun on the weekends. Look at the deep friendship of David and Jonathan in the Bible. Jonathan was loyal and faithful and jeopardized everything for David. Jonathan knew David would ultimately take the throne that he was in line to inherit. Talk about a strong and true friendship! Do you have friends like that in your life? Are you a friend like that to anyone? Typically, we only have a handful of friends like this throughout a lifetime, if we are lucky. Honestly though, we often don’t take the risk of being vulnerable with our friends. It’s scary! Every time we pass on being vulnerable and honest with our close friends, we miss the chance to deepen our relationship.
Yes, we do need to use discernment with whom we open up to. I’m not saying to unload on your friends every chance you get, but if you have a true friend, someone who is very close to you—are you being authentic with them? Are you providing the safety and security they need to open up to you? Remember, friendship isn’t just fluff. It is something God created for our benefit, so never underestimate what the comfort of a friend can do—for David it changed not only his life but also an empire.
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I love decorating for fall and one of my favorite things is to create a fall centerpiece for my table. In fact, I think the centerpiece was what made me really fall in love with fall decorating. There are so many options when it comes to creating a fall centerpiece! There is something to be said about not reinventing the wheel but rather to simply tweak existing decor by adding seasonal touches (post on that coming soon). It is also true that many times we get, well . . . a little lazy. Now I’m not judging—I’ve done it too! We take one look at our fall decor and think either: (a) I have nothing good, or (b) I have nothing and I need to go shopping! (My closet has that same problem.) Just as we are told to cure our closet woes by getting creative and trying to see how many outfits we can come up with just a handful of clothing items, so too can we apply this principle to our decor! (See my post about how to create a decor capsule here)
This is my fall centerpiece from last year. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you will no doubt have seen pictures of my centerpiece before and may recognize that the bones of my centerpiece are the same. That’s great! However, there are many other centerpiece options that I could utilize to keep things fresh and exciting with decor I already own.
Play With What You Already Own
I have a bunch of amber bottles (flea market anyone?) and I have several plain white candles. This is where the power of a collection comes in. Group your collection together for maximum impact. Or, if you are like me and your collection is small, group two collections together to create repetition which in turn creates cohesiveness and impact.
Try Going Simple
Here’s a centerpiece idea if I want to go super simple with my decor. Frequently we over complicate things: in life, at work, and in our decorating. But it doesn’t have to be! Combine a few of your favorite elements, in this case, the green pumpkins and the greenery sticking out from beneath are a few of my favorite elements. You create a little vignette out of them, and then walk away. Come back 15 minutes later and pay attention to your first reaction—you just might love it!
Vary Heights
In this centerpiece, I created a base using a charger; then I added the little bird on the candle stand as the tallest element; next, the lantern as a medium level, and the pumpkin as the lowest level. Lastly, I added some filler (in this case the pinecones) to round out the centerpiece and that brings the decor together!
Incorporate a Trend
I’m not a huge trend follower for the primarily reason that I want my decor to be pretty timeless. I don’t want to spend a lot of money and time buying things that will be outdated in a few years. However, incorporating trends in small ways can be inexpensive and still fun! This year we are seeing a lot of blue and green pumpkins (see my post 2021 fall decorating inspiration here for more of this year’s trends), so if you like those color and already have them in your home, play with this trend. Purchasing a few small pumpkins and adding them to your centerpiece is a great way to dip your toes in the waters of what is trending and if you end up getting sick of them at the end of this year—there is always spray paint!
Go Big
I tend to keep my decor pretty minimal in spring and summer, which means by the time fall comes around, I am absolutely itching to pull out all the decorations! Instead of keeping your centerpiece confined to a tray or charger, try splaying it over a table runner so it has a cascading effect. In this photo, I decided to repeat the wheat element that is sticking out of the top of the bottles and around the bottom edges. Repeating an element like this brings cohesiveness to your design and is a way to create a perimeter in a free flowing centerpiece like this one.
So, here you go! Here are six different fall centerpiece ideas where I was able to use elements that I already own. While you may not have as many decor elements (my dad would refer to these decor elements as “junk”), I am willing to bet that you have more options than you think! So pull it all out, forget how you’ve used the items in the past, and just play! Happy decorating!
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God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God Himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
1 Peter 4:10-11
It all started years ago when my friend’s cat had kittens. I wanted one. Of course I did—I have never met a kitten I haven’t wanted. Mom was holding out, not agreeing to getting one of the kittens as we already had two until my friend brought the last homeless kitten over to our house. My mother took one look at that cute little face and caved. We named her Girtie and agreed that she would be my kitty; the one I would take after I moved out and got a place of my own.
Fast forward five years. I was newly married, settled into our first apartment, and ready to bring Girtie to my house. I called mom to tell her that I would be picking Girtie up that weekend and mom was “less” than excited. She protested that she loved Girtie—I reminded her that she could come visit Girtie who was, after all, always supposed to be my kitty. Mom relented and I brought Girtie to her new home.
Being a five year old cat at this point, Girtie was a little slow to adjust; she meowed constantly and stayed mostly to herself the first few days, not venturing out and exploring her new home much. I made the mistake of telling my mother this and mom insisted that Girtie was not happy and should be brought back home to her house. I told her I thought Girtie was slowly adjusting but it did seem like mom wasn’t happy . . . should I take Girtie back? My question was answered when I saw pictures of some kittens that her friend had—they were 6 weeks old and in need of a home.
Girtie was returned and my husband and I went to pick out our new cat. There was just one problem—how were we supposed to pick just one?!? There was this adorable and sweet kitty with a miniature lightning bolt on his little nose, but then there was this really pretty light gray kitty with white marking on her face and a fiery little personality. We picked the one with the lightning bolt on his nose. We made it to the car. Then we stopped—was this the right decision? I kept remembering the delicate markings on the sweet face of the little light gray kitty. We turned around and told the owner we wanted her too! Thus, Jester and Trixie came home to live with us.
I think of that now and I don’t know how we ever made it to the car the first time without our little Trixie. She has such a big personality and has established herself as queen over the other furry residents in our house—namely her brother, Jester, and our dog, Rosie. Trixie keeps everyone in check. She makes us laugh and brings so much joy to our lives. Even though in the grand scheme of things Trixie may be just a cat (don’t tell her that!) I cannot imagine only having one kitty. Can you relate?
How marvelous is it that the God of the universe thought the same thing about us! The world was ticking right along with how many billions of people on it and yet God thought that the world wasn’t complete. So He created you too! He could have shrugged it off, thought about how many other millions of little babies He had breathed life into just that day and let it go—but He didn’t. He thought about how the lives of the people you love would be that much poorer, that much grayer, without the joy that you unwittingly bring just by being you!
It’s easy to think we don’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things. Easy to think of the times when we’ve needed help from others, easy to think that we are such an inconvenience at times to others. When it seems like everything is going wrong it is easy to ask what our significance even is here on this earth.
We won’t know always know. When it comes right down to it we are just billions of insignificant people doing this significant thing called life. We can never know all the ways in which we affect and touch other’s lives, but what we do know is God created us for a reason, and the world just wouldn’t be the same without you or me.
Who were you put here to bless? What mission on this earth were you specifically designed for? What spiritual gifts has He blessed you with; don’t say none! Who cannot imagine their life without you? Think of them. Then think of others that mean the world to you. Thank God for them every day, and then go see how you can be a blessing to those closest to you today.
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Do your reading tastes change with the seasons? While I can enjoy a great piece of historical fiction anytime of year, fall is always when I start wanting something a little spookier- it’s the spooky time of year after all right? While I’m a wimp when it comes to scary I do like something slightly eerie! Mysteries are usually where I turn for that spine tingling spookiness! Below are several historical fiction mysteries, some a little spooky, others not so much, but all were book I really enjoyed and if you decide to pick them up I hope that you enjoy them too!
Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson
A young girl is found dead in her rented room, and it appears she was pregnant…. Sarah Brandt is a widow, who has now taken over her dead husband’s medical practice, effectively casting her out of polite society. She knows she shouldn’t get too wrapped up in the death of this girl, but the girl bears an uncanny likeness to one of Sarah’s childhood friends- and thus she find herself trying to put the pieces together in what looks like a murder case. As always I one of my main criteria for judging how good a book is, is weather it keeps my interest- forget the deep literary meat of a book until that first box has been checked! This book definitely checked that box! Set in New York in the late 1800s/early 1900s, Murder on Astor Place, is not only a good mystery but also good historical fiction- we learn a lot about the corruption among the police that was happeneing at this time.
Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
This is an oldie but it is still good! The main character is so peppy and delightful she will have you laughing to yourself the whole way through this book. Amelia Peabody is the heiress of a large fortune. She has always wanted to see the world and has decided to do some extended travel to visit parts of Egypt, she is fascinated by archeology! Finding it lonely to travel alone she hires a companion to accompany her, a young woman named Evelyn, who feels that she has a few skeletons in her personal closet, but Amelia Peabody is unconcerned about this. The two women find themselves at an archeological dig when odd things start occurring, for instance a walking breathing mummy! Amelia is sure there has to be a reasonable explanation for this, but a reasonable explanation may prove even more frightening than a mummy that has come back to live! Who could be trying to scare them? Why? To what lengths will whoever go to to frighten Amelia and Evelyn?
The Anatomist’s Wife by Anna Lee Huber
Set in Scotland in the late 1830s Lady Kiera Darby finds herself precariously implicated when a woman is found dead on her sister’s and brother-in-law’s estate during a large party they were hosting. She is implicated, not because of anything she has done, but rather because of what she used to do- paint detailed diagrams of cadavers for a book her late husband had hopes of publishing to enhance his medical career. Since those days Lady Darby has been an outcast. Now everyone but her sister and brother-in-law believe her possible of the crime. The medical examiner is on his way to investigate the case- Lady Darby has 3 days to prove her innocence or most likely be found guilty of murder.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
You’ve no doubt heard of this one before ( I talked about it in my post: why I challenged myself in my reading life last year) but this is a small town southern mystery/coming of age story with a strong female heroine. The man who was the star quarterback in highschool is found dead at the bottom of the water tower- did he fall, or was he pushed to his death? Kya is known as the marsh girl, abandoned by her family she has raised herself in the swamplands of Georgia. Who else could be to blame but this girl who is an outsider in her own town?
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Set in the library in New York this story follows of a fictional family who lives in the library’s upper apartment, in 1913. The story contrasts between then, and the 1990’s where we meet the granddaughter of this family, and who also works in the library. In 1913 we meet Laura Lyons whose husband in charge of the Library. Laura is feeling stifled and has decided to finally pursue her dream of becoming a journalist- a resolution that will be put to the test as life becomes strenuous as precious volumes begin to disappear from the library. The Lyon’s family may be out on the street if they are not able to stop the books from isappearing, and fast! Fast forward to 1993 and Sadie Donovan is experiencing the same problem as as rare manuscripts and books start disappearing from the library’s valuable Berg Collection. Sadie begins to investigate and ends up learning a lot more about her family- and herself- than she had originally bargained for.
