Flower Therapy

This spring season I finally did what I have been wanting to do for a while now... created flower beds! There was a bed in the front yard and one small one in the corner of the back yard, but other than that it was pretty much bare bones and just grass. 

But now...thanks to a ton of help and hard work from my parents (my dad with the muscles and my momma with the green thumb brilliance) we have created gorgeous flourishing flower beds with some of my most favorite flowers in them! 

There is nothing more relaxing then coming home from work and walking outside to see the newest lilly or gerber daisy that has bloomed. Also just to relax and prune the dead leaves off, and water each one with my fun new soaker thing is just simple goodness. 

Sunshine + beautiful flowers + cool rock borders + new magic soaker wand = amazing therapy!!!

And this post would be pointless without pictures, so enjoy my lil corner of heaven here on Appleridge :)

Gerber Daisies

So many pretty colors!

Lillies

Each day a new one opens and the bloom only last for one day, so I am capturing them to enjoy them longer :) This first one is my favorite. It's pink and orange, which I absolutely love!

This is my favorite one's sister I think, because they are similar but one has more pink and one has mostly orange. I could look at them all day long, they are so pretty!

These are all close ups from my favorite new lilly bed. There are about 12 lillies in one bed and they are all hybrids, which means each one is unique and there is not another color like it anywhere. I love uniqueness!!!

Most all of my lillies have fruffles around the edge! I love the fruffles. They are so pretty and dainty and just make my heart smile. 

Aren't they gorgeous!?

And... my fun artistic rocks that border each bed, love those!!!!

Flowers, flowers, flowers :)

This is the flower bed that was there already, but it's been revamped and now has gorgeous different colored gerber daisies in it! My favorite flower!!! And now they're everywhere!!! :) Yey!

A couple that were in bloom on picture day.

The back corner bed that was revamped with lillies, sunflowers, shasta daisies and cone flowers :) 

A different angle of the front gerber daisies

This is my precious Joseph's Coat rose bush that is putting out new leaves and has a bloom on top. Along with two purple colored spiral bushes that were in the front yard that we transplanted 

Impatiens Beds

 These are my gorgeous multi colored impatiens that border the whole backside of my house. They are so cute and so pretty! 

 

I love my new rock border that lines all my new flower beds. It fits me well, it adds a unique artistic flare to my beds! I pictured it in my mind before buying the rock and it turned out exactly as what I had pictured. I love love love it! I also have my left over impatiens in my old wagon on my front porch...super cute!

High Religous Standards = Anger

A precious friend told me about this quote last week and I just now found it in a book that I am going through, as I work through these blasted super high standards that I hold myself to in life.... check out the punch that this quote packs!!!
"When anger is so much a part of your personality that you lose your capacity to find peace, it's an indication your good beliefs are ironically working against you."
I was floored when heard it, and then after it sank in good, I was speechless! It makes all the sense in the world though. If I am setting such high standards for myself... and if I am putting enormous amounts of pressure on myself to meet my insanely impossible 'godly' standards... then yes, I am going to get angry when I can't meet them. I am going to be frustrated with myself and also with others. I will be frustrated with others because I can't contain my standards to just myself, they bleed out and onto others around me. So when they don't live up to my standards, then I in turn become angry with them also.
So here is the bottom line question... well in my mind at least:
Where the hell did I come up with these insanely impossible, high, unreachable, supposedly godly standards? The more I ponder this, I am beginning to feel that God does not hold me to these ridiculous standards. He knows me...obviously He knows me better than I do, because He already knows that there is no way in heaven that I can reach the standards I set for myself. He sees what I have to offer and loves me inspite of it, loves me just like I am. He doesn't leave me like I am, obviously, but He also doesn't set these horrendous standards for me that I unconsciously set for myself.
This is the elder brother in me... ugh!!! Recognizing these standards one by one is the first step to removing them... I hope!!!
Along this same line, I make a book recommendation: The Prodigal God by Tim Keller, it's a must! Super convicting and amazing! I have never heard the parable of the prodigal son taught in such a way.

Sugary Nos

What exactly is a sugary no? What a fabulous question! It's one which has been bouncing around in my head the past couple days.
A sugary no is a no that is sooo sweet that you can't tell that it's a no. ha! It is a no that is sugar coated, diluted, fluffed, and made to taste so sweet to the other person that hopefully the no won't sit sour with them. I am finding out that these sugary nos are not clear nos at all! And in reality a sugary no can sometimes do more harm than good.
As I have pondered sugary nos this week, my eyes have been open to see the perfect example through Christ, yeh He's a great example for just about everything, but who would have thought He gives us an example in how to say no. The Lord says, let your yes be yes and your no be no. It can't get any more simple than that! Yes means yes, and what do ya know.... no means no.
I mean think about it... He gives me commands, rules, regulations, He sets limits for me, gives me healthy boundaries to live by, and prayer to Him is sometimes directly asking for a yes or a no.
If God gives me clear yeses and nos, shouldn't I give the same? He in fact doesn't sugar coat His nos at all. So why do I make my nos so sugary that they are easily mistaken? He gives me very clear yeses and nos, then it's my responsibility to obey, deal with them, interpret them and seek Him in those answers.
So if God's yes means yes and His no means no, then shouldn't mine?
It's definitely something to think about... it's still bouncing around in my head. :)