Green green grass of home

Today it's suddenly summer. Ok, I'll grant you, yesterday wasn't too bad in the afternoon and evening. Because of the wet, cool year, the garden courtyard is green. The ornamental grasses are lush and tall.

My college roommate Bonnie gave me two ferns from her daughter's wedding in May. They couldn't take them back across the border to Canada where Bonnie lives. I hung the plants on the posts of our front entry.

A few weeks after the wedding, I heard a loud "chit-chit-chit" as I went out the front door. A little sparrow hopped up and down on the trellis of the courtyard, scolding me and trying to draw me away. The next time I pulled down the ferns to fertilize and water them, I couldn't believe my eyes! Three little birds, newly hatched, lay nested in one of the ferns. After the chicks disappeared, one egg remained unhatched in the abandoned nest.

I left the nest for a few weeks. It lay clean and tidy, not full of bird waste like usual after raising chicks. I tipped the sole egg out today and teased the circle of twigs from the fern to bring it inside the house as part of a floral arrangement. Thank you, Sparrow!

The ferns have spread and grown in the past few months, along with the grasses in the pots on the steps. I'll hang the ferns in the conservatory when autumn comes and the grass dies back.

Each time I pass by, I pause to pray for Starla and Jose, now living in Venezuela. Blessings on you two, and may the garden of your marriage grow and thrive! 

Read more:

*How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Psalm 84:1-2 NIV

*(Jesus) "Come unto 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

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I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.   

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give

The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.    

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;

Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done. 

  -Horatius Bonar 1846