Welcome to Grace and Garden. The internet has a nearly infinite number of sites, and your time is very precious, so please know that I truly appreciate that you chose to take a few moments to meander around.
Because your time is so precious, I am starting with my mission statement and values to help you decide if you would like to venture further. You will find a mixture of Jesus, gardening, and community throughout each page.
- Mission: To grow community, one garden at a time, by creating in-person connections between seasoned farmers and gardeners and budding gardeners, or even just some budding gardeners who want a little help from their friends.’ It is my prayer to create a template for communities across the country to replicate.
- Values: This site embodies the command from God’s Word to “love my neighbor”, and the intrinsic value of stewarding well the creation that God has entrusted to us.
I am inviting you to come along on a journey, or actually more of a documentation of a journey that God has challenged, er, let’s face it, He has convicted me to begin. Convictions, like ‘love my neighbor’, building and growing an in-person community, and relationships. Both require me to venture out further than my front porch. My hope is that others may learn a few things and replicate them in their own lives and neighborhoods. The purpose is to help me and others, get out from behind our screens and begin to truly and lovingly engage with God’s creation.
Let me tell you about the different pages – rooms, if you will, in my ‘house’. Rooms for you to stay and linger after a weary day, where I hope you will find encouragement, laughter, and practical applications to help you to step out into your community.
If you come on through the “Community” door, you will find yourself in the foyer with a bulletin board of upcoming events, ideas for engagement, etc. upcoming events, ideas for engagement etc. My dream is for neighborhoods to begin to engage with their neighbors with old-fashioned block parties, picnics, potlucks, singing sessions, and, of course, gardening. It would be great to create a group of people in neighborhoods all over who would love to volunteer for local farmers or local gardeners who would be willing to give us novice gardeners some tips. This is where we will truly grow community.
If you follow the foyer to the back of the house, and go through the There’s No App for That’ door, you will find a screened-in porch (with a slamming screen door and everything :)). This is the room where we contemplate life, learn about Jesus, and really just a place for quieting your heart, mind, and soul in the chaos of this world. This room is inspired by a dear friend who is affectionately known as ‘mama Lois’. I am hoping I can get her to share some of her own ponderings of the heart to share with us. Here you will find Truth spoken in love, with a foundation of scripture passages. You can grab a cup of coffee or tea, have a seat, and read God’s word while enjoying His beautiful creation. This is an excellent study room that motivates you to dig deeper into God’s word.
When you finish your coffee, you can get on up and head out that slammin’ screen door and into the yard. This is where you will find “Life in the Farm Lane”. It is here that I hope to have information from various seasoned farmers and gardeners who would like to share their wisdom with budding gardeners. As well as struggles, tips, encouragement, and wins from both seasoned and budding gardeners.
Gardening is a beautiful reflection of all of life, because gardeners can do everything in their ability to be sure to have the best harvest, but ultimately, the growth is not in their hands; it is in God’s. As in all of life, gardeners are reliant on God for everything; we tend to forget that we are not in control, and when growing – or attempting to grow – something, we are strongly but gently reminded of that. Farming is a wonderful practical application of our dependency on God.
I hope that as you take your shoes off and walk through the meadow (just be careful where you step :)), that you will not only learn some invaluable farming and gardening skills, but also take away some tips on how to spend more time in the yard enjoying God’s creation.
As I begin to venture out beyond my front porch, I will take you along for the ride. You won’t need to fasten your seatbelt and hold on; this will be a slow meander, like horse and buggies of yesteryear.
When you are ready to come back into the house, the next room to explore is the library. The purpose of this room is to help you grow the most important relationship of all…your relationship with God. This is a small but cozy room. As more resources come in, you will be able to refill your coffee cup and sit down for a bit of quiet reading and reflection. There will be online resources as well as links to purchase items should you so choose.
The Final room is perhaps the most important room of all. This is the War Room. In this room, you can submit any praises or prayers that you may have. This is the room where the devil gets his tail handed back to Him. This is the room that where we fully understand that the real fighting is not with people, but it is spiritual, and to fight those battles we have got to have the right tools. Prayer is not about bowing our heads to ask for what we want; it is about communicating with the almighty God. Think of what the Jewish people had to go through to talk to God, and even then, it was done through priests. However, as Christians, we get to come to His throne whenever we want. If you are not a Christian, please connect with me through Grace and Garden if you have any questions or would like to know what it means to be a Christian.
Well, that is it for the tour. I hope you enjoyed it and that you will come back sometime.
Shalom,
Grace and Garden / Jennifer