Gardening: Surprise Blessings From Above

Variations of purple & white Flox are spreading like wildfire in my front yard. I believe gardening has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl & it always involved my endless love for flowers. I have a bad back, but that won't stop me from enjoying God's beauty in the nature He created all around us. I like to surround myself with beautiful flowers as often as possible, but this year was going to be a challenge as I was starting from scratch again. We no longer had lawn service to combat the weeds & my flowers were no longer blooming from last year. The weeds decided to make their mark quickly & I tried my best with the help of my teenage son to conquer the beasts before they took the upper hand in the flower garden & in the yard. Having the right tools for the job certainly makes gardening alot easier though! I found this out the hard way when I tried to fight the crazy weeds with cheap $1 gloves and lots of motivation. I was hopeful to be able to handle the yard myself by getting the weeds under control, nourishing flower growth, & even improving their look with enriched color & size of blooms from fertilizing. I had no idea that the Flox from last year (a type of small flower that is a bedding plant) would be a super surprise from the Lord that would soon spread so much they would start taking over the front 1/3 of my lawn! Such a beautiful scene to drive home to an array of mixed lavendars, dark purples, raspberry & white Flox that have also grown to be quite tall in fact. I heard a speaker at the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival who was apparently a gardening expert & she shared that Flox can spread some on occasion but usually not too much. Boy did I need to talk to her & share my story! LOL! Last summer the Flox I planted died in the summer heat when our sprinkler system broke & I was out of town for a few months & was not there to hand water them. Upon returning, my son & I dug up the dead plants out of the front flowerbed & kind of tossed them behind our backs into a pile on the front lawn to be picked up and bagged later. Little did we realize that FL sunshine & rain have a way of making things grow very fast & sometimes they can even regrow after they've died. I did nothing to deserve the lush color & beauty I now cherish in my front yard, but I know who sent this surprise blessing my way..our Heavenly Father. He has a wonderful way of surpassing all my needs & expectations on things I pray about, & then He even goes above & beyond what we need so we may be blessed beyond measure & give Him the glory. I love it when those precious moments of realization occur that make me want to shout,"Praise the Lord for His goodness!" Flowers not only bring me a smile each & every time I see them, they are a lasting breath of encouragement & joy that fills my heart with gladness to know our Loving God & Creator cared for us so much He even colored our world with things to make us happy. I hope you will find that your days are filled with His light, love, & unfathomable blessings & miracles with things that bring you a smile & a joyful heart. In my picture below, I share my newest tools of the trade to make tackling the weeds and gardening an easier job. Gripper gloves on the left & suede gloves on the right. Both have their purpose along with a good sturdy spade. :) Happy gardening!