This is My Father's World

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
wich is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)   
  - e. e. cummings

I couldn't get this poem out of my head today. I spent most of the morning outside with my three little friends (we hang out together several times a week), rejoicing and being glad in the day God made. 

 

(Psalm 118:24)

Introducing: Me (Kind of)

I was going to write something about myself, because I actually don't know a lot of you personally, and I thought we should be properly introduced. But then I realized that most people, when properly introduced, really only get a name (Emily) and maybe place of residence (just north of Nashville) or profession (wife/teacher/nanny/knitter). And the rest comes as a relationship develops. That's how it's supposed to work, I think - and the rest you come to know eventually, if you keep communicating.

Besides, you find out more about people by listening to them talk about other things than about themselves.

And, ultimately, I don't want this blog to be about me; maybe just about things from my point of view: my piece of God's great story. I want to introduce you to the people in my life, show you the things I love and admire, and share how God works out his plan for me.

And the Winner Is...

Congrats to Amy at Amyschmamey on winning my first giveaway!

Walking by Faith, Not Sight

Today was the most restful day I've had in a long time. After a long week, it was good to worship with God's people and enjoy the cooler weather this afternoon. We sang this hymn this morning in church, and it sums up a lot of what God has been teaching me lately: that God's promises for me are true, even if my circumstances seem to indicate otherwise. 

God never moves without purpose or plan

When trying His servant and molding a man.

Give thanks to the Lord though your testing seems long;

In darkness He giveth a song.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;

So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.

I bowed to the will of the Master that day;

Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;

God strengthens His children and purges in love.

My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;

Through purging more fruit I will bear.

O Rejoice in the LORD

He makes no mistake,

He knoweth the end of each path that I take,

For when I am tried

And purified,

I shall come forth as gold.

-Ron Hamilton

My Backyard: Oak Haven

We've lived in Tennessee a little over a year now. It's been a wonderful adventure, and the Lord has blessed us and challenged us in ways we never imagined when we decided to move. We lived in a small apartment in the city before we moved here; now this is our backyard.

In just a year, this oak tree has seen a lot of me. I've read and knit under it, cried and rejoiced under it, prayed and sang under it; we hung the swing in March and lots of friends and family have enjoyed it; we buried our sweet cat Oscar beneath it in June; and now I'm trying to get a decent picture of it to be translated into a banner for my Etsy Shop, whose name it inspired.

Tennessee is starting to feel a little more like home.

Mercy Verity Candles: My First Giveaway!

Recently, my dear friend Lisa gave me several of her amazing soy-wax candles! She let me choose from her extensive selection of yummy fragrances, and I've been enjoying them in my home ever since. They burn for hours longer than traditional candles, and I love the way they make my house smell wonderful!

Mercy Verity Candles are made from soy wax, lead-free cotton wicks, and 100% pure premium fragrance oils. You'll be impressed by their quality and beauty.

So today I'm excited to announce that I'll be giving away one of Lisa's candles in the Macintosh Apple scent!

To enter, head on over to Lisa's website (www.mercyveritycandles.com) and look around! Leave a comment back here, letting me know which scent you'd like to try. Make sure you leave your email address!

For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each), you can:

• Follow my blog through Blogger.
• Follow me on Twitter (SweeterGreen).
• Read Lisa's sweet testimony of how the Lord led her to start Mercy Verity Candles.
• Tweet about this giveaway (be sure to include @sweetergreen).
• Post about this giveaway on Facebook.

Giveaway will end on Sunday, September 28 at midnight CST. A winner will be randomly selected on Monday, September 29.

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

 
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.

-Anonymous 

Knitting!

I'm a knitter.

I have at least five projects going on at all times, I keep extra yarn and needles in my purse, and I can't sit still very easily without knitting in my hands. I knit while I read, wait in line, watch movies, ride in the car (while Dan drives... or at red lights), and while I'm on the phone. I'm on Ravelry more than Facebook. 

I've been praying about selling my knitting for a while now, and the Lord has recently opened up several opportunities for me to get started.

This weekend my wonderful dad flew me out to visit the family. I spent lots of time catching up with my parents and hanging out with all the siblings still at home. And my youngest sister Heather modeled a few of my creations. She did a brilliant job (obviously).

So today I finally listed my first items on my Etsy Shop, Oak Haven Knitwear.

Check it out: Oak Haven Knitwear.

I'm offering free shipping to anyone who mentions Sweeter Green.

I keep knitting, so I'm sure I'll have more listings soon.

(Thanks again, Heather!)

Awe

 All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord;
      myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.
 For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?
      What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?
 The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.
      He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.
O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!
      Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?
      You are entirely faithful.

- Psalm 89:5-8

And he's my Father.

Introducing: Marilee

She's a Manx, a cat with just a stub instead of a tail, and a squarish shape, a tiny nose, and large eyes.
She's always serious, even in her play.
She walks like a crab. And you can always hear her breathing.
She seems to know if you're feeling sad or lonely, and comforts not by being there for you, but by making you feel she needs you to be there for her.

 

She's an exquisite little gift, and I love her hard.

Morning Glories

When I was little, my family used to visit my great-aunts (Beatrice and Marjorie) at their old property on Cape Cod. The place was really lovely - wild roses growing up a wrought-iron railing, raspberry bushes, pine trees and sweet little flower beds with pansies - and only once, I saw a single blue morning glory in a tangle of green vines.
 
I have a notoriously brown thumb, but morning glories seem to grow without any help at all, and so I've had some at almost every place I've been since then. There were even some growing wild outside the church on my wedding day.

This year I have a veritable jungle of morning glories in my backyard: a daily delight.

Sweeter Green

We don’t always get what we want. My idea of where I would be in life at by now does not line up exactly with the actual life that God has chosen for me. The success of our plans and ambitions is in God’s hands, not ours, and our future does not belong to us, but to God.

But he’s given us the present, and with it, millions of little pleasures for us to enjoy, millions of little things for us to love; he has scattered tiny reflections of his glory and beauty in everything we experience. And it’s our job, not to wish and dream and hope  and plan for our ideal vision of the future, nor to lament the fact that things didn’t turn out like we’d planned, but to grasp, and savor, and love the life that he’s given us now.

And God has given us himself. Every experience we have is richer and more beautiful because of our relationship with God. The fact is that he chooses us, redeems us, loves us, forgives us, listens to us, rejoices over us, and that every circumstance in each day is doled out to us in love and for our good. And then, he experiences these things with us, changing, creating, guiding, helping, supporting, comforting, inspiring, strengthening, encouraging, working alongside us and in us and through us; this truth lends every experience a beauty and grace and joy that it never could have apart from Christ.

So the facts of where I’m not in life – what I don’t have, what I didn’t accomplish – are nothing in comparison to the truth of where God has placed me. Those dreams are a lie and have nothing to do with God’s great reality.

So here I am, typing, eating leftover soup, and seeing the beauty in the cloudless sky, the breeze, the prospect of rest this afternoon, worship and fellowship at church tomorrow, and hard work and play in the week to come… and my greatest satisfaction and fulfillment is in just loving all those things as hard as I can, as gifts lavished on me from my most beautiful Creator and Redeemer.

Heaven above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen;
Birds with gladder songs o’erflow, flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine.