almost spring

I have daffodils beginning to bloom in the front yard and robins have been filling the air for the last several days with their beautiful songs. We had one glorious taste of spring on Saturday, and then the temperatures plummeted with torrents of rain, reminding us that winter hasn't yet completely released us from its claws. Ah well. Spring is coming, and I'm excited to finally have my own front yard and garden bed to fill with flowers and herbs. The neighborhood I live in is made up of small two bedroom homes but many of the houses have somewhere around a dozen people living in them. Its a very trailer-park like setting in many respects. Not quite inner-city dynamics, but you'll get there without traveling too far.
With spring come planning meetings for summer programs for the kids ministry. Kids - I love. Adults - not so much. And oddly enough in children's ministries, there's far more interaction with adults then children.
To children things are simple and upfront. They take you at face value. You say God loves you, so He does. You say 'I love you,' and give them a hug, they believe you and love you back. Adults on the other hand bring politics, agendas, and micromanaging control into the mix. Bleh. I think I understand why Jesus said you had to have faith like a child!!!

Ah well. Back to the garden. I've been trying to balance wanting to invest a ton of time and money into having a beautiful secret garden, but at the same time show restraint and purchase little by little. I don't know why but last spring something snapped in me and I just started buying plants. And the things is, while a lot of them frizzled, a lot of them lived and are still with me. I don't have a magical green thumb, but I don't have a black thumb either! So thats been exciting. I haven't had the space for a whole lot of veggies etc. So mainly flowers and herbs. I can't begin to describe how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE fresh herbs. They are so beautiful when they grow, they make food so tasty, and they smell AWESOME when it rains. Ahhh nature. Gods creation never ceases to amaze.