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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

August 12, 2016

What was growing all along

It started with a garden. All we really wanted was fresh vegetables for the summer. The kind for which you can walk out to the backyard and pluck right off the plant and use for that night’s dinner. Garden-to-table.

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We got that–and a whole lot more.

We expected the tomatoes and the cucumbers and the squash. We were surprised by how quickly the winter squash we planted from seed took over the garden and matured. We have pumpkins in August. #gardenfail

We did not expect the community.

We planted a garden, but we didn’t do it alone. One neighbor offered extra tools. Another gave us a tomato plant that is producing the biggest tomatoes I’ve ever seen. A couple of kids who go to school with our kids came over to see what it was all about. They helped set up the fencing to keep the bunnies out. They watered. And we all waited.

To read the rest of this post, head over to Putting on the New, where I blog on the 12th of each month.

Filed Under: faith & spirituality, family, gardening Tagged With: gardening, harvest, kingdom of God, sharing

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  1. What I don’t want to feel says:
    July 17, 2017 at 7:37 am

    […] As we drove home later that day, I found my eyes drawn to anyone on a bicycle. To the sides of the road where it might be lying abandoned. The police officer who filed the report said I should drive through the neighborhoods and look for it in someone’s yard. His first point of blame was the kids from the nearby apartments. (The same kids who last year were drawn to our garden and its bounty of food.) […]

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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