So I went out into my Secret Garden to dig in the dirt, you can read more about my secret garden here.  I began digging in the dirt and it felt good, really good.

I needed to think.

I needed to pray.

I needed to be alone.

Sometimes life is hard and this past couple of weeks has  just been, well, hard.

So I set out to be alone in the flower beds and the dirt. I needed to dig  and work some things out.  Sometimes stepping into purpose requires us to dig.  Dig deep into our souls and into our spirit.  Sometimes, if we have to work things out, we have to do it in real dirt.

So this week’s The LBD’s guide to a FabYOUlous you  is to  Know when to dig in the dirt. 

There are times we just need to let the laundry, the mopping and sorting of stuff go and put on an old good pair of garden gloves. We need to dig, dig, dig in the dirt to our heart’s content. I have said it before, I’m was not much of a gardener. Winters’ mom taught me pretty much everything I know about gardening. And I have been determined to have a beautiful garden ever since.  There’s something to be said for just good old determination.  Talent can only take you so far, and dedication, persistence and determination can make up the rest.

Invest in your garden and invest in your life  and the payoff will great.

You can learn a lot in your garden and while digging in the dirt.

First, you must have the right tools. It will make gardening easier and the same goes for life.  The right tools makes life much easier.  The wrong tools make your life more difficult. You could probably cut a branch down with a pocket knife, but it will take a long, long time and lots of frustration. Or, you could use a chain saw and knock it out in seconds.

Same goes with life.

You can get by with certain things, but it is so much easier if you use the right tools. For example, a good bible that you actually open and read! Fill your life with Power Prayer Girls, women that you can count on to pray with you when you need it and even when you don’t.  Surround yourself with the right women, the ones I call the “Sacred Few” and the people Winters refers to as “Sams.”  The ones you can count on, any time, any where.

Next, water is necessary if you want plants to flourish. We are just like plants – we need certain things to flourish, too.  Praise, encouragement, love, support and appreciation are like water to the human soul!  We must give life-giving words to those we love, like our spouse and children and even strangers for that matter. Ask God to help you be this kind of woman. You can read more about that here.

We must also prune. Pruning is a must if you want your plants and flowers to come back stronger and in more abundance.  This is one of the hardest things for me to do.  I simply hate to prune a beautiful plant. But it must be done.

When we are pruned, then we get stronger and better just like plants.  Sometimes we just have to let God prune off the dead and unhealthy parts of our lives.  Those area that do not add to our lives, but rather take away.  Ask God to prune you and make you more beautiful than ever in Him.  Pruning is sometimes difficult and uncomfortable, but it is necessary.

Weeds, Weeds, Weeds, Oh my!  Then there are those pesky weeds.  Weeds just pop up out of the blue.  We must rid our gardens and our life of weeds.  They will take over our garden and our life before we know it.  We must deal with them sooner rather than later. We  have to get rid of those sins, those behaviors, those thoughts, those attitudes that are like weeds in our life. If those weeds take root, we will have so much more work to do, to rid our life of them. So we have to quickly identify the weeds in our life and deal with them.

But what if your weeds have big nasty roots?  Well, if your weeds have become roots, then we have our work cut out for us don’t we?

Oh yes, those pesky roots.  Just the other day I went to plant a flower and I had the hole almost dug and there was a big old root in my way.

So naturally I started beating it with a shovel and it would not budge. Sound familiar?  You try to eradicate it from your perfect hole.  Roots are difficult to get rid of in your garden and  in your life. Spiritual roots like bitterness, unforgiveness, jealousy, greed, fear and even generational roots are difficult to get ride of. But we must get rid of those roots for our life to really blossom.

So, get outside and enjoy your garden. I suggest you find a quiet place this week and ask God if there is any area of your life you need the Master Gardner to help you with.

If you seem to be having a long week or life, maybe you need to get to digging in the dirt!

God is the Master Gardener and when we put our life in His hands we are certain to be transformed into lovely beautiful women of God!

God can help you find the right tools and help you get rid of the weeds and the roots in your life that are holding you back!

So be blessed and encouraged abundantly today as you dig in the dirt, whether literally or figuratively.  May your life be transformed by the loving touch of the Master Gardener, Jesus Christ.

The news came on a beautiful hot day on June 8, 2009, at around 5:00 p.m. I was in our backyard in Georgia.  We had created a lovely oasis.  Years of hard work, digging, landscaping, building arbors, laying cobblestones and  flagstone (hauled all the way from Oklahoma, ironically) and plantings.  Everything had all come together to make a beautiful secret garden.

We had the prettiest rosemary bush that made for the best rosemary pork chops and a multitude of other great recipes.  I also planted boxwood, compact holly, Azaleas and Gardenia. It was a feast for the eyes. My mother- in- Law has an amazing green thumb and with her encouragement, and literally some  seed money, one year I bought about 20 azaleas.   I then embarked on a new adventure of creating a space that was a blessing to all who entered it.  It was our favorite place to be.  The end result was a place we all found peace and serenity from the  hectic metro Atlanta lifestyle.  It was our peace of Heaven on earth.

On this particular day, I was on the phone with one of my dear friends, our former pastor’s wife.  I had not spoken to her in many months. We had shared each other’s hardships and had even joined together to lead a women’s Bible study at our church.  We had just been discussing how many changes  had occurred in our lives in the last two years.  Most were difficult and some had even tested our faith.  But we were both determined to stay strong and trust God no matter what.

It was the perfect place to be when John appeared on the porch with a very strange look on his face.  I knew Death had come.  It was there among friends, family and in my beautiful secret garden that I heard my mother was now with Jesus.   I had wanted to go and be with my mom but I had also wanted to be with my husband and children.  I was so torn.  I wanted to be with my little ones, to wipe their tears when they heard MiMi was gone.  Selfishly, I wanted to be with my husband and have him hold me as I grieved.  I was pulled between the roles of daughter and mother.  Who do I put first?  Whose needs are the most important?

I felt deep in my spirit my mother was saying to be among the living! Be with the Sons of Thunder, as we love to refer to the Winters boys.  She adored John and I know she would have said for me to be with my husband.  So that is what I did.  I would have loved to have been there as mommy left this world for the celestial heaven and enter the Kingdom.  Yes, but I was with her.  I was with her throughout our lives and we had celebrated this precious life together.  She had really lived!

So I held my boys that hot summer day and we shared death and life together.  I will never trade that moment for anything.

God is merciful and full of Grace.  As we sat in our secret garden and took in the moment, a  hummingbird zipped by three or four times.  The beauty and the splendor of these sweet little birds is a joy to see.   I love to see them but rarely did.  Was this a precious gift from God?  Yes!  A gift from my mother?  I certainly think so!

Since Mom’s death, we have moved to Oklahoma and that sweet hummingbird has followed me here.   I see that sweet hummingbird often and every time I see it, I think of Mom.  It makes me smile and think of what an amazing creature my mom was.   Her energy was endless like the sweet hummingbird.  The visits are truely a gift.  When it drops by, it brings a smile and the hope that God’s love endures forever.  My mom is in my heart always and I am as certain that I will see her again, as I am that I will see the sweet little hummingbird.