I first noticed this past October some vague feelings of stress and anxiety creeping up on me. After ignoring them for a few days, the feelings gained strength to the point where I could no longer deny them. After years of strong faith and peace, to be facing my old nemesis again was an uncomfortable and unexpected place to find myself in.

I struggled to figure out what was wrong with me, and I felt guilty for even feeling this way. On a few particularly bad days, I even dealt with a panic attack. Why was this happening? I’ve worked through times of intense stress in my life before, especially after the death of one of my children, and this certainly couldn’t be as terrible as that time. More than anything, I wanted to feel like my normal, upbeat self again.  I remember asking God, “Could you bring back my peace quickly, please, God, without a lot of angst?” Hmm. Well, here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Stress Factors

As I looked over the last few years, I realized I had more than a few stress factors and uncertainties that had been accumulating in my life.

• My family had navigated through my mom’s 5-year-long illness.  My sisters and I were fortunate to be able to help my dad care for her in their home with the help of family and other caregivers, but it was a bittersweet time of blessings and constant obstacles, resulting in a long good-bye and a difficult loss. Anyone who has been a caregiver for a loved one understands the challenges and heartbreak.
• Next, I had been dealing with, or rather not dealing with an ongoing business situation, and I just let it go on and on for months without facing it. Stuffing something is not a healthy way to live. As we all probably know, stuffing something means that it will pop up, and usually not it a good way.
• Add to that, a lot of uncertainty in my future. My husband recently quit his job, and we are putting in place some serious changes so that he can pursue a dream of bicycling to Alaska. This means that my normal day-to-day life will look very different. It’s a big change as I am taking on lots of new responsibilities.
• My own personality traits and tendencies. If you know anything about the Enneagram, I am a 6 on the Enneagram. A 6’s core weakness is anxiety. As I reflected on my life, I realized how true this is. Even from my early memories, worry has always been my go-to emotion. God has brought much healing in my life already, but at this season, the stress had piled up and felt overwhelming, and I found myself in an unhealthy cycle of worry.

How About You?

You may find yourself there as well. Over the last few months, I have talked to so many people who are struggling with stress and anxiety. Here are some of the stresses I’ve heard from others:

• Politics
• Marital issues
• Health problems
• Financial problems
• Job stresses
• Addictions
• Worries about children
• Fear about the Coronavirus
• Infertility

Honestly, the list could go on and on. My goal with all this is not to make you feel worse, but to let you know you’re not the only one feeling this way and to give you some resources on how to work through the stress.

Although we will never be able to escape stressful situations in life, we can change how we respond to stress. I’ve made a lot of progress, but will probably always have to be aware of this tendency.

Next Post: Ideas for Managing Stress

I have a list of resources that I have almost finished and will share yet this week in another post. Disclaimer: I am not a doctor of any kind. I am just sharing my own experiences, believing that God will use them to encourage someone else.

Please know that I would be happy to pray for you if you leave me a comment so that I can respond back. If you sign up for my mailing list, you will get an email when the next blog is released.

May God bless and heal you as you work through stress and anxiety issues! I’ll leave you with this favorite scripture from Lamentations 3:22-24 AMP to meditate on:

It is because of the Lord’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion and my inheritance, says my soul; Therefore I have hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him.’

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the season of Lent on the Christian calendar. Lent is the time when believers prepare our hearts for the coming of Easter; it’s the time for reflecting on the sacrifice that Jesus made for each one of us when He went to the cross. We can do this in several ways:

• Prayer
• Repentance
• Practice of spiritual disciplines
• Attending services
• Denying ourselves something (such as giving up a favorite food)

Let’s Humble Ourselves

On this first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we humble ourselves before God. Some faiths remind us of this by placing ashes on their congregants’ foreheads with the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

In that spirit, we’d like to revisit a post we wrote previously to help you start Lent in a humble, reflective manner. Here is the link to the Ash Wednesday pdf:

Ash Wednesday

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below, and we pray you and your loved ones have a blessed start to this season of Lent!

As I try to live in Christmas present, memories of Christmases past shimmer in my mind. 

• My sisters and I sneaking out of bed and tiptoeing down creaky stairs, anxious for our first glimpse of the Christmas tree.
• Baking and frosting Christmas cookies.
• Waiting my turn to open the next door on the Avent calendar.
• The scent of incense wafting in the air at Christmas Eve mass.
• Visiting Grandma and Grandpa and Uncles Dave and Bill on Christmas afternoon.
• Holiday singalongs with my huge extended family. Laughter and love float around the room, like angels’ wings.
• Grandma and Grandpa Herrmann singing Silent Night in German.
• The Hallelujah chorus ringing through the auditorium and echoing in my heart.
• My husband noisily putting together a bunk bed on Christmas Eve.
• My own little children excitedly bounding up the stairs on Christmas morning, a bundle of laughter and energy.

The older I get, the more I reflect on those times, those people who are no longer with us, or, like my children, who have grown up to establish their own families and traditions. Intertwined in the memories is a sadness for what has changed. 

I Miss …

I miss my mom, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents who are no longer with us. I miss those shared celebrations of laughter and love. I miss my children as little ones, carefully holding our candles together in the Christmas Eve service. I miss seeing them race up the stairs on Christmas morning. 

These are precious memories, part of the fabric of who I am. 

Yet, It’s Time To Move On

But I realize God doesn’t intend for me to dwell in my Christmases past (or my life past) because if I do that, I will miss my Christmas present, the present life that is waiting to be discovered and lived now — and shared with the next generation. 

This quote by Joyce Meyer puts it in perspective for me:

We often spend our mental time in the past or in the future, instead of living in the moment we have now. When we don’t truly give ourselves to what we are doing at the moment, we become prone to anxiety. If we live in the now, we will find the Lord there with us.

Joyce Meyer Battlefield of the Mind Bible, p. 814

If I’m honest, I was spending too much time wishing that this Christmas present, this season of life looked more like some past ones. But that cannot be. It should not be. God has given us this Christmas present, this life present and has promised us His presence now. After all, He is called the Great I AM. Not the great I was.

We are to rejoice in Him for who He is, for the amazing gift of heaven intersecting earth through Jesus’ miraculous birth — to be celebrated in our current season of life.  If we just let Him, He will make every season of our lives purposeful and filled with His presence. It is the miracle of Emmanuel, God With Us.

How Can You Focus on Christmas Present?

• Change your mindset. Make a list of everything you are thankful for right now. Even in the midst of a pandemic, we all have things to celebrate.
• Help someone else. Look around. Can you bake a treat for someone struggling? Send a surprise gift in the mail? Share a blessing of money?
• Make a few of your Christmas presents this year. Here are a few ideas in this Natural Christmas post.
• Do a Christmas devotional. We have one going on right now if you’d like to join us
• Even if you can’t get together with all your family as usual, make a plan for what you can do.
• Zoom call or FaceTime those you can’t be present with.

With a little time and intention, this year can be the best yet. What do you think? How can you live in Christmas present? Please share any ideas you have in the comments. You can also contact us. Merry Christmas!

What Advent Is All About

Advent is about waiting – waiting for the birth of Jesus. It’s the magical time when heaven intersects earth through the lives of ordinary people who are part of God’s extraordinary plan to redeem the world.

Mary and I have been feeling the nudge to make time and space in our lives to prepare for Christmas by celebrating the Advent season. We’d like you to be part of it, too, by joining us on this Advent “journey.”

Advent Group

We’re introducing our Advent devotional called Advent-urous, Seeking Jesus in the Season. We’ve started the Advent-urous Facebook group and have released the above devotional ebooklet on Amazon Kindle. We’re excited about this opportunity to prepare our hearts for Christmas. Here’s what you can expect from our Kindle devotional:

• Weekly scripture reading.
• Five devotional readings, one for each the four Sundays of Advent, plus an extra one.
• Theme of the week.
• Weekly prayers.
• Weekly activities to apply the theme to your life.
• Optional participation in the Advent-urous Facebook group. In this group, we are encouraging people to post their thoughts and insights about the devotional reading for the week, their Advent prayers, and the activities they did to apply the theme to their life. You can post as many times in a week as you would like.

Advent Is a Season of Hope

As we said, this year we want to be intentional about celebrating Advent with meaning. No matter what your life’s situation is right now, there’s hope. Let’s find it together.

The devotional begins on the first day of Advent, which for 2019 is Sunday, December 1. At any time during the week, you may post in the Facebook group about your experience. As God gives you more insight, or you try multiple activities throughout the week, feel free to post as often as you feel led. We’d also love to hear any new Advent ideas you have on how to apply the theme too.

Join Now

To get started right now, you just have to do two things.

• Join the Advent-urous Facebook group, and we will approve your request.
• Purchase the Advent-urous devotional on Kindle. We have it listed at a very low price so that as many people as want to can participate.

We look forward to experiencing this Advent season with you!

I first met Sharon Lovejoy in the pages of her lovely book Sunflower Houses when I stumbled upon it in the library years ago.  I checked it out and was immediately captivated by her whimsical artwork and creative children’s garden projects just begging to be tried. 

Consequently, the first project I selected was the namesake of her book, the sunflower house. My two children and I had a fun summer planting and playing in our own sunflower house. 

In the years since, I’ve added many of her other books to my collection, each one a treasure trove of ideas and inspiration. Recently, Sharon graciously agreed to let me interview her, and we talked about garden ideas for kids and her own gardening background.

Sharon’s Childhood

In her early years, Sharon’s love for nature was awakened by her Grandmother Lovejoy. Sharon’s parents built a tiny 420 square foot house in her grandmother’s back yard. “The first seven years of my life I lived in her garden …. My parents house was right smack under the peach trees and the apricot trees, and by the pathway of hollyhocks. It was absolutely in her garden,” she said.  

Every morning, Sharon ran down the Hollyhock pathway to Grandma’s house. The two explored outside, planted gardens, created art projects, and baked confections — often using the garden’s bounty.

Those idyllic years inspired Sharon to pursue a life as an artist, herbalist, writer, and all-around creative. She fills her books with gardening adventures galore that any child and child-at-heart will love.

Cultivate A Gardening Life with Your Kids

 Just as she was, Sharon wholeheartedly believes that children need to be outside in the fresh air and sunshine. “Outside nurtures us. Inside takes away,” she said.

In her young adult years, she followed that advice with her own family. “I started taking my son Noah out into the garden when he was just 10 days old,” she said. “I grew herbs …. I would hold his little hand and brush it over things and hold things up to him and talk to him about them. He does that with his own children now.” 

Sharon believes that even if your family has never gardened, you can change that. “The garden can become a tradition, and once it’s a tradition, it’s part of your family history,” she said.

I think we can all agree that sounds wonderful, but how do you go about actually doing it, especially if gardening hasn’t been in your DNA? Whether you want to plant a toddler garden for little ones, a vegetable patch, or flowers, let’s look at some fun garden ideas for kids from Sharon.

Gardening Projects

For a first project, a container garden is perfect for children and parents to do together, especially if you don’t want to dig up the yard or don’t have much green space to work with.

 Container Gardening in a Half-Barrel

Half barrels or big pots are just right for growing vegetables. You can plant almost anything in them including vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Sharon pointed me to her book Camp Granny on page 141 for the details.

1. Put your pot in an area of your yard that receives at least six hours of sun a day. 
2. Drill a few 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch-size drainage holes in the bottom of the basket or pot (if it doesn’t already have them). 
3. Cover the drainage holes on the bottom with pieces of screen or cheesecloth so the soil doesn’t fall out of the holes.
4. Add a few inches of gravel to the bottom of the barrel (it helps with drainage).
5. Fill the pot to the brim with bagged potting soil. If you’re planting a plant rather than seeds, you may have to remove some of the soil to make room. Water thoroughly. 
6. Plant your seeds or plants following the directions on the package. Water seeds lightly (a spray bottle works for seeds) and plants more thoroughly (a watering can or hose). Always try to water plants from the bottom so you’re not dousing the leaves whenever you water. 

Container Garden Ideas

Now let’s look at some ideas on what to plant in the containers.

• Herbs. Some favorites are basil, oregano, dill, parsley, cilantro, rosemary, garlic, and thyme. Take a trip to the nursery, and you’re sure to find some new ones to try too.
• Vegetables. Cherry tomatoes do very well in big pots, as do lettuces, radishes, tiny carrots, squash (remember it will vine out over the pot unless you have a trellis for it to climb), and bell peppers.
• Flowers. Try some edible flowers to add to salads like nasturtiums, violas, pansies, chive blooms, bachelor’s button, and dianthus. 

Remember, don’t be afraid to mix the plants. For instance, pair a basil plant with a Roma tomato. Try an edible flower with cut-and-come-again mesclun and chives. It’s fun! For help with this, search the internet for the phrase companion planting.

Sharon’s Container Gardening Tips

Keep Sharon’s best tips for gardening in mind as you and your kids try different projects.

1. Put the container garden by your in-and-out door or other high-traffic  area so that it’s convenient for your child to access. 
2. Buy a child-size watering can for your kids. The big ones are hard for children to handle because they get too heavy. Don’t use a hose. The water stream will blast the dirt out of the container and it helps spread any disease lurking in the dirt. 
3. Buy kid-size yard tools. They are much easier for children to use. 
4. “The best fertilizer is the gardener’s hands,” Sharon said. “Every day, every day, a mom or a dad or a grandma or an auntie should go outside with the child to check for bad bugs, check for any weeds that might have blown in there, and to make sure that things are moist.”
5. No poisons. No sprays. Use fingers to pick things off. 
6. Talk to your plants. 
7. Learn the good and bad critters. Her book Trowel and Error has illustrations. 
8. “Plant a tree for each of your children and let them chart life on that tree. Soon they’ll be saying things like, ‘That tree was that big when I was 6’ ” she said.
9. Let children try unusual containers for planting. Sharon leads workshops where kids bring an old pair of shoes or boots to plant in. The children absolutely love it. Just be sure to put in drainage holes.
10. Take pictures of your kids in the garden. 

Urban Gardening Ideas

But what if you live in the city and don’t have any or very little green space for gardening? No worries! Sharons has great ideas for urban gardeners too. Try one of these::

Kitchen Garbage Gardens 

Now before you think “ewww” and move on, garbage gardens are exciting projects that are all grown indoors using food scraps from your kitchen.  Chapter 4 in Sharon’s book Camp Granny is all about garbage gardens and filled with oodles of ideas, but here’s one to get you started.

Citrus Plant

The next time your child eats an orange or other citrus fruit, save the seeds and follow these directions:

1. Rinse the seeds and soak overnight in a cup of warm water. 
2. Fill a 4-inch wide pot or recycled container (like a yogurt cup) with potting soil. Making sure there are drainage holes in the bottom. 
3. Plant two seeds to a container, one-half inch deep and cover with soil. 
4. Water it thoroughly and label it.
5. Place the pot in a shallow tray or saucer filled with some gravel and water.
6. Place the tray in a sunny spot. 
7. When the soil feels dry to touch (poke your finger about an inch deep in a different spot than where you planted the seeds), it’s time to water again. 
8. Once the seedlings sprout, keep track of their growth by measuring monthly and recording progress in a nature journal. 
9. Repot as necessary. Use a natural fertilizer every few weeks.

Indoor Gardening

In her book Trowel & Error, the last section covers indoor gardening projects. Sharon suggests urban gardeners can  grow herbs indoors in a sunny south window or under a Gro-light. Try any or all of the following herbs, as they are better situated for indoor growing conditions than some others: rosemary, oregano, savory, chives, thyme, mint, parsley, and sage. 

Sharon’s Urban Gardening Tips for Indoor Herbs

• Turn them weekly so they grow evenly
• Talk to them
• Trim them as needed for cooking 
• Feed them weekly with a half solution of a balanced fertilizer
• Water as needed 

Explorer’s Kit

Perhaps you need to encourage an indoor-loving child to get outside a bit more. What child can resist a kid’s gardening kit? Here’s what Sharon keeps on hand for her grandchildren and other children when they come over:

• A magnifying glass to look at the tiny details of plants and insects.
• A notebook or journal for children to write or draw about what they see.
• A sheet of plexiglass to view insects on. They can look at all sides of them through the plexiglass.
• A stethoscope for listening to trees drinking and bugs chewing and boring into the bark.
• A canning jar with a ring lid and a piece of nylon screen to observe insects and then let them go.
• A measuring tape or ruler.
• A camera for those not-to-miss shots in the garden.
• A flashlight to use at night. 

Above all, Sharon is a big believer in getting out into the garden everyday with kids to observe it. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not absolutely astonished,” she said. “Paying attention is my daily inspiration.”

A Word About Creativity

Finally, Sharon believes that children are naturally creative. It’s the adults who have often had their creativity stomped out from the ups and downs of  life. Adults need to be sure they aren’t stifling the creativity in their children, and perhaps work to recapture their own. 

Overall, Sharon said one of the most important things is to do what the poet Mary Oliver says, “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

You can find Sharon Lovejoy online at her website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

How about you? Are you inspired to try a gardening project with your kids? Let me know what you’ll be planting this summer and fall. If you’d like help with a gardening project, I offer a container gardening workshop in the Indianapolis area for parents and kids to do together. This is a great time to start a container garden for late summer/early fall harvest. Just click on the above link or the picture for details! It’s in Westfield and convenient to Noblesville, Carmel, Fishers, Zionsville, Sheridan, and the surrounding areas.

Just a note, my links to Sharon’s books are Amazon affiliate links, and if you purchase any of them, I will receive a small amount of money from that purchase. Thank you if you do that. It helps me to continue my work!

Just a quick note to let you know I’ll have a booth at the Nickel Plate Arts Maker Faire at the Town Square in Noblesville, Indiana, this Saturday, June 15 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. I’ll be there along with lots of other makers and artisans. The Strawberry Festival is going on too, so it’s sure to be a fun, yummy time.

Last year we had record heat (96 degrees!), so I’m happy that this year’s weather forecast is looking MUCH cooler! 

New Family Collection!

I am showcasing my new Family Collection along with natural beauty products, so I’ll have chemical-free, botanical products for every member of the family. Below is a picture of my old-fashioned rose water that I made from the Rosa rugosa roses in my garden. I found two lovely vintage glass bottles at an antique store in Florida to showcase some of the rose water, and these will be for sale in my shop.

Hope to see you at the faire!

Botanically Me,