Thrive on Neglect Flowering Plants

Tip 24: Plant a "Thrive on Neglect Flower Garden"

Do you love flowers but dislike fussing over them? These are my recommendations.

Sedum: Sedum are succulent type plants that come in all types of interesting shapes, sizes, colors and flower varieties. They thrive on little to no care, spread without becoming invasive and can be propagated easily. Some are great for ground covers while others make beautiful specimen plants. Share them with friends to expand your collection. I like to get a couple of new varieties every year. I live in North Dakota and they even survive our winters.

Lamium: This is a ground cover that spreads easily, comes in a variety of interesting leaf varieties and flower colors. Some varieties may become invasive to take care with the type you grow. Tolerates shade.

Rudbeckia: This sun-loving plant can really take the heat, but tolerates frigid winters. Most are yellow and orange in color although new colors are coming out every year. They reseed on their own but do not become invasive.

Heliopsis: This tall plant puts out yellow flowers all summer and into the fall. It reseeds on its own. Other than occasional dead heading, it needs nothing.

Reblooming Day Lilies: This is another hardy, plant and forget flower. Plant a few bulbs in the spring or fall and just watch them grow, never needing another thing.

Song of Songs 2.12:

The flowers appear on the earth;
the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtle-dove
is heard in our land

Simple, Meaningful Easter Tree

Tip #23 Easy Easter Tree

Easter is a major Christian holiday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb of death. For many years I've had an Easter tree that I begin at this time of the year by snipping branches from my lilac bushes and putting them in water. Over the weeks of Lent, prior to Easter, the buds gradually begin to open into beautiful green leaves. This works well with other dormant shrubs as well.

If you want to get fancy you could put ribbons on the tree or other little ornaments. I prefer to appreciate the beauty of the new leaves and their symbol of new life.

The Functional Home

Tip #22 Blending Function and Form

One of the problems of the way my home is organized is that sometimes I sacrificed function for form. The goal is to blend the two together for an uncluttered, attractive, practical home. Here are a few adjustments that I made to this end.

Paper work is my biggest struggle. For example, filling out Flex Forms for reimbursement used to mean hunting in the office filing cabinet for invoices, forms and insurance statements. Now, I keep all incomplete paperwork in a folder next to my cookbooks. Once the reimbursement comes through, the invoices and insurance statements are dated and filed. This has saved a lot of time and hassle.

My husband brings work home from the office frequently. Since we both enjoy working in the living room where are a large window looks over the lake, paperwork tends to collect and clutter. Since we do not have room for a desk in the living room I started to put various projects into folders and using the entertainment center as a sort of file cabinet. Only current projects are kept there. Everything else goes into the office filing cabinet.

It is a challenge to keep a small home organized and uncluttered. Being innovative and practical with one's space helps solve some of these problems.

A Simple Quiet Life

Tip #21: Diminish Auditory Overload

Noise is distracting. There are many ways to control the environment to reduce the amount of noise entering into the brain. We decided to disconnect our TV service. We no longer listen to the din of endless, often nonsensical chatter on the TV. When we speak, we can hear each other. When we pray, we hear God in our hearts and souls. We are much more tuned into nature, the call of birds, the hoot of owls in our yard, the wind of a new weather front coming through.

This may take some getting used to, and occasionally, I miss the inane chatter of human voices. Usually, the simple quiet of the earth and its creatures produces a calming affect compatible with living a Godly life.

Feeling Weak Sometimes?

Tip#20 - You are Strong When You are Weak

One of the paradoxes of living a holy life is that even when feeling weak, one can be strong through grace. 2Corinthians 12:9-10 addresses this paradox. "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong."

The weaker I am, the more I depend upon Christ for strength. Here is an example. My body has a chronic illness or two. Some might say that I am weaker because of this; but that is not the case at all. It is during those times of weakness that I rely most upon Jesus for my strength. Those are my times of greatest strength. I give up busyness and take on the simple life of prayer and meditation resulting in a strength that previously seemed unattainable.

Consider the Lilies of the Field

Tip #19 All things come in due season.

As another cold snap settles in around the lake I have been considering the lilies of the field. Were they fooled by the few days of above freezing temperatures we experienced a couple of weeks ago? Are the stirrings of spring becoming restless deep within their bulbs of life, or, are they biding their time in faith that it will again be warm? Perhaps they are doing a bit of both.

Matthew 6:28...Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

Making the Best of Disappointment

Tip 18: Accept the Circumstances

Preparations for the trip began months ago with prayers, letters, maps, reading, study, rearranging schedules and great anticipation. Then, the monkey wrenches started to be tossed into the plans. We can overcome that barrier, we can jump this hurdle, or so we thought. At some point came the realization that it just wasn't going to work out and the trip was cancelled, for now.

We all know what disappointment feels like when something we looked forward to just doesn't work out. So what is one to do about it? Accept and make the best of it. One thing I have learned in life is that God has a plan for us and all things work for God's purpose. Say, "Yes" to God and "No" to the temptation of having it my may, or thinking that we ultimately are in control.