Ms. Fancy Dress

Here comes Ms. Fancy Dress.
She's today's garden guest.
She's invited herself for afternoon tea.
She comes because this tea party is free.
Wearing an eye-catching floating gown
this afternoon she's seen waltzing round and round.

She sips pink lemonaide tea first. Delightful!  Ahhhh!
Does she know its Latin name?  Echinacea.
Purple cone flower is its common name.
Ms. Fancy Dress sips from its stamens.
She sips from one, then another
as her gossamer wings flutter.

Then orange juice tea attracts her attention
at this mid-summer day afternoon luncheon.
This tea is really turkscap lilies.
Soon she's punch drunk and becomes quite silly.
She's seen hanging upside down
covered with orange pollen.

Next lavender garden phlox is quietly sipped
as her long feeding tube unerringly dips
but she seems to like pink lemonaide the best
as she shares with other tea-drinking garden guests.
They're her friends the bees
here for afternoon tea.

Just who is Ms. Fancy Dress?
Who is this welcome garden guest?
Yellow with black dots and stripes and a blue ruffled hem,
to see her waltz always attracts my attention.
No fashion designer or seamstress the world over
could come up with these coordinates of color.

Too soon her belly is filled,
For a few minutes I was thrilled
to visit with my garden guest.
There she goes, Ms. Fancy Dress.
She's a yellow swallowtail
who's talked about in this tale.

* * * * *

Oh the poise of Ms. Fancy Dress as she flounces about.
Even if a gossamer wing is torn, she still gallivants.
Though her God-given mission
is for pollination
she attracts much attention
from gardeners and children.

As if not a care in the world,
she seems to reduce worries that whirl.
Her agility and grace
brings smiles to many a face.
Her bouyancy exhibits
lightness of spirit.

She's not weighed down with the cares of this world,
trusting in her Creator her needs are upheld.
She brightens many a day
with her cheerful, carefree ways.
If life were a dance,
her waltz will enchant.

This lightness of spirit is also available to us
through believing faith as we choose to live a life of trust.
Life has many worries that tend to get us down,
forgetting God's faithfulness and leaving behind a frown
but God has a solution for worry
and a feeling of anxiety.

It's 'cast all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you".
Yes, seeking God in prayer is the antidote for what worries you.
If you're at all familiar with the Psalms,
you'll realize the David prayed often -
in thankfulness,
in distress.

When victorious or at wit's end.
When pursued by enemies without end.
Rather these enemies were physical,
emotional, or irrational.
David knew one remedy for anxiety was to offer praise to God at all times.
Praising God focuses on God's loving kindness allowing God's faithfulness to shine.

Through life's various surprise twists and turns,
disappointments, not knowing which way to turn,
let prayer bring you needed peace and comfort
healing emotional and physical hurts.
God hears our heart's cry when we pray
even when we don't know what to say.

Acts 17:28

I Peter 5:7

Philippians 4:6-7

Psalm 148

Romans 8:26-27

Romans 15:4

For those of you new to this blog, there's a gardening observation followed by a spiritual application with scripture, in rhyme.  Each story is a 3-in-one:  about gardening, encouragement through God's Word, and a 'poem'.  I have some copies of my first book available for $15 plus s&h. I may be publishing my second book soon.  Waiting in expectation to see what doors God may open.