New Year

Christmas is over,
the New Year hovers.
At the store Christmas merchandise is reduced
and there is something else that does seduce.

In January you'll find displayed
something that will induce in you play.
There are peat pots and soil displayed
next to seed packets on display.

A gardener's heart
quickens at the start
of this promise of a new year
as to this aisle they steer.

There's tomatoes, peppers,
corn, peas, cucumbers,
carrots, beets, green beans,
eggplant, yellow beans...

green and yellow summer squash,
pumpkins and winter squash,
cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower,
next to an array of bright flowers.

There's annuals
and perennials
in a rainbow of colors.
Each seed waiting to flower.

Cone flowers and pansies,
impatiens and daisies,
foxglove, zinnias, marigolds, hollyhocks -
happy gardeners come away with lots.

A gardener is seen with a smile
as in the seed display aisle
they pick and choose seed packets
that promise a new year in it.

For each new year a gardener has a dream
of growing the best garden they had ever seen.
They temporarily forget about what makes one want to scream -
Japanese beetles, slugs, aphids, black spot, which destroy anything green.

They just know that in each seed a miracle
patiently waiting to be let out and then grow
into something beautiful -
rather flower or vegetable.

Each January a new year has begun
as every gardener dreams and searches among
the seed packets in their rotating bins,
each containing a miracle within.

* * * * *

For many, a new year brings resolutions
with the hope of a new found solution.
If only we could adhere to our self-promises
and everyday keep this resolution/promise.

But humans are fallible,
sometimes quite unreliable.
Prone to fail,
quickly bail...

when times are tough
and the going's rough.
Humans may become unstable
forgetting that prayer enables.

Forgetting that with God for them and with them, anything is possible.
As you study the scriptures, you'll find the Bible is full of examples.
With God, impossible
spells "I'm possible".

Next time try prayer instead of quitting.
Your resolution you'll be keeping
for prayer enables one to remain strong
when faced with the thought to quit, which is wrong.

Don't give up.
Keep looking up
for with God, what you think might be impossible
strengthens you resolution, becoming doable.

Have faith.
God's grace
will always strengthen and enable
making your resolution possible.

Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,11

Matthew 19:26

Mark 10:27

Luke 1:37

Luke 18:27

Hebrews 11:6

Missing these pots of gold here at Rainbow Ends, though enjoying the fruits of my labor this winter.

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol II

go to WestBow Press, Amazon, B&N.

To order Life Is a Garden Party, Vol I

go to Amazon or B&N.