The prayer garden, mid-spring, full of what we like to call "creepers". Ugh!!! Creepers are tough weeds to get rid of, one of the most challenging to any gardener. I sprayed them and waited, hoping they would succumb to the herbicide I used. Some did and some didn't. I'm still struggling with creepers and past experience with gardening tells me that I will struggle with creepers in this garden for a long time, until little by little I have less and less of them and then they are finally under control but never completely gone. It made me think about sin in my life. Weeds like "creepers" are kind of like sin. Sin can get out of control in our lives especially when the Holy Spirit first points out something that we need to change or work on that we've allowed to go on for awhile. It can feel overwhelming and that first confession and desire to change can make a big difference like my herbicide but it doesn't seem to ever completely get rid of it. Our old sinful nature is pretty determined to keep showing up and my experience with sin is that it takes the determination and persistence to keep pulling that creeper before it gets under control but maybe is never completely gone. Why doesn't God just take our sin away? I think He desires for us to learn how to depend on Him, be persistent, and keep working at being a new creation in Christ with the Holy Spirits help. "Creepers" are annoying and frustrating and sometimes just plain work, kind of like the sin in my life but because of God's grace and love for me I can see improvements and I can see that though I'll never be perfect and the sin in my life may never be completely gone there can be progress!

Another picture of the garden with the pavers in. I love how the center and two paths turned out to look a lot like a celtic cross.

Early, early spring of 2009 we started working on the prayer garden again. Moving dirt and working on the 12 foot center, the progress was amazing and it was so exciting to see it really take shape! Work is worship and building a beautiful garden such as this has been a very worshipful experience for me. I think that God made me specifically to work hard. When I work I am happy, peaceful, full of purpose and joy. When I have no work I have no peace. Am I a workaholic? Maybe. But I find that when I sit for too long and am idle then my mind gets me in trouble. God creates us all differently and I love to work and create beautiful things, like this garden, that others can enjoy. I have prayed and prayed and worshiped while building this garden and I believe that God has indeed blessed my life already in this experience!

These pictures were taken last fall when I first began building the prayer garden. It was so exciting to see the plans for this 40 foot round garden finally taking shape. Fall of 2008 I laid out the paths and flower areas for the north half of the garden. I also dug the 12 foot round center out so that we could lay the pavers in the spring. I started dreaming about this garden while we were in Israel during the spring of 2008. I loved the serene gardens that surrounded so many of the holy sites that we visited while we were there. I wanted to create a place where people could come and commune with God within nature, feel the presence of the Holy Spirit and have time to just pray in whatever way they desire to. I incorporated a labyrinth into the pattern because I think that some people pray more effectively when they can walk and talk with God. I love the imagery of being on a pilgrimage while on this earth and I wanted to include that idea in this garden as well, walking a labyrinth reminds us that we are on a journey with God. That I am on a journey with God thoughout my lifetime.