♱ᥫ᭡¤🌿Nature as a Teacher🌿¤ᥫ᭡♱

“𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕗𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥. 𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝: 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤.”

~ 𝕂𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕄𝕠𝕠𝕣𝕖, 𝔼𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕙’𝕤 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕄𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕔

♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱ᥫ᭡♱

In May, I'm tackling more *emotional, spiritual, and creative growth* with journaling inspiration from @leacayoungart Leaca Young’s class “The Heart of Journal Writing” #theheartofjournalwriting - 2nd quarter is *Growth & Connection*. One of the May prompts is, “Nature as a Teacher.” There's a *lot* of Leaca inspiration here: quotes, stencils, swatching, printables, ideas, & support.

And, @ShaydaCampbell ‘s May “Journal With Me” prompts include: *slow down and savor the season*...create a peaceful, spring-inspired layout with simple floral borders, soft color palettes, and plenty of breathing room for thoughts and plans… my journal needs a LOT more calm.

A lot of fabric, stencils, & inspiration went into this spread. During a recent visit to Goodwill, I found scarves & lace & a pretty baby's dress with pockets and embroidery. I hand stitched onto a pattern in the olive scarf. The rest is a garden I've created where my heart & studies & the Holy Spirit led me this week (study below).

Happies from my friends: a heart inspired by @soul_positive Kristi Nazzaro's that I stamped & blanket stitched; Homespun cardstock stickers by @illustratedfaith (thank you, @annetta_ale.art ); @artfoamies hollyhock (stamped in modeling paste & watercolored with beet dye); hand stitched bits by @slaphappystudios Kim 🌿🩷; washi tape from @umwowstudio @deedeecatron & @sethapter & @alteredstatesstudio Kristin Peterson; and to my dear artistic *sisters* @retired21 Ann, @tlbaum Terry, and @amiesea Amie who always inspire me to stitch & use fabric in creative ways; @theuglyartclub THREADS May theme #tuacthread #uglyisstillart #theuglyartclub #tuac Lots of hand stitching & machine sewing on this.

#artheals #Christianartist #ArtForTheLord #radiategodslove #collageartist #MixedMediaArt #elegantgrunge #findjoyintheordinary #itsthelittlethings #GodsWordEveryDay #createshareinspire #messyart #LetGoOfPerfection #handstitched #sewinginmyjournal #dirtyfingershappyart #theworldismycraftstore #usewhatyouhave #imperfectionismymiddlename #positivitythroughcreativity #saveyourscraps #creativecommunity #slowstitching #everythingbutthekitchensink #junkjournaling

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Study notes

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🌱 Soul Seeds: Nature as a Teacher 🌳

What can nature teach us about patience, resilience, and transformation? (Song of the week - "Sounds from the Heart of the Woods" by @traceymusgrave )

There’s a hush that falls when I find myself among trees, reveling in the elements of the natural world - an unspoken invitation to breathe deeper, listen longer, and notice more. Lately, I’ve been drawn to that hush, to the sacred stillness that only nature seems to offer, especially in seasons of chaos, anxiety, or unknowing.

We live in a world that shouts and spins, but the earth whispers with words from the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t rush Spring, or apologize for Winter. He knows something we forget: transformation takes time. Even when a tree appears bare, life pulses quietly beneath the bark. Roots deepen. Sap stirs. Hidden growth prepares the way for what’s to come.

The first Psalm paints a beautiful image:

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." (Psalm 1:3)

“Oh, golden and admirable Word by which is asserted the liberty of Christian righteousness. The ungodly have their stated days, stated times, certain works, and certain places; to which they stick so closely, that if their neighbours were perishing with hunger, they could not be torn from them. But this blessed man, being free at all times, in all places, for every work, and to every person, will serve you whenever an opportunity is offered him; whatsoever comes into his hands to do, he does it. He is neither a Jew, nor a Gentile, nor a Greek, nor a barbarian, nor of any other particular person. He gives his fruit in his season, so often as either God or man requires his work. Therefore his fruits have no name, and his times have no name.” ~ Martin Luther

The one whose God is the Lord is promised a never-failing supply of nourishment and limitless refreshment for the soul. My roots are deeply embedded in the truth of God's Word, and my sustenance flows from multiple streams of God's eternal provision.

My path is that I choose to not grow wild, however strong or luxuriant it may appear; but am carefully cultivated, and for the proper growth of which all the advantages of soil and situation have been chosen (alluding to the custom of irrigation in the eastern countries, where streams are conducted from a canal or river to different parts of the ground, and turned off or on at pleasure). God has no more to do than by His foot to turn a sod from the side of one stream, to cause it to share its waters with the other parts to which he wishes to direct His course. An uncultivated soul is like an uncultivated field, all overgrown with briers, thorns, and thistles.

To sit under such a tree - a symbol of well-rooted peace - and muse with God is to be reminded that everything I need is already near. The presence of God, like a living stream, sustains me quietly, persistently. Even when the world feels like a wilderness, He draws near.

I rest in Christ and am the one in whom the Lord Himself abides, for I will produce the beautiful fruit of righteousness at the right time and in the best way. I am the one who works the works of God through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit... and my words, actions, attitudes, and motives are grounded on God's word and honour His holy name.

As I follow His path, His expectation is never disappointed. Fruit is expected, fruit is borne; and it comes also in the time in which it should come. I read, pray, and meditate, and will always seek the work which God has given me to do; the power by which I am to perform it; and the times, places, and opportunities for doing those things by which God can obtain most glory, my own soul most good, and my neighbor most edification.

The tree is always healthy; it is extending its roots, increasing its woody fibers, circulating its nutritive juices, putting forth fruit buds, blossoms, leaves, or fruit; and all these operations go on in a healthy tree, in their proper seasons. So the godly (wo)man; I am ever taking deeper root growing stronger in the grace he has already received, increasing in heavenly desires, and under the continual influence of the Divine Spirit, forming those purposes from which much fruit to the glory and praise of God shall be produced.

The final promise in this verse is success in all I do - "for in whatever he does, he will prosper". The prosperity in his verse is not the compromised gospel that is taught in the emerging Churches…nor is it the alternative 'prosperity' gospel of 'health and wealth' teachings. God is working in each of our lives from an eternal perspective and the (wo)man who prospers in everything he undertakes is the one who takes up his cross and follows Christ. (S)he is the one who is led and guided by the indwelling Spirit; (s)he is the one who maintains ongoing fellowship with our heavenly Father and presses on the high call of the gospel of Christ.

“Silence, I discover, is something you can actually hear.” ~ Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

That sense of wild happiness, the joy that doesn't demand performance, often finds me when I let nature do the teaching. When I stop striving and start observing. When I stop numbing and start noticing. Nature invites us to this kind of freedom. To widen our compassion. To pause. To listen. To grieve. To begin again.

“When you are quiet, the silence blows against your mind and etches away everything that is soft and unimportant. What is left is what is real: pure awareness and the very hardest questions.” ~ Kathleen Dean Moore, Earth’s Wild Music

These hushed places - the desert, the deep forest, the crashing shore - are often where God begins His deepest work in me. In the hush of the forest, the stillness before dawn, I remember: the soft place I find to land is always where my roots are, where my heart lies in the quiet assurance that I am loved and safe. It's a solitude that restores.

And so I rest. I trust. Through nature You teach me this rhythm of quiet wisdom, the strength of hidden flourishing, and the sacred refuge I find in Your presence: to let go, to be held, to root deep, and to find bliss in shaking free my worries and struggles as leaves scattered away by Your life-restoring Ruach - I long to scatter seeds of Your love everywhere, and to bloom gently into whatever comes next.

🌿 A Closing Prayer 🌳

Holy One, root me near Your waters.

Spirit, teach me to be still.

When the storms come, Jesus, hold me steady. When the winds rise, carry away what no longer serves.

Let me find my joy in You alone, and bloom in the quiet faithfulness of being fully Yours.

Amen.