Pencil in His Hand: A Mother's Journal of Stories, Thoughts, and Poems.

  Photo: Denisse Leon. Unsplash Carnival The devil's carnival has them trapped in an endless, mindless game. Brainwashed and addicted they never pause to think; to breathe. They don't know that it's part of his evil plot: never let them stop, never let them look up for if they did, they might wonder and ask. They might find God. *** Copyright: pencil in His Hand *** Garden Glimpses Another fruit on my eggplant! Many pomegranates. They keep bopping me on the head. Peppers Julius says Hi! (He's a grandpa cat. About thirteen now, but still hunting birds!) Thanks for stopping by. Love Alison 🍄❤️🌹🙏

  Splashes of Spring Some garden joy. 😊🌼🌸🌻💕🙏   If I were to choose captions for these photos, I would probably write "joy" beneath each one. You probably recognize these rather common garden plants. None of them are perfect: no doubt, some may have holes in their leaves, and a hungry caterpillar lurking upon them. But none of that matters. The bugs have their part to play too.  What really strikes me as I walk around my Spring garden, is the exuberance; the abundance; the joy. Yes, God is most certainly in the garden. We see Him in the intricate, delicate designs of the flowers and in the industrious creatures. And yes, God is with each believer as we go about our work, or simply sit on a bench to enjoy His company and His Creation. *** Garlands of bright sunshine decorate my gate: Gentle, happy faces, His love now radiate *** Copyright: pencil in His Hand 🌼🌸🌻

  Dearest Readers, I hope you will find something to inspire and encourage you in this longer post. Enjoy! And may God bless you. As usual, I invite you to stay awhile and browse my bookshelves for more free reads.  See you next week, God willing. Love, Alison The Return As Donal put one weary, blistered foot in front of the other, he forced himself to remain alert to danger. He had yet to reach the border between the Broadlands and the Narrows. Donal scratched nervously at his ragged beard and scanned the field beside the road for food. He pounced on some grains which had been forgotten by the harvestors, then stuffed them into his sack quickly. He could see land men in the distance. They were a hot-tempered and mean-spirited folk. He knew this from experience, having been worked nearly to death by a land man for a bare handful of food a day. Donal forced his thin, run down body to move on. Only once he'd reached the shelter of a few boulders did he stop. Then, with his back ...

  A short story, plus more Field of Healing The grim memory resurfaced as Faye surveyed her back yard. Still photographs paraded through her mind: black and white, in keeping with the pathos of that day. In one, her mother was drawing up a plan of how she wanted things to be: perfect, neat, pristine, easily maintained. Boring. The next snap shot; an image of her mother directing her father. Her shrill voice accompanying the memory. "No, George, it must be chopped out. Otherwise it will just grow back again and make more work." And, "Yes, I want the grass gone too. I've called the garden services. It's going to cost more than I want to pay, but it will be worth it." The next scene brought the most pain. "But mommy, can't we keep it? Where will the butterflies and ladybirds live if you dig everything up?" Faye had hoped her mother would miss the wild patch of garden behind the shed. She'd always considered it to be hers: a little wonderland o...

  Cacti babies From my Garden Here is a small window into my garden. In the Southern Hemisphere, we are going into winter after a long, hot, and dry summer. We had some of our first rain yesterday, and the plants are smiling. :) I started sowing Autumn seed last month. So far, I have had some success with egg plant, carrot, and pansy seed. I am waiting on some beetroot and Dusty Miller seed. (That is the informal name.) Dusty Millar is an ornamental bedding plant with white foliage. I still have Swiss chard and spring onions, with new spring onions coming up, and I have some petunias in my favourite colour. Even with life being so busy, I always try to spend some time in the garden. Gardening slows you right down, doesn't it? I've heard people say that God feels very close in the garden, and I tend to agree with that. He is everywhere of course, but perhaps it is because we tend to pause and slow down when we're gardening that we feel His presence more strongly out in His c...