Morning Glory: The beauty of being Transparent

This morning I came outside and saw this beautiful Morning Glory! I was just struck by how beautiful it was! I love how they shine and glow, and then I could feel God speaking to my heart, using this beautiful morning glory to reveal his truth to me.

Just look at how the light shines through it! God made us to shine his light through, so that others can see him in us!

Lately I've been reading through the book of James, and today the verse that stood out to me was:
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17 (NIV)
"Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow." James 1:17 (NLT)
As I read that verse I felt the Lord speaking to my heart a promise, that if I would trust him and be transparent he WILL shine through me.
That is very hard to do! When you are transparent, others can SEE YOU, and if others see you there is a risk of being hurt by them! You risk being judged, rejected, you name it, that is one of my biggest fears! Yet lately God has been challenging me to open up more and more, to be transparent, to let him shine through me how he wants to.
I also fear if I let others see my brokenness, my imperfections and weaknesses that they won't see God in me but just a bunch of blah.

BUT what the Lord was speaking to my heart is that he won't let that happen, as my face/heart/life is inclined towards him, and I allow myself to be transparent that he WILL shine through. I can trust him with that! He won't change or cast a shifting shadow! I just have to do my part and be transparent!

Garden Update

Dark purple petunias have the most fragrance, the darker the stronger they are! They smell a lot like jasmine!

Freshly planted Daylilies!

Gerard has been installing an automatic watering system! Our dream is coming alive! Because of the watering system we are able to plant more and extend and place things better! Even pathways are starting to form!

Pretty Flowers and Veggie Harvest

The Honeysuckle smells SO GOOD!!!

Our Passionflowers have been blooming a lot lately!

Harvested TONS of Greenbeans today!

Also harvested some tomatoes, jalapenos, and banana peppers. We made salsa from it too, and also planning on making stuffed jalapenos!

Daylilies and Hibiscus

Wildflower in our Garden

We had an interesting wildflower pop up in our garden and it's so pretty that we don't have the heart to pull it out!!! LOL We don't know what it is but doesn't the flower remind you of foxglove?

Transforming a Shed to a Gazebo

We've been dreaming and one of the dreams has been to turn this old shed into a Garden Gazebo! So we both love the idea and it finally reached a point where we wanted to DO IT!

Hubby knocked off all the siding and removed the door and old garage door. The electrical you see was jury-rigged by someone previously we've undone it because it's a fire hazard...

When we got all the siding off we found out that the framing isn't secured properly to the cement foundation!!! So next step is to bolt it down properly so that it is a safe structure!
Imagine with us what it will be when there is an opening on the front facing long side and "windows" all around like gazebos do. Also some lattice to give it more gazebo effects and with vines growing around it and gardening all around!!!
We want it to be a nice place for hanging out, BBQing, or a garden party!

UPDATE!  Had to tear down instead.  Here's a Link to that Update:  Shed Down.

Guest Bathroom Update

Hubby is preparing to paint by finishing up the walls!

Yellow Rose Today