Camp Creation

 

 

 

  

St. David's School offers a camp program each year after the preschool ends

for the school year. The children thrive in this environment of love

as they learn about God's creation.

On the last day of camp, the camp creation campers and staff together

with Rev. Mary Kay and I shared time in the Restoring Eden Garden.

The children shared stories of their camp experience and we all sang and celebrated

God's creation in the garden, along with rejoicing that God created us all!

 It was a fun spirit filled morning.

 

The children planted zinnia seeds in the center circle of the garden. The circle reminds us

 that we are all connected in community. The zinnia flowers have a special meaning

of lasting love and affection. The zinnia flower blooms will be a visual reminder

of God's love and affection for us.



 

 

 

The children gifted the garden with these beautiful stepping stones.

These stepping stones will be part of the stepping stone paths throughout the garden

that represent who we are as a community at

 St. David's Episcopal Church and School.

We are a community that is:

 

Transforming Lives Through Christ

Joyful Worship, Celebrating Community, Engaging Outreach and Lifelong Learning

 

  

We talked about all the things seeds need:

 soil, water, light and care to grow. 

 Like the seeds,

  we talked about the things we need to grow in body, mind and spirit.

These pictures honor these children who embody the Kingdom of God as their

light shines with their exploration of all things bright and beautiful.

 

Through their eyes

we are invited to the windows of their souls.

The light in their hearts shines in their faces,

with their inquisitiveness

 and in their gentle nature.

 

We need to keep on sowing

the seeds of Jesus Christ,

of love, hope, grace and mercy

into our children's lives.

 

Entering the Garden

"Entering a garden is like passing through a mystical gate." 

Thomas Moore, The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life.

If you have entered the Restoring Eden Project Contemplative Garden recently, you would have seen a new sign on the double doors. The sign reads:

Restoring Eden Garden Safety and Usage

All are welcome to use the Restoring Eden Contemplative Garden area outside the narthex.
This is an area of quiet prayer, reflection and fellowship.
The vegetable garden is a working garden. 
 For safety, children and youth must be supervised at all times.

 Thank you.

The entrance of the garden is more than a location. This a sacred threshold where the exuberant joy of children, the contemplative thoughts of prayer and fellowship unite with the Holy Spirit in shared space. For some it is or will become a type of inner sanctum. For others it is or will become a colorful, fragrant  haven when the joy of children will hop from slate to slate chasing butterflies. The garden is a space where all who enter can be more fully open to a personal movement of the Spirit while respecting the community around them. 

Come, enter the garden joyfully.

Come, enter the garden prayerfully.

Come, enter the garden, soaking in the warmth of the sun...God's embracing hug.

Come and enter the garden and dance with God.

"Behind the soulfulness of pure, saturated light and color, as best see in the myriad flowered faces of nature, is the beautiful face of God smiling down in blessing upon us."

Narana

Garden Resurrection

"God planted a mustard seed

deep within my heart

A tiny grain, a kingdom presence,

a hidden germ of life

warmed by God's love it grew

sending down its roots

a tender shoot, branches too

and its season fruit

A harvest far beyond my dreams

increasing through the years
A miracle, a life transformed

abundant act of grace."

The Easter Story is alive in the Restoring Eden Garden. Bulbs, all beautiful, pushed their fragile heads up through the chilly earth. Splashes of daffodils, sunny and golden waved in the cool spring air.  Red tulips danced in their interlacing cluster of a cross formation.

Spring burst forth in the garden with glorious new life just as we entered the Easter Season. God is working in the garden as we experience this new life at the Easter Sunrise Service along with the energy, joy and inquisitiveness this is creating in our community.
The garden is a constant reminder of the Easter story.  Each time we plant a seed, bury it in the earth, and watch it sprout, we participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  I think Jesus was aware of this relationship too.  "Unless a seed of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed but if it dies, it produces many seeds."
We are all like a seed waiting to be transformed by the power of the resurrection. 

Dying......Resurrection......Eastertide

We embrace the season of Eastertide, the celebration of light and life,  in the garden. This is a way to engage in the season of Easter beyond just one day. Eastertide is the 50 days after Easter. This is a time to practice resurrection.  This is a time to cultivate resurrection in our lives and in the lives we encounter every day. This is a time to be reborn and
"sow it forward" sharing our abundance as we live the gospel.

The Easter lilies and hydrangeas that adorned our sanctuary will be planted in the contemplative garden space. They will be reborn each year with glorious blooms.  Life dances in the garden with the preschool children who explore with exuberant joy as birds and butterflies create their habitat. The Family Fun Night Ministry prepared the soil and planted tomato plants in the vegetable garden area. Sunday May 5th we are having our first community planting day in the vegetable garden that feeds the hungry in Loudoun County.

I believe our faith is not a faith of reading something and thinking, “How nice.” Our faith is a faith of proclamation, action, prayer, and response....living the gospel.  Easter implores us to proclaim the resurrection, and the garden is one way that offers us a simple, profound, and even quirky way to do so.

Come get your hands dirty. Jesus did.

Moving Forward

" So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. "

1 Corinthians 3: 7-9

The vegetable garden continues to thrive.  There is an abundance of new tomatoes growing along with some peppers. The kale has taken root. This will be our final harvest for this year. We have harvested over 40lbs of vegetables so far. These vegetables have blessed our friends at the Loudoun Free Clinic, the shelter and Grace to Go in October.

Moving forward.

After many months of prayer, meetings, discussions, drawings, estimates and discernment, work on the Restoring Eden Contemplative Garden space is underway. God has a plan and he has placed that plan, that dream, on the hearts of the Restoring Eden Board for all who walk through the doors of St. David's.  Everyone is welcome.

On Saturday the crew was out there digging the path for the handicap accessible walkway and patio.  The flower garden and areas are marked and work will continue over the next week. A community bulb planting day will be planned in a few weeks and a garden maintenance committee formed.

I thanked God for this holy space as I stood in the sunshine holding some dirt in my hand. The gentle breeze reminded me of the breath of God breathing life into the beginning of creation.  God continues to breathe life into this project in so many ways with the love, grace and hard work of many.

First Harvest: Being Good Stewards of Creation

 

On Sunday September 9th two baskets of vegetables were presented during the offertory in thanksgiving for the blessing of the Restoring Eden Project's first harvest.

Praise God from whom all blessing flow.

Praise Him all creatures here below.

Praise Him, Ye, Heavenly host.

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

 

Our first harvest is blessed with abundance. We were able to provide 18lbs of fresh vegetables to the Loudoun Free Clinic for distribution to those in need.

 

This awe-inspiring harvest is indeed a gift from God. We rejoice in creation and praise God from whom all blessings flow.  The tomatoes are hanging in tempting juicy red clusters from the vine, the yellow squash look scrumptious , the purple eggplant are thriving and the peppers are plump and vibrant green...making it easy to find our resident toad who lives among the vegetables.

 

 

What comes out of the garden will be shared with the communities at Loudoun Interfaith Relief, the Loudoun Free Clinic, the local shelters and those in need who come through our doors here at St. David's. This first harvest is joyous and is teaching us about the ways of God.

 

We continue to learn that God provides enough for our own needs AND an abundance to give away and share...being blessed to be a blessing to others...being blessed to be good stewards of this gift.   It reminds me of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand with the loaves and fishes.
 

 ^"Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift

each of you has received." 1 Peter 4:10

We can't hold onto our vegetables too long, they would spoil. God provides what is needed for now ...this first harvest. 18 pounds of vegetables may not see like much. They provided what was needed that day at the clinic. This reminds me of the manna with which God fed the Israelites in the desert. If they gathered too much and tried to hoard it, it would spoil. God blessed them with enough for that moment.

God's blessing is in the midst of the garden.

Namaste'
Maureen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



VA National Guard at St. David's

On Saturday June 2, 2012 members of the VA National Guard came to St. David's to build raised vegetable beds, till the soil, lay mulch and assemble the rain barrel. The soldiers, gave of their time as part of a day of thanksgiving and appreciation to the Loudoun County Community. St. David's and the Restoring Eden Board is so thankful for their help in getting our project underway.   Be sure to scroll down and see the progress in the post:
Inch by Inch /Row by Row           

^"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God,

who are called according to his purpose."

                                                                                              Romans 8:28

Inch by Inch, Row by Row

Inch by inch, row by row ,
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe,
And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row,
Please bless these seeds I sow
Please warm them from below,
'Till the rain comes tumbling down.

 Pulling weeds and picking stones                                                       

       Man is made of dreams and bones
       Feel the need to grow my own,

       'Cause the time is close at hand.
       Grain for grain, sun and rain,

       Find my way in nature's chain
       Tune my body and my brain, To the music from the land.

Inch by inch, row by row ,
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe,
And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row,
Please bless these seeds I sow
Please warm them from below,
'Till the rain comes tumbling down.



  Plant your rows straight and long,                             
  Temper them with a prayer and song                        
  Mother Earth will make you strong,
  If you give her love and care.                         
  An old crow watching
  From his perch in yonder tree 
  And in my garden I'm as free,
  as that feathered thief up there.

     Inch by inch, row by row ,
Gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe,

 And a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row,

Please bless these seeds I sow
Please warm them from below,

'Till the rain comes tumbling down.

               The Garden Song by David Mallett