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Poppin’ Up!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled {thoughtful} post… to bring you this {rambling} drivel:

In addition to the massive quantity of squash we have poppin’ up in our veggie garden, there are a few other fabulous thing-a-ma-bobs poppin’ up around here.

Namely…

turbine (1 of 1)

The first 4 of 125 giant wind turbines nestled nicely into the fields of the farming communities near us.

328-foot-tall turbines, to be exact. 

It’s a powerful {green} thing!

And then there’s this glorious thing {that we had been eye-balling at SAMS for the past 6 months, and were finally able to nab on clearance) that took 6 days to “pop up”…

playset (1 of 1)

I am not exaggerating in the least bit when I say that not one single item in these 4 giant boxes – apart from the swing chains – was attached to another. 

My precious man, my wonderful dad, and a few kind friends who happened to unwittingly come and go during those 6 days, assembled each and every piece of this structure. 

They’re my heroes!

playset (2 of 1)

You might be wondering why you can’t you see brightly clothed children happily playing on it?  Well, the answer to that would be…because the almost-completely-naked children who are playing on it are conveniently concealed behind wooden slats.   See ‘em? 

I’m not talking about the hairy one.

Dude, didn’t their mother ever teach them to get dressed? 

Sheesh.

playset (3 of 1)

As an awe-inspiring storm rolled in on this particular evening, we lingered to watch the dark clouds collide with the blue skies…and I was treated to a rare experience.  Capturing a bolt of lightning on camera…

lightning (1 of 1)

It may not be an awfully impressive bolt of lightning…but it’s a bolt none the less!  {knuckle bumps}

We also happen to have a delightful cluster of fruit poppin’ up on our trees this year.  Apples and peaches, baby!  I have BIG plans for these luscious things.

apples and peaches (1 of 1)

We’ve only lived here for a year and a half, and I was devastated when these trees didn’t give us so much as a blossom last year.  Turns out these babies only produce every other year.  Who knew?

And one of my personal favorites that has popped up just this past week…

An extra shelf in my laundry room!  Who knew extra storage space and room for organization was a love language?  Aaah, my hubby loves me well.

laundry room (1 of 1)

It literally makes this room a happy place for me!  I’m sure it’ll be even happier when I get this decal up on the wall.

You can see the original lonely shelf here…accidentally way too high on the wall. 

Only tall people were apparently allowed to shower at our house and borrow towels.  Shorter people are now welcomed.

Now, before my little loin fruit start poppin’ up in the morning, I had better pop into bed.

Related posts:

  1. The Tale of Three Trees
  2. When in Saginaw…
  3. The Pierced Bean, An Escape & Other Such Nonsense
  4. Here’s to 2011
«
»

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Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
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Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

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What if grace has been waiting for you where perfe What if grace has been waiting for you
where perfection never could take you?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, we wrap up our exploration of the 9 Enneagram types, and how each one engages grief, with Type One: The Reformer.

We'll explore the gift of integrity, the burden of the inner critic, and the freedom that comes when we stop striving to earn what God has already given.

The Enneagram may reveal the stories we've believed to survive.
But only grace tells us who we've been all along.

🎧 Episode 038 is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
From the front, our little apple tree is living he From the front, our little apple tree is living her best life: laden with fruit and bursting with life.

But that’s only half the story.

Take a walk around the backside and you’ll see something entirely different: a large branch, nearly a third of the tree, black and barren. Clearly diseased. Clearly dead. Clearly in need of pruning.

And yet, every time I walk past it on our evening loop around the campground behind our house, it catches me off guard. I forget it’s even there.

Maybe because I prefer to look at the fruitful side.

And isn’t that a little like us?

We’re pretty comfortable displaying the beautiful parts: the wins, the answered prayers, the accomplishments, the parts of life that look healthy and fruitful.

The broken parts? The grief. The struggling relationships. The things we’ve neglected. The places where we’re tired or hurting or simply not okay?

Those we tend to tuck around the backside, hoping no one notices.

But here’s the thing: what we hide still needs tending.

We don’t have to be ashamed of the barren branches. We don’t have to pretend they aren’t there. And we certainly don’t have to wait until everything looks beautiful before we allow ourselves to be honest.

Maybe growth does look like good fruit.

And maybe sometimes it looks like finally walking around back, taking an honest look, and saying, That needs to go.

Pruning isn’t failure.
It’s making room for what’s still alive.

And if you’ve got a few dead branches of your own right now, take heart. You are not the barren branch. You are the whole tree. 🌿

#SimplyBloomCo
If you are a Nine, my prayer is that you would nev If you are a Nine, my prayer is that you would never lose your gift of bringing calm, compassion, and steadiness into a fractured world.

Those are beautiful reflections of the heart of Christ.

But may you also discover that your voice is not an interruption, your needs are not an inconvenience, and your presence is not optional. May you become the kind of peacemaker who tells the truth with love, receives love without shrinking, and lives fully awake to the life God has entrusted to you.

May you know, deep in your soul, that you don't have to disappear to belong.
What if the peace you've been protecting has come What if the peace you've been protecting
has come at the cost of your own presence?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, we're exploring Enneagram Nine: The Peacemaker.

Nines have an incredible gift for helping others feel safe, seen, and understood.
But somewhere along the way, many learned that staying connected meant staying quiet.

What if healing isn't about becoming louder?
What if it's about believing your voice already belongs in the room?

🎧 Episode 037 is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Permission Granted. In case you needed someone t Permission Granted. 

In case you needed someone to tell you: yes, you should absolutely make the impromptu stop at the roadside farm stand and buy the $5 bouquet of flowers.

No, you do not need a reason.

No, you do not need to be buying them for someone else (although that is a perfectly lovely thing to do, too).

Buy them for yourself.
Put them in your kitchen.
Smile every time you walk past them. 🌸

And support your local flower growers and farm stands while you’re at it.

That is all.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled scrolling.
If you are an Eight, my prayer is that you would n If you are an Eight, my prayer is that you would
never lose your fierce love for justice, your courage,
or your willingness to protect those who cannot protect themselves. 

Those are holy gifts.

But may you also discover the freedom of being protected yourself.
May you find people with whom you no longer need armor. And may you know, deep in your bones, that the God who fights for you is inviting you to rest...
not because you're weak, but because you were never meant to carry every battle alone.
The year we moved into this house, a peach tree sp The year we moved into this house, a peach tree spoiled us thoroughly. It produced more peaches than we knew what to do with—cobbler, galette, crumble, smoothies, fruit leathers, and basket loads given away.

Our expectations for peach season were high.

Turns out, that tree was throwing itself a retirement party.
It died the following year.

We’ve since planted two more. The one that has always been unproductive surprised us this summer with these gorgeous, generous peaches. The healthy, established tree that usually produces? One. Single. Peach.

Fruit-bearing is an interesting thing.
Unpredictable. Relatively unmanageable.
Sometimes delicious and sometimes disappointing.

And maybe that’s why I love the reminder it offers:
performance isn’t always a good indicator
of what’s happening beneath the surface.

Take heart, dear one.

Some seasons, you’ll crush the to-do list,
accomplish the goals and have plenty to show for yourself.

Other seasons, you’ll simply keep showing up.
Quietly. Consistently. Faithfully.

And that is enough, too. 🌱
What if your greatest strength was never meant to What if your greatest strength
was never meant to become a hiding place?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, we're continuing in our Summer Enneagram Series by exploring the Type Eight: The Challenger.

Many Eights learned early that strength was safer than vulnerability.
But what if healing isn't about becoming less strong?

What if it's about discovering that courage
and tenderness were never meant to compete?

God isn't asking you to lay down your strength.
He's inviting you to lay down the armor you no longer need.

🎧 Episode 036 is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you identify with the Enneagram 7, my prayer fo If you identify with the Enneagram 7, my prayer
for you is that you would never lose your capacity
for wonder, laughter, creativity, and hope.

Those are sacred gifts.

But may you also discover the freedom of staying present
when life feels heavy. May you trust that joy does not disappear
when sorrow arrives. May you find that God is not only present
in the moments of celebration, but also in the quiet,
painful places you once tried to avoid.

The One who created your joy can also hold your grief.

You are loved.
Follow @SimplyBloomJoy

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