This book is a collection of inspirational, motivational, religious and humourous poems to uplift and inspire you as you go through everyday situations in life.

From the Booker Prize winner and national bestselling author, reflections on gardening, art, literature, and life Penelope Lively takes up her key themes of time and memory, and her lifelong passions for art, literature, and gardening in this philosophical and poetic memoir. From the courtyards of her childhood home in Cairo to a family cottage in Somerset, to her own gardens in Oxford and London, Lively conducts an expert tour, taking us from Eden to Sissinghurst and into her own backyard, traversing the lives of writers like Virginia Woolf and Philip Larkin while imparting her own sly and spare wisdom. "Her body of work proves that certain themes never go out of fashion," writes the New York Times Book Review, as true of this beautiful volume as of the rest of the Lively canon. Now in her eighty-fourth year, Lively muses, "To garden is to elide past, present, and future; it is a defiance of time."

“A visual treat as well as a literary one…for gardeners and garden lovers, connoisseurs of botanical illustration, and those who seek a deeper understanding of the life and work of Emily Dickinson.” —The Wall Street Journal Emily Dickinson was a keen observer of the natural world, but less well known is the fact that she was also an avid gardener—sending fresh bouquets to friends, including pressed flowers in her letters, and studying botany at Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke. At her family home, she tended both a small glass conservatory and a flower garden. In Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life, award-winning author Marta McDowell explores Dickinson’s deep passion for plants and how it inspired and informed her writing. Tracing a year in the garden, the book reveals details few know about Dickinson and adds to our collective understanding of who she was as a person. By weaving together Dickinson’s poems, excerpts from letters, contemporary and historical photography, and botanical art, McDowell offers an enchanting new perspective on one of America’s most celebrated but enigmatic literary figures.

What if your struggles aren’t a barrier to thriving but an invitation into your most vibrant days? Discover how to live a life of joy and fullness, even in the midst of disappointment and broken dreams. How can you find a way forward when life throws you sucker punches, when you face obstacles that seem to snuff out your faith, when you lose someone precious to you? It is in the sacred space of pain and promise that we can begin to flourish. Even in the midst of disappointment and broken dreams it is possible to grow, be strong, and draw near to God. In The Fight to Flourish, Jennie Lusko draws on her experiences after the loss of her five-year-old daughter, Lenya, to show you that the ingredients for a fresh and thriving life are right in front of you. Jennie's story will help remind you of how much God loves you, even when life feels unbearable. With grit and grace, Jennie will help you: Discover that flourishing is not an impossible destination but a divine revelation of where you are right now Find relief from the weight of overwhelming circumstances by resting in the realization that God is fighting for you Trust that God is growing you in the gap between your expectations and your experience The word flourish is written all over you and your future. Discover the ongoing strength that Jennie has found and learn to reengage in life with renewed strength and confidence.

Putting life in place... At the age of sixteen, I could see I lacked something in my life. I had gone to Sunday school for one year while I had to live with my grandmother for my fourth grade in school. I had some health issues, and she lived closer to the doctor. I went to a revival there for two Saturdays in a row. On the second one, I accepted Christ into my life. So since that day, I have tried to serve my Lord. Being a young boy and Christian, it was easy to be led astray while I was in my early years of military life. But in the beginning of my tour in Korea, I was in my sixth month in Korea, the war had been settled. I got a letter from a sixteen-year-old girl that I had never met. About one year and five months, we were married, so I gave most of my life so far to her and my country. The Lord took her home four years and two months ago. I worked for the government for over forty years and was in all the wars during that time--Korea, Desert Storm, and the Gulf in '93. You see, I love my country and want to help keep it free, where everyone can live in peace.

Much more than a how-to flower gardening book (though you will learn how to), Garden Maker is for those who want to grow beautiful things that reflect the glory and majesty of the Creator and bring a little bit of heaven down to earth. From the beginning God made a garden, so it’s no surprise if you feel closer to Him with your hands in the dirt and the sun on your back. There is something profoundly soul-satisfying about creating and cultivating beauty. If you long to experience more splendor in your life, you can grow some of your very own. Join kindred spirit Christie Purifoy as she helps you unearth the simple delights of growing garden flowers, from preparing and planning to creating beautiful bouquets and other arrangements. Lavishly photographed and lovingly written, this all-seasons guide invites you to discover the innumerable joys and wonders to be found in the flower garden.

Something is blooming every day of the year in the renowned gardens at Montrose, Nancy Goodwin's nineteenth-century property in historic Hillsborough, North Carolina. Since moving to Montrose with her husband Craufurd in 1977, Goodwin has transformed more than twenty acres into an extraordinary complex of interlocking gardens that come in and out of focus as the seasons overlap and change. Beautifully written and illustrated, Montrose: Life in a Garden is Goodwin's affectionate biography of her gardens, recounting how and why each section was developed over the years, including the Dianthus Walk, Nandinaland, Hellebore Slope, Mother-in-Law Walk, Snowdrop Woods, and Jo's Bed. It is also a meticulous month-by-month chronicle of a specific year in these gardens--a year that saw a punishing drought that threatened Goodwin's no-irrigation policy, a damaging December ice storm, and the beginnings of a plan to preserve Montrose in the future. Working on her knees for long days throughout the year, Nancy Goodwin always has a vision of how her gardens will appear in twelve months or in twelve years. She will spend weeks, for instance, planting hundreds of snow drops along a woodsy path in order to enjoy a fleeting week of exquisite beauty in coming years. She never puts anything into the ground without imagining what form, color, and texture it will add to a bed. With tireless patience and unflagging optimism, Goodwin will wait years to see a single plant bloom. Following Goodwin's activities throughout the year, readers will learn the fundamentals of maintaining a four-season garden in Zone 7 in the South. Award-winning garden illustrator Ippy Patterson has provided more than 160 lavish illustrations of the gardens at Montrose and these meticulously detailed drawings appear throughout the book.

Essays about May's own garden, other gardens he has visited, and people he has met through gardening.

Life can fall to the depths of despair. And crumble into a million pieces. But there is nothing you cannot bear With a little prayer. As time and rhythm never cease. Life is a blessing, not a curse! Be a part of this world for better or worse! Life’s not fair, but see, life is everywhere. Why don’t you stop, take a breather, and read through a few poems to relax, uplift your spirits, and discover the journey I took through the last six years of my life. This journey was difficult and downright humbling, which allowed me time to pause, reflect, and write my thoughts and feelings down on the pages before you. You will find something of interest that will awaken your soul, and perhaps you will also find some solace through the difficulties you may have faced or are facing. Certainly, life can rock the bottom out of your world but know that life teaches us lessons. We need to take a time-out, recharge, and be true to ourselves. You may also find poems that will give you pause to ponder on all the abundance that we can embrace and to believe that there is something truly spiritual at play and poems that will inspire and embolden you to walk through your life with peace, courage, strength, and trust you are a worthy human being.

This is a book about spirituality, more specifically, the spiritual journey. Before beginning any journey or trip—spiritual or otherwise—we experience a state of order. Then comes the call to journey, to travel, to take a trip, to walk, to pilgrimage, to hit the road, etc. The call to begin a journey may come from an urge within us; it may be an invitation from a spouse or a friend to fly somewhere; it may be as simple as taking the dog for a walk in the neighborhood, even taking different streets! The call disrupts our ordered lives. We prepare for our excursion. We enter into the stage of chaos when we take the journey; also, we enter into the process of transformation. By the time we get home, we will be transformed. These are the steps of the spiritual journey into God: order, hearing the call to journey, answering the call with preparation, entering the chaos of the journey, and being and coming home transformed. Ninety-seven reflections are presented in this book in seven chapters devoted to journey; road; path; route, highway, gateway; walk; way; and more.