There are four big black letters scribbled on the top of the Bible I retrieved from the “free book bin” at our library.

“D-I-S-C” is written there by a hurried hand, and I’ve come to the sad conclusion that the letters most
likely stand for the word:DISCARD.


Sometimes libraries get rid of items that aren’t being checked out enough, maybe that’s why it was discarded. If so, it’s a stark reminder of our times.

I’m a hopeless collector of old books, especially cookbooks and gardening books. But Bibles, well, they rank pretty high on my list. Who wouldn’t want the message of wisdom and understanding readily available in the palm of their hands?  I know I do.

I had an elderly neighbor once who I enjoyed visiting. When we’d talk, she’d often point to her old blue Bible and tell me about her lengthy quiet times with God. I liked to picture her there in her old velour recliner spending time in her thick Bible. It was a comfort to know that someone close by was studying God’s word too.

After my neighbor passed away, I stopped over at her estate sale anxious to bring home some memories of her. As I rummaged through a cardboard box of sale items, I came across her old blue Bible. What a treasure! I couldn’t believe I found it and that I could actually take it home with me. She had highlighted throughout the book and now I could see firsthand the words that were meaningful to her.

But Bibles don’t always get opened and read do they?

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My friend Diane is an avid gardener with a special passion for flowers.

Her knowledge of her beautiful botanicals never ceases to amaze me.

And I’ll bet she could beat a botanist hands down in her

ever widening understanding of blooming trends and plant health. She’s even a whiz at memorizing the Latin names of all her plants.

For the past three springs now, Diane has filled my own flower gardens with new growth starts from her own plants. When something in her garden isn’t producing well, or gets out of control, Diane grabs her trusty spade and gets to work.

The result? Lots of interesting, new plants for me! Many of them are species I haven’t even seen before.

Last Sunday after church, Diane and I were talking flowers when she told me about some new varieties of echinacea that she had ordered. From there, she shared an interesting story about some of her existing plants that got me thinking about life.

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There was a nip in the air that moonlit night when my friend Barbara and her husband set out to explore their new farm.

The property was finally theirs and, too excited to wait for the light of day, they decided to go and check it out.

The old dairy barn they now owned was without electricity, but that didn’t deter them from having a “look” around.

Spreading out their hands in front of them, they felt their way around, taking in the smells of the place.


When Barbara’s hands approached a closed door, she was tempted to pull up the wooden latch and check out what lay on the other side.

A warning flashed inside her then, and instead of going with her first impulse, she decided to move on in a different direction.

The next morning, Barbara went to the barn again – wanting to see it in the light of day. Coming across the door, she decided to open it this time.

Gasping, she quickly realized what would have been her fate had she not listened to the warning she got the night before.

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Late last fall, I planted a big bag of bulbs in various places in my yard.

To me, the bright colors of crocuses, daffodils and tulips are a deserved reward after a long, hard winter.

I’ve seen people plant bulbs in uncommon places in grassy areas, and I thought it would be fun to plant most of this bag around one of our birches out back.


A circle of bright yellows and purples around a white birch was certain to chase away the winter blahs, right?

As the dawn of spring came and went, I checked the perimeter around my tree almost daily for a sign of the flowers but none came. In other places, my bulbs seemed to be popping up, but I saw no sign of those I put around the tree.

What had happened? Did something eat the bulbs? Was it a bad place to plant them? Maybe they didn’t like the soil around a tree?  I considered digging them up and planting them somewhere else, but the idea of rooting through the dirt for some no-show bulbs made me tired just thinking about it.

I was about fed up with them when a sunny day drew the girls and me into the yard for some garden fun. As I walked past our other birch tree I noticed some daffodils circling it that were just getting ready to bloom.

My bulbs! I was looking around the wrong tree! Never did I consider looking at my other birch tree! I had been so sure!

The thing that I had been searching for had been there all along – it just wasn’t where I had been looking ...

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