Dear Garden in Delight Blog Subscribers,
Greetings in 2019! I hope you have had a cozy winter, some of us frozen in the polar vortex, some under gentler blankets of snow; or if you are a Texan gardener, you know the warm air and weeds are here already!
Today’s post is just a keep-in-touch letter. We usually gather again in February to begin a weekly series of garden devotions for the Lenten season, yet this year Easter is in late April, moving our series back to March. It has been a great opportunity to spend this month writing and revising the manuscript for My Father is the Gardener (working title), my upcoming publishing project with BRIT Press – pausing today with a happy hello and few snapshots from the field!
This crown anemone collected from the Holy Land in 1895 is just one of the rare holdings from the BRIT Herbarium, one of many “treasures of darkness;” that is, precious plant specimens stored in the light and climate-controlled shelter of the BRIT Herbarium.
I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
Isaiah 45:3 ESV
Artistic, macro photography of Biblical plants is just one type of illustration to be featured in the new book, creating a mood to visually surround God’s Word in its dimension of ancient, holy treasure. Isn’t it amazing to ponder this little flower, pressed from a distant land and era, and consider God’s faithfulness to clothe earth’s fields in wildflowers…year after year…century after millennium?
Many more delightful discoveries await, and the Herbarium staff is over-the-top helpful, this happy photo captured last Friday as they sorted efficiently through the hoards of specimens to help me find just the right selection for photography. I was so glad to be their guest!
Details on the publishing date and book launch are still coming together—stay tuned!
And join me in prayer! May God give his direction and favor to this project according to His Will, revealing His beauty in the care of plants and landscapes.
And yes, we are still in need of funding to cover the rest of the book design expenses and the cost of domestic printing; we hope to create this book series as a “homegrown” product, in keeping with the locally sourced movement sweeping our nation in restaurants and farmers markets. Response has been wonderfully generous and exciting so far! Thank you to so many of you who have already contributed.
click to Donate Here
If you are in the North Texas area, please join us next Tuesday, February 12th for an amazing opportunity to hear Dr. Lytton John Musselman, America’s leading expert on plants of the Bible, speaking as part of BRIT’s Brown Bag Lecture Series. I am excited for those of us who love plants, love gardening, love the care and tending of the land, and love the Lord to come together and listen and learn from this lifelong scholar of plants from God’s Word. What excellent timing for him to visit BRIT! For more information, click here to Holy Botany.
That’s all for now – so good to catch up and looking forward to our time together through the weeks of Lent, leading up to the glorious celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
Sincerely,
Shelley S. Cramm
Photo Credits:
©2019 Shelley S. Cramm
