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3 Lessons My Garden is Teaching Me

With the help of my family, I was able to find and move into a new home last fall. To say it has been an experience is an understatement! I knew fairly quickly that I wanted a garden of my own. So, in late spring, I did it! I built and planted a small garden.

I’ve been surprised by just how much I’ve enjoyed the process of planning, planting, maintaining, and harvesting. I’ve also been surprised by how much I’ve learned along the way.

What Gardening Is Teaching Me

My garden dreams were (are) huge, but this year, I purposefully planned for small. You see, it doesn’t take long for my ideas to grow and far exceed my skill level and more often than not, the availability in my schedule to invest the time and effort required to bring the dream to life.

So here are a few ways in which gardening is teaching me some valuable lessons.

Lesson #1: Planning works

And, it doesn’t need to be difficult or complicated.

I’ve never had trouble making a plan. It’s the follow-through that I struggle with the most.

What my garden plan has shown me is that I have a tendency of making plans too big and complicated. These are plans I have no chance of succeeding with and eventually stop even trying. The plans I drew up for my veggie and flower garden were simple, stayed within a budget, and had built in flexibility.

Now that I understand this better about myself, it has helped me:

Enjoy my garden more
Dream about the possibilities for expanding my garden in the future
Easily maintain (and more importantly keep alive) my garden
Create plans for other areas of my life that I can follow through on

Lesson #2: Patience has its rewards

Patience is NOT one of my virtues.

There is an excellent reason I like to plant radishes in a garden. They grow fast. When a radish is planted, there is a lot of quick action :). They also taste so much better fresh. Since they grow and mature so quickly, it helps me practice patience as I wait for the rest of the garden to catch up.

Seeing those leaves pop up and the red of the radish start to push its way out of the ground shows that every stage of the garden takes time. If I exercise patience, the radish will continue to grow bigger and offer a more abundant harvest. The radish reminds me that with patience the garden will grow and create a harvest worth waiting for.

Lesson #3: It’s okay to go small

We are often told to dream big dreams and to play big or go home. And while there is a time and place for this way of thinking, it does not always apply to every situation.

By purposefully planning a small garden, I am not feeling overwhelmed, and I’m being able to handle the maintenance and care it needs. Keeping it manageable has contributed to my enjoyment of the garden.

There is stillness to be found in going small and enjoying the process.

Garden Dreams

In a previous post, I talked about cleaning out my email inbox and reducing the number of voices and opinions I listen to on a subject. Gardening has been no different.

After spending a little too much time on Pinterest looking for garden tips and ideas, I was in information overload with no clear direction. I reduced the overwhelming amount of information by picking a select group of people to listen to. That step helped me to cut through the noise and create a plan of what materials I needed and what to plant.

Here are the three resources I chose to pay attention too:

Wellness Mama and Square Foot Gardening
Lara Casey’s Gardening 101 blog post series. I also recommend following here on Instagram as she shares about her garden
Erin Benzakein of Floret Flowers has a drool-worthy Instagram feed, website, and gorgeous book called “Cut Flower Garden

While I love my veggie garden and will take what I am learning this year to grow and expand it next year, my garden dreams include a cut flower garden. The beauty of a flower fascinates me.

Visit a gorgeous flower garden in full bloom and notice how you feel. The beauty of each flower, the variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and the amazing fragrance all combine into an experience. And that experience invites you to slow down, be in the moment, and find stillness.

And that invitation, my friend, I think is at the heart of my garden dreams.

What has gardening taught you?

Marta Goertzen

Marta Goertzen is an entrepreneur, writer and nature photographer. She daily explores the trails and beaches of the South Central Oregon Coast with her buddy Bailey. You can follow along on their adventures on Instagram. She is also the author of several books including her newest, “Confident Hope: A Daily Quiet Time Journal”. Start your own daily gratitude practice with our, “7 Days of Gratitude Challenge – A Gratitude Journal Starter Kit”.

selahreflections.com

Creating a Practice of Finding Stillness

Recently I watched a video training course on productivity for creatives. About halfway through the course, it struck me; the instructor was teaching about developing a practice of creativity. Understanding this got me thinking of what other areas of life where this idea might apply. The first thing to come to mind was practicing finding stillness.

When we make the decision to develop a new habit or skill, it isn’t a “one-and-done” event. It takes a commitment to practice on a regular basis to incorporate it into our life.

Developing A Practice of Finding Stillness

Strangely enough, I can’t just decide to lose 10 lbs and have them gone by morning. (but it would be nice to try sometime don’t ya think?!). It’s a decision, and commitment, that I would need to make each day to make better choices in how I eat, and exercise.

Creating a habit of finding stillness is the same way. It takes practice and daily decisions to take the time to find these moments.

Building a new habit is not always easy. The saying “It takes 21 days to make a new habit” is not always true. Some habits can take months or even years to become part of your life. While others we can learn quickly and may only take a week or two.

When it comes to developing a habit of finding stillness, it takes practice, practice, and more practice. Some days that practice will go well, and others it won’t, or we get busy and.

What does it mean to find stillness?

Finding stillness isn’t necessarily about stopping all motion altogether. It often is more about finding that stillness in our hearts and minds. Often it is experiencing a peace beyond our understanding even when life is swirling crazily around us.

Finding stillness may be:

About slowing down to notice a beautiful flower on the side of the road
About a quiet morning walk as the sun rises
Sitting in a quiet spot with a hot cup of tea or coffee
Driving around town and soaking in the beauty of a gorgeous rainbow.
Watching in awe as the waves crash up onto the beach
Time spent in the Word and prayer
Going for a nice long run
Creating art
Even chopping wood!

Each day our practice of finding stillness will look different. I have yet to have to days in a row where that moment was the same, which is great!

First, it reminds me that this is something I need to practice every day, which I need to be alert, aware, and be on the lookout for these small moments each day.

Second, it reminds me that these moments are precious and if I rush around too fast, I will miss them.

A Practice of Finding Stillness Can Impact Your Life

In the past few months, I’ve realized that my practice of finding stillness has stalled a bit and I can tell as it has begun to show up in many different areas of my life.

One of the biggest areas impacted is my creativity. I’m seeing a correlation between seeking stillness, seeking beauty, and exercising my creative side. Now that my practice of finding stillness has not been as consistent as it should, my creative side has suffered as well.

The tricky thing about developing a skill, a habit, or practice is that if you stop working on them, you lose momentum and have to start over, sometimes from the beginning again.

When I get busy, my mind reverts to Go! Go! Go! Do not stop. Keep moving. Too much to do! When I listen to this part of my mind, the ability to find stillness seems to fade into the background, and it can be days or even weeks before I realize what I am missing. It’s then I need restart the practice of finding stillness.

One way I have found to help me develop my practice is to capture some of these moments with my camera and share them on Instagram with the hashtag #bestillmoments. It’s a tool I use that can help me keep my eyes and heart open, looking or moments to enjoy and share.

Do you have a practice of finding stillness in your life?

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Marta Goertzen

selahreflections.com

Finding Stillness, Finding Your Happy Place

Living along the Oregon Coast these past years has deepened my love of the ocean. The sounds of crashing waves, the salty sea air, the long walks on deserted stretches of sand, collecting shells, and enjoying the quiet.

The beach has become one of my favorite happy places. It has become a healing balm. It is a place where I can feel the tension slowly drain from my shoulders, and where my mind and racing thoughts slow down.

It’s also become my thinking place, my praying place, and my journaling place. As I walk, head tilted down to watch for shells, that I don’t need but can’t help but look, my heart stills, and I tend to start to pray.

It’s the stillness that keeps drawing me back.

Which of course is strange since the beach is not still. The waves always crash, the landscape changes with every incoming and outgoing tide, and the weather, you never know what it’s going to be like. The beach is full of power and majesty. It is not still. And yet, that is where I long to go when I need a break, and when I know Bailey needs a nice long run.

One of my favorite beaches to visit is Bandon Beach, in Bandon, Oregon. It has some of the most beautiful rock formations, at low tide, miles of beach upon which to walk, and some of my favorite photographs have come from being on this beach at sunset.

In October I had the opportunity to go back down twice with family, with house hunting, and just needing a brain break. It was wonderful, and as always the time went too fast.

This is also the beach where Bailey gets charged by other dogs most often! It happened again on one of these trips. I don’t know why… but that is a story for another time. But even with that, it is one of my favorite parts of the magnificent Oregon coastline.

With long walks on the beach comes time to think, to pray, to analyze, to dream, to wonder, to plan, and for ideas to flow. Enjoying the stillness, enjoying Bailey’s joy at the freedom to run, play, sniff, and explore has once again reinforced my desire for finding stillness.

I’m not good at it. I struggle with placing boundaries on my work taking over my entire day. I struggle with balancing travel with spending time at home. It has been a long, discouraging search in looking for a home; thankfully that search is done! I struggle with always wanting to learn something new, create a new product for my business, and so much more.

On the one hand, I crave stillness, on the other hand, I sometimes run away from it in my desire to keep moving and trying, and striving. It’s something that I kept thinking about in my long walks on the beach.

From these quiet times of walking and reflecting a desire has arisen to understand Sabbath. What is it, what does it mean, and how does it apply to our lives today. I’m reading excellent books that are teaching me and showing me what rest looks like and what it means to observe the Sabbath.

What I know right now is that Sabbath, at the core, is two things. First, it is finding rest, the rest of God. And second, it is about trusting God. It is trust that you are placing your schedule, your family, your projects, your plans, your business, and your efforts into His most capable hands.

It’s a subject I know I’ll be reflecting more upon in the coming weeks and sharing with you what I learn.

Where is your happy place?

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Marta Goertzen

selahreflections.com

Be Encouraged and Give Encouragement On the Hard Days (Video + Download)

Have you ever had one of those days or weeks where words seem to fail, creativity seems to fly out the window, and ideas may flow but fall flat?

Well I have and this week has been one of them. I even had a different blog post just about written but didn’t finish it.

But, one word kept popping up, encouragement. So here are just a few thoughts to encourage you and resources for you to share and encourage someone else.

Be Encouraged and Remember, You Are Not Alone.

On the hard days, the great days, the stressed out and overwhelming days, the fun-filled days, the sick days, the stay-in-your-pjs-all-day days, you are not alone.

First you have a Heavenly Father who has promised to never leave you nor forsake you.

Second, we all have family, friend and framily (friends who have become family) who love, care, and want to support you.

Third the Selah Reflections community. Many of you I know personally, some I have come to know through email and over on Instagram, some of you I don’t know, yet. What I do know though is the huge, tender, generous heart of this community and know that help, support, and encouragement is only an ask away.

My gift to you today, is a short video for you to enjoy, be encouraged, and share .

Resources to Share Encouragement

There are times when you see someone you care about struggling and you can’t always find the words to say. Share the video – it’s really okay! And below is a image and verse from my picture book “Be Still & Know That I Am God”. I’m including a downloadable file at the link below that you can print out and enclose in a card, send in a text, or email.

If you don’t know what to say, just let them know you are thinking of them and available if needed.

Honestly, sometimes that is enough.

Click here to download hi-res version for printingHere are a couple of other things to check out and share.

I recently listened to a keynote presentation by speaker Keni Thomas, an Army Vet, who served in Somalia and lived through Black Hawk Down. God grabbed a hold of his life and he now is a singer, artist, and motivational speaker sharing his story. He teaches about leadership and reminds his listeners that they are special and unique, with God given talents to share. I was rather mesmerized. Visit his website at KeniThomas.com and scroll down to the video section and listen to the video labeled “Business”. It’s rather amazing.

Shauna Niequest has written an amazing book that I just love called Present Over Perfect. Cannot recommend it enough.

So today, be encouraged and take the time to encourage someone else. You never know just how much it might mean to them.

Marta Goertzen

selahreflections.com

How Beauty, the Outdoors, and Your Environment Affect You

“Where you do what you do matters.” ~Bob Goff

The first time I heard this quote was at Donald Miller’s Storyline Conference. It was something that his friend and author, Bob Goff, had said to him. It’s one of those quotes that sits with you for awhile as you work on understanding the meaning.

Since then it has become one of my favorite quotes. It’s a concept that reminds me to pay attention to my environment while I am working, adventuring, or resting.

What Does This Quote Mean?

My personal definition is that your environment matters since it can strongly impact your stress level and your ability to find stillness and rest.

When you work in an office cubicle without a window how do you feel?
If you are an introvert in the middle of a huge room with 100’s of people, how do you feel after an hour?
When you are in a doctor’s waiting room that feels shabby and “doctory,” how does it make you feel?

Access to the outdoors is pretty important to me; so when I relax, I like to be outside. On the days I can’t get outside, or when I am at work, bringing the outdoors in is the next best thing. I can do that by using my photography as artwork on the walls, opening a window to catch a breeze or hear the birds sing, and working in an area where I get a lot of natural light. I’ve even tried plants! But that doesn’t usually go so well.

So, How Could You Apply This Idea In Your Life?

First, there are some questions you need to ask. When you are looking to find stillness in your life what is important to you? Is it beauty? Quietness? A soft fluffy blanket? Beautiful background music? A cozy room surrounded by family? Maybe it’s sitting outside in the sun with a great book?

If you are not sure, as you go about your day, start to notice where you feel the most relaxed in your home, office, and other daily activities. Keep notes about how you feel, how your tension levels rise or fall, and what makes you feel relaxed. I bet you will start to see a pattern.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

A Reading Spot: What about a favorite chair with a soft blanket and a great smelling candle?
A Workspace or Desk: I’m partial to a collection of all sorts of colored pens! 🙂 Family photos, inspiring quotes or photography, a vase of flowers. You even can find fun colored desk accessories. My Mom used to decorate her bulletin boards with gorgeous wrapping paper. She is also a HUGE fan of fun floral decorated file folders!
Family Dinner Table: What about making it regular habit of having a candle light family dinner? Does soft background music help everyone calm down a bit? Fun placemats, flowers on the table?
A Resting Spot: Do you have a favorite park with benches? Is there a lake you like to visit that is quiet and warm, where you can hear the birds sing?

Growing up my Mom had a set of fantastic books by interior designer, Alexandra Stoddard. She is someone who totally gets the idea that “where you do what you do matters”.

She emphasized using colors you love, using texture, and style to create an inviting home. Living A Beautiful Life, Alexandra Stoddard’s Book of Color, and the Gift of a Letter are some of my favorites. While her style of decorating is not my style, her advice and ideas are.

How Beauty and the Right Environment Affects Us

First, it can reduce stress:

For most people (but certainly NOT all!) clear, uncluttered, simple spaces to live, and work in, is soothing and calming.

Next time you walk into your kitchen, start to notice the difference in how you feel when the sink is full of dirty dishes vs. an empty sink. How does it affect your emotions and how do you feel about your kitchen in general?

Second, it can increase creativity:

Natural light, colors, a beautiful view, a gentle breeze, music, a clean desk space, or essential oils diffusing, all of these can make a positive impact as you work. It helps stimulate the creative side of your brain, link together ideas, encourage inspiration, and build confidence. I’ll take that if you don’t mind!

Lastly, it can help you find stillness:

Heading up to my office, I find it very hard to start my work day knowing there are dishes in the sink, laundry to be folded, or a desk covered so I can’t even see it or find what I need.

When it is time to settle in for the night, I need soft instrumental music, just enough light to read by, a good book, and a soft blanket, then my mind and body starts to relax. It helps me unwind and find stillness as I get ready to fall asleep.

Your Challenge, Should You Choose to Accept It:

First, pick a spot like your desk, a reading chair, or your bedside table and take note of how you feel about it over the next week.

When things are piled up on your chair, or files scattered across your desk, or your bedside table looks more like a junk drawer, how does it make you feel? My guess is there might be sighing involved, your shoulders may tighten up, and at times you might just want to leave because it is too much to face.

Next, make a short list of what small changes you could make to help that area become a calm, beautiful spot to be in. Are there things you can get rid of? Can you find a better location for files? Is there a candle you can add or essential oils you could diffuse? Would adding artwork you love to the walls be the perfect touch? How about a small bouquet of flowers?

These are not huge, monumental changes, and that is good! The bigger the change required, the less likely we will do it. So it’s great to know that small, purposeful changes can make a positive impact on your environment which in turn helps you to find stillness in the midst of life.

“The Be Still & Know That I Am God” Collection
A Fine Art Photo Book paired with scripture and a Devotional Journal can help you find find stillness each day with the beauty of God’s creation and the gift of His words. Click here to find out more.

Marta Goertzen

selahreflections.com

What Gardening Is Teaching Me

Garden Dreams

What has gardening taught you?

Liked this post? You might also like:

Developing A Practice of Finding Stillness

What does it mean to find stillness?

A Practice of Finding Stillness Can Impact Your Life

Do you have a practice of finding stillness in your life?

Liked this post? You might also like:

It’s the stillness that keeps drawing me back.

Liked this post? You might also like:

Be Encouraged and Remember, You Are Not Alone.

Resources to Share Encouragement

Liked this post? You might also like:

“Where you do what you do matters.” ~Bob Goff

What Does This Quote Mean?

So, How Could You Apply This Idea In Your Life?

How Beauty and the Right Environment Affects Us

Your Challenge, Should You Choose to Accept It:

“The Be Still & Know That I Am God” Collection A Fine Art Photo Book paired with scripture and a Devotional Journal can help you find find stillness each day with the beauty of God’s creation and the gift of His words. Click here to find out more.

Liked this post? You might also like:

“The Be Still & Know That I Am God” Collection
A Fine Art Photo Book paired with scripture and a Devotional Journal can help you find find stillness each day with the beauty of God’s creation and the gift of His words. Click here to find out more.