rain delay

We had planned to have a campout in the back yard last nite for Ian to have a couple of his little buddies over. Well, we had to cancel that due to rain, so we told him his friends could come over and hang out all evening and watch a movie, play games, all that jazz. So, they did, and they had a good time, raised hell, ran through the house, all that... Now I see the appeal of having a basement, lol. We're in a ranch style home, one level, long hall way back to the bedrooms... We placed the outdoor sleepover on rain delay for next weekend.

In an attempt to provide myself with a natural relaxation/unwind-age activity, I have begun tearing out the shrubs from our front landscaping. I am replacing them with perrenials that flower, different colors, shapes, sizes... I want the front of the house to look more like various drifts of wildflowers than just having the usual green and yellow "balls" of shrubs, boooring. Plus, it helps me feel more connected and helps me to relax. I didn't have time to do an actual garden this year.

A Reflection on today's Gospel Reading Mt 13:1-23 (or 13:1-9)

Parable of the Sower

2And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
3And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
5"Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
6"But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7"Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8"And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
9"He who has ears, let him hear."

The Sower Explained

18"Hear then the parable of the sower.
19"When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
20"The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
21yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
22"And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
23"And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."

With the "seeds" in this parable being the Word of God, I can describe myself at times as each of the various types of ground upon which the seeds are sown. Even today, having been sober a number of years and a member of the Church for only a little over a year,I can see where the Word of God affects me in various ways. I can say with no doubt in my heart that God sowed His Seeds upon my heart most effectively in AA. It is through AA that I find myself most like the good, rich, fertile soil.

peace to all you who enter...