Mary Anne Morgan Blog

365 Project Day 340: Heart Seeds

Posted on 09. Dec, 2011 by maryanne.

Canon 5D Mark ll, 100 macro 2.8, 2.8 aperture, 1/60th shutter speed, 400 ISO

My mom and I share a love for Zinnias. We both agree they are one of  the most cheerful flowers of summer. This year she had a lovely patch of them by her back porch. She promised me she would save the seeds for me to plant this coming spring. On my birthday this year she gave me a bag full of them. What a wonderful gift! They were so lovely, their colorful petals swirling into elegant patterns. Even in death, they hold beauty and promises of new life.

Every year, when Chris plants his vegetable garden in the spring, he leaves a row for the Zinnias. He knows how I love my Zinnias. The first year we planted them together, we planted them at night, with the moon and a flashlight our only light. It was so much fun. I held the flashlight, my toes sinking into the freshly-tilled earth, while he carefully sowed each seed. Each seed felt like it was taking root inside me, as I watched my farmer-husband cherish the desires of my heart. Now, we always plant this row by moonlight. I feel like a little girl barefoot, holding my flashlight, while he gently carries the seeds to the side yard. It is our tradition. Another strand to weave us together.

How I love Zinnias. They remind me of how much I am loved. Thank you mom for the sweet gift, and thank you my husband, for your willingness to sow love into my heart.

Thank you God for Zinnias.

Luke 12:27-28 ~ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you~”

 

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365 Project Day 214: Planted in Moonlight

Posted on 03. Aug, 2011 by maryanne.

Pining in Sunlight

Canon 5D Mark ll, 100 2.8 macro, 2.8 aperture, 1/125 shutter, 250 ISO

The moon was so bright I could see my shadow. I followed his soft steps into the garden by the side of the house, he with the hand tiller, me with a pocket full of seeds and a flashlight. It was still early summer, the earth not yet feeling the hallowed dryness of the long hot days. It was just he and I, in the still of the night, sowing something beautiful. I felt almost giddy. It was a tradition now, although this was only our second year planting Zinnia seeds by moonlight. It was a simple thing, really.  Simple, but special. He was showing me he cared what I cared about. It was an intentional act of love.

He had saved a row in the vegetable garden just for me. For my Zinnias. I would see their cheerful faces by the end of summer. They would mark the passing of a season, bringing color around the edges of the garden, and my soul. They would arrive just as the rest of the plants were succumbing to summer’s exacting heat.  As the tomato plants begin to bow their heads, the Zinnias will be spreading their petals to the sky. “Be of good cheer”, they declare. “There is hope and beauty yet to be found.”

Holding the hand of my husband, my toes in the earth, my heart was full with expectation. When we sow together, we reap together.  Seeds sown by moonlight bear brilliance in the light of day.

Zinnias!

Hosea 10:12 ~ “Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you.”

 

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Dont ask for just a few

Posted on 28. Jul, 2010 by maryanne.

Recently I acquired all of these beautiful colored bottles for an upcoming shoot I am setting up. When I saw them sitting on the table together like this, I heard the line above in my head. “Don’t ask for just a few”. It is part of a story in scripture in 2Kings chapter 4 where a desperate woman approached the prophet Elisha and begged him for help. She was widowed and in debt, and the creditors were coming to take her sons away as payment. Pretty traumatic.

Elisha answers her plea with a strange question. “ Tell me, what do you have in your house?” She explains that she has nothing, except for a little oil. That was enough for Elijah. He then instructed her to go and ask her neighbors for empty jars. “Don’t ask for just a few”, he adds imperatively. She is then instructed to shut the door behind her and begin pouring her oil into the jars, and keep pouring until all the jars are full. The oil flowed until the vessels were gone. When she was done, she had enough oil to pay her debtors and then live off the rest. I wonder if she had wished she had asked for more. We tend to limit God by what we think we can have, rather than what we think He can give.

Thank God, I am not widowed or in jeopardy of creditors taking my children as payment, but I can relate to this business of collecting vessels to be filled with God’s provision, especially with provision that He has already given, like the widow’s small portion of oil. (What do you have in your house? I know I  have photography for one.)

These vessels, these glass bottles, somehow represent that beautiful picture to me. God is always about filling our containers with His blessings, His glory. It is up to us to bring the cup. He is the drink, the oil, the blessing that we need.

Making time for Him is like bringing Him a colored bottle to fill. Holding it up to Him, empty and shining in His light, we wait for Him.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7.  Sigh. That scripture is a constant reminder for me these days. He is the filler. We are the vessel. The brightly colored bottle longing to be filled with His glory.

So, in an effort to make the truths I was feeling seem more tangible, I went out to find the glory to fill my bottles. The Zinnias were happy to help.  I think they were waiting for the opportunity.

When you get your vessels, don’t ask for just a few. I mean, how much do you want?

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