Had such a lovely (and unexpected) rain shower tonight...thank you Lord for that blessing on our lawns (and my landscaping projects)!. Over the past few months while my landscaping business has kept me very busy working six days a week most weeks, I've had precious little time for my own yard, and even less for keeping my own flowering plants watered. There have been at least two occasions when I've been working all day on clients' yards and have heard rumbles of rain but not felt any, only to arrive home to find that my yard is thoroughly wet!
I looked around in surprise the first time, as if I didn't expect the Lord to hear and answer my prayer for rain to water my neglected flowers, and then looked up with a smile to give Him thanks for His provision. The second time I checked the neighbors' yards to see if the rain had affected them, because I honestly didn't see any sign of rain on the streets as I drove in, and then raised grateful praise again, to my provider, Jehovah.
When this Spring arrived, I talked with the Lord about showing me whether the landscaping work should be my focus, or if I should be concentrating on nursing again, and just asked Him to bless the business with more clients if that should be my focus. I had one client already but that one wouldn't be enough to make ends meet, but shortly after my prayer, I put some feelers out at a church I've been attending on Wednesdays because they're only 5 miles away. The pastor not only felt it was a good idea to put up my card and fliers on their bulletin board, but he also said I could advertise on the church website.
A few days later, he approached me about putting in a bid for the landscaping project the church is planning to have done, and not long after, I was approved for my bid. The answers to my original prayer have come little by little, with one new client coming to me as a previous client's project is nearing completion, so that I'm not overwhelmed by too much business, but not fainting for lack of business either. I praise the Lord for providing me landscaping clients just when I need them, and for as long as I need them.
Give us this day our daily bread isn't just a meaningless phrase in the "Lord's Prayer" to me, as this is so often how the Lord provides for me and has done so for the past few years as I faced continued unemployment from the nursing profession. My 30 years of nursing experience has gone slowly stagnant as every single job lead I've pursued in nursing has failed to result in a job, or even temporary contract type of work.
Landscaping projects became my bread and butter, as the Lord showed me I could make a living in another field without returning to school for a degree, or having a work history/resume to show potential clients. Native intelligence, lots of hours of research (both online and in person at garden nurseries) on flowering plants and their needs, skills learned from a childhood fascination with growing flowers and watching TV D0-it-yourself shows about landscaping projects have given me a wealth of knowledge about how to create beautiful flower gardens.
Coupled with the Lord's enabling me to boldly market myself to friends and business acquaintances, this knowledge allowed me to get several landscaping clients last year and several more new ones this year. Landscaping is a very seasonal profession, as in most areas of America you can't plant things in the Winter, so I must also trust the Lord to provide an alternative source of income for the Fall/Winter seasons.
With that in mind, I've diversified into "hard-scaping", which includes brick, stone, slate and flagstone used for walkways, borders, retaining walls, flower bed borders, etc. My biggest project to date was a 60 foot flower bed border made out of dark mountain green flagstone material, built in the front yard of a church to frame their flower garden. This border has earned high praise from not only the pastor and deacons of that church, but also many passers-by as I was creating it. The highest praise came from a master wood-worker who urged me to include stonework in my new resume and website for this business, as he considered this project to be first-rate.
Not surprisingly, I've been so busy, and so worn out by the time I get home, I've hardly had time for my normal letters, or even keeping up with this blog. Hope I can get around to updates more regularly from this point on. Thanks for your patience and continued interest.

Debbie