Dawn of a New Year

The New Year
~ Martha Snell Nicholson 

Dear Lord, as this new year is born
I give it to Thy hand,
Content to walk by faith what paths
I cannot understand.

Whatever coming days may bring
Of bitter loss, or gain,
Or every crown of happiness;
Should sorrow come, or pain,

Or, Lord, if all unknown to me
Thine angel hovers near
To bear me to that farther shore
Before another year,

It matters not—my hand in Thine,
Thy light upon my face,
Thy boundless strength when I am weak,
Thy love and saving grace!

I only ask, loose not my hand,
Grip fast my soul, and be
My guiding light upon the path
Till, blind no more, I see!

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DD dearest,

May this coming new year be like flowers,
Bursts of colours bringing cheers to my heart,
Gentle velvety softening of my heart,
Fragrant in smell drawing hearts,
Little surprises bringing pleasure to my heart.

May my soul, my thoughts, my speech, my actions be captured in You, my dearest first Love!
For it's only in You that my eternal live lies.
May my priorities be right -
Heart abounding in love, life abounding in joy, heart abounding in happiness, soul abounding in peace.
Find rest, oh my soul, in the arms of my Protector, my Love.

A Prayer in Spring
~ Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil

Chrysanthemum Cheers

Never in my life did I think I would be gardening. But here I am, since the beginning of this year, receiving from friends, buying, planting, potting and re-potting my plants.

Watering my plants daily after work is so therapeutic and cathartic! The day's troubles and stress just melt away as I tend to my lovelies.

Seeing them grow and bloom bring so much delight to my heart!

And my mini garden is coming to fruition!

One of the plants that I look forward to seeing blossoming the most is the mini chrysanthemum shrub. Bought a pot during the CNY for home deco.They were of course booster-laden for the season and I just couldn't resist their beauty. After about a month in which they gradually wither away, I trimmed them and left about two inches of stalks in the pot.

It was daily watering and once a month of fertilizing. The shrub grew big and there were countless buds forming withing two months. However, they never bloom!

It was quite frustrating! Thought of discarding the whole pot but I just didn't have the heart.

And when I least expect it, two buds bloomed last week and two more are blossoming now!

Such beauties! They smell wonderful too!

Can't wait for all the buds to blossom and brighten up the whole pot!