Devotionals

“It was November—the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys and let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul.”~Anne of the Island, L.M. Montgomery~ Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail,but they will… Continue reading Pine

“The rose is often found near the nettle.”Ovid “Oh, I just love nettle. She reminds us to pay attention.”~Vanessa Cooper~ My introduction to the benefits of stinging nettle strangely came about several years ago, when my son had a fever. To pass the time while the rest of the family was at church, we pulled… Continue reading Nettle

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tithe of mint and dill and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith.” ~Matthew 23:23~ “He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite… Continue reading Dill

“It is with men as with other things. The mullein needs only a year, but the oak a century, and the greatest men are those who have continued to grow as long as they have lived.”~Robert Green Ingersoll~ You are the light of the world.A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.Matthew 5:14 ESV… Continue reading Mullein

“Like a chamomile bed,the more it is trodden the more it will spread.”English Adage My love affair with chamomile began when I was in middle school, the first herb among many that drew me into the “herban” world. This humble herb is representative of rest, peace, poise, and calm. It can bloom for long periods… Continue reading Chamomile

“We have no waters to delightOur broad and brookless vales —Only the dewpond on the heightUnfed, that never fails,Whereby no tattered herbage tellsWhich way the season flies —Only our close-bit thyme that smellsLike dawn in Paradise.”~Rudyard Kipling~ Kipling’s poem “Sussex” weaves its meters around man’s tendencies to remember the land and habits where we were… Continue reading Thyme

“He from his lass him lavender hath sent,Showing her love, and doth requital crave;Him rosemary his sweetheart, whose intentIs that he her should in remembrance have.”Michael Drayton, Pastorals “Then Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house… Continue reading Lavender

“The Basil plant is gods abodeTrinity’s blessings in it endowedBlessed is the place where it growsAir purifies where its fragrance flows.”~C.P. Sharma~      My first experience with planting basil was of the globe variety. My mom had let me begin transforming our childhood sandbox into an herb garden, and with a plentiful supply of organic… Continue reading Basil

“Let my prayer be set before you as incense,the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”Psalm 141:2      While I didn’t grow up in a church culture that burned incense as a ritual in prayer and worship, I have experimented with it as a household fragrance. After installing new carpet for a home… Continue reading Sage

“There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,Pray you love, remember.”Shakespeare, Hamlet “God…uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ…”2 Corinthians 2:14-15 My first job off the family dairy farm was at “Sugar ‘N Spice” in Chetek, Wisconsin. It was a wholesale spice supply… Continue reading Rosemary