Joyful Refuge

  • Summer Garden at Joyful Refuge Cottage

    Summer Garden at Joyful Refuge Cottage

    Gardening is in full swing. I am harvesting, freezing, dehydrating and canning its bounty. God has richly blessed our gardens this year. First planting of green beans are done and planted bean seeds for a second crop on July 28th. Also re-seeded more lettuce after our scorching temps made most of them bolt. Thursday July…

  • Rhythms for Gardening and Preserving What We Raise

    Rhythms for Gardening and Preserving What We Raise

    Joyful Refuge Cottage and Urban Homestead are located in Minnesota in Zone 4b. We have long cold winters, short springs, hot, humid summers and glorious falls where our hardwood forests turn a magical kaleidoscope of reds, golden and oranges. I am very aware dates and what you grow varies greatly depending on your gardening  zone,…

  • Trusting My Master Gardener.

    Trusting My Master Gardener.

    There are circumstances in life where we begin feeling isolated or unseen. This could be chronic illness, being a caregiver or a number of things that side line you. If we use a garden analogy it is like a showy rose along the pathway that everyone sees and enjoys. They observe your showy and fragrant…

  • Redeeming the Time

    Redeeming the Time

  • God Uses Yes

    God wants us to say yes to Him. To fully submit to Him. Think of Mary saying yes to the strange message of the angel. she said yes even knowing others would not understand and there would be shame and gossip before she would see the fruit of her yes. Luke 1:38 [38] And Mary…

  • Encourage Yourself in the Lord

    This year my chronic health issues have increased after a mild case of COVID in early September. This resulted in my being home and isolated much more for last six months. After numerous treatments, including one in mid January that finally helped me significantly, I was so weak and had lost so much muscle strength…

  • Changing Question Marks Into Exclamation Marks

    “I can now look back and see so many of the question marks yanked into exclamation points in my life. I am so thankful that He said “no” to so many of the prayers I desperately wanted Him to answer with “yes.” – Mary Southerland This quote really spoke to me today. As I pondered…

  • Prayer to Rejoice in Suffering with Endurance, Character and Hope

    Today I am using Romans 5:3-5 as my prayer focus. Romans 5:3-5 [3] Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, [4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, [5] and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through…

  • Three Ways I Live with Chronic Illness

    I was wondering how faith helps others to deal with chronic disease. My counselor recently shared a letter with me from an older woman who has dealt with health issues all her life. While very encouraging, I realized many of my things that helped me are different than hers. My top three are: 1. Practicing…

  • Keep my Soul Happy & Nourished

    I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I…