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What does it mean to be like wool in the hands of God?

"The Farm of Peace offered a beautiful, holy container, giving me a completely safe, nourishing environment in which to face and address some deep, old patterns of behavior, and opened me to receive many benefits from Allah."  ~GH

  

"There are so many reasons to come to the Farm, and one of the top three is the meals. The first is the program, but also the building, which is so containing and full of peace, along with the holding and care from all the staff. Thank you!" ~ RM 

  

"The love expressed and the safety created made it possible to be vulnerable and go more deeply. Learning more about the Sufi way and practices has been very interesting." ~ Anon.

This year's focus was on nurturing the foundation of the CSA: amending the soil, improving fencing, establishing more permanent beds and seeking to maximize use of our current 3 acres. Three covered "tunnels" were added this year, and lettuce and other crops we started under the tunnel were just beautiful. The tunnels will support earlier growth in the spring, so next year we'll focus on  making full use of the additional tunnels for season extension, such as starting cucumbers extra early.

  

We continue to experiment with plant varieties, seeking for those that thrive at the Farm, and clever new ways to foil insects without pesticides ... It is always a work in progress, in exploration and growth... a dance with the Creator.

I am recalling my asparagus epiphany from early this spring. The asparagus was a three year wait. Picking the asparagus too soon prevents the establishment of a strong root system and reduces the gift of future
harvests. How many deep lessons there are to be learned by listening to the world around us speak. Our Creator is always sending the gifts of His beautiful qualities to speak to us through this magnificent creation, when we open our eyes and our hearts to witness them.

As we transition into the next cycle, we send gratitude to our Creator for the abundant gifts we have received this season. Our hands certainly do not hold the power to create a fruit, but through His majesty and power, we are able to witness nourishment unfold from a tiny seed, bearing fruit to feed many.

As those seeds are planted into the earth that was placed under our feet, the light of the sun reaches them and the rain falls in generous drops of sheer beauty. All of this unfolds by the grace of God. I am continuously in awe of this Creation, and how kind and loving our Lord is. We thank the Source of
all life, for all the beauty and nourishment we have received unfolding in multiples and pray we can continue to serve in stewarding the sharing of His bountiful harvest, insha'Allah.
 

Last spring I attended a visioning workshop held by local Sufi teacher Halima Reilly.  One of the things we did was make a "vision board" collage, (a.k.a. "a prayer in pictures"). We cut pictures out of magazines - anything that appealed - and then glued them onto a big white paperboard.  I found myself gathering images mostly of plants and homey things - a garden shed in bright colors, flower gardens, a living room.  I reflected on how long it had been since I'd had a place of my own -- 8 years at the Farm living in shared space or just a room, now in a friend's home.  

On impulse I put a simple little floor plan of a cabin, from a brochure I'd kept for the day when I could afford my own home again (which I thought would be never).  I put the 2-bedroom, 1-bath floor plan on my poster with the words, "This or better, inshallah (if it's the will of God)."  I put it on my wall and thought no more about it.  

I took a long trip to visit my family in April and June, and when I came back, the first thing I saw driving to the Farm was a For-Sale sign on a house I'd never noticed before. I called the agent and things moved quickly -- money I'd had locked up quickly became available, my father made a substantial gift, there were no other offers. The bank refused to respond to my loan application, so I looked at other avenues.  On August 23, I became the owner of a 3-bedroom 2-bath fixer-upper manufactured home on a 1-acre lot, only a mile away from Haven Lane.  

I like to say "Allah is the Chess Master," because He knows far ahead what piece needs to move where: I sold a townhome in 2004 and moved to the Farm, invested some of that money on impulse, which I could not get back until suddenly this other property was available, about as close to the Farm as you can get, in an area where there are very few single-family homes on small lots on the market.  And by the grace of Allah, I got for cash, mortgage free!  (That's not quite the end .... it is a fixer-upper. But that's another story.)

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