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This autumn, have you found yourself digging, raking leaves, hauling rocks, and moving plants all in preparation for the next season?

You put blood, sweat and tears into that plot of ground and it looks good. I, for one, have done just that — enjoying every minute of my toil.

One spring to my surprise, as I looked out my back window, I noticed a marvelous sight — a flock of pink phlox dotting the wooded area at the back of the property.

How ironic, I thought — I hadn’t done one speck of work to create that area of delight. God did it all by Himself.

I wonder . . . what areas in our lives bring delight to God?

Are they the areas in which we toil, struggle and muscle our way through?

Or

Are they the areas where God quietly and persistently adds beauty?

Yes, He does delight in our hard work in obedience to Him. Yet our delight also must be the areas in our lives where He is at work quietly, supernaturally . . . creating a mysterious bounty of beauty in our souls . . . and through our lives.

May we see the Master Gardener’s hand at work in our lives daily!

May we stand in awe of Him.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 KJV

Are you trying to muscle your way through life or letting God do His work?

Thank you for taking the time to visit.

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Dawn Ulmer, a follower of Jesus and a retired Registered Nurse, has enjoyed writing since the age of 19 when she wrote ‘My Philosophy of Nursing’. Presently, she is enjoying writing on Medium, her favorite platform.

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Do You Toil or Rest? was originally published in Mid-Knight Falls on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Emotions run the gamut
Of everyday moments
High to low, you never know
How they will retreat or blow.

Love feels like warm blankets
On frosty days of Winter
When winds howl you’re still safe
And sure things are not so bad.

Anger feels like injustice
Just as innocence is spoiled,
Accusations bashing you
Your trust becomes so shattered.

Peaceful feeling afternoons
Or mornings sipping green tea,
On the beach, Coke in hands
Touched by the Sun and the Moon.

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©Kathy J Anderson
Quatrain poem

❤Thank you❤
For Reading

2026 November PAD Chapbook Challenge: Day 7 — Writer’s Digest

Please stay on the page for 30 seconds or longer for the algorithim to catch you reading my poem. Otherwise I may as well take this down from the paywall. Bless you.

In The Feelings was originally published in Mid-Knight Falls on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.