Dear friends of Joseph House,

One of our community members who spent decades in prison surrounded by steel, metal and concrete, informed me of his preference for colorful clothes and items because if I spent as much time as he did amidst drab and dreary then I'd go with color every time too. This insight has informed some of our choices at JH.

One project in particular is our desire to transform our spacious backyard into a meditation garden and bird (and squirrel!!) sanctuary. So this past weekend we took a break from self-isolation and planted the first phase of our bird sanctuary garden all the while practicing social-distancing. One of our longterm hopes for this project is to build raised vegetable beds so our community can learn some basic gardening while also contributing to our own meals.

We are blessed with a few friends who are masters in gardening to teach us the skills necessary to bring this to reality. Another reason for cultivating gardens at JH is because as a dear friend of mine says, God is a gardener. So if you want to learn more about God then get out into the dirt and plant!