Can you learn about God from a flower? Are there lessons on life and eternity to be gleaned from weeding or plowing? "Absolutely," says former commercial flower grower Jean Coleman. From planting seeds to composting manure and eggshells, I Met Him In My Overalls provides powerful images of the Gospel, revealing lessons for life. While growing flowers for market, Jean saw parables emerge from the soil, stems, and blooms such as: - Flower seeds, like her, spend time in darkness before sprouting into the light - Weeds can crowd flowers and rob nutrients from the soil, like life's busyness can deplete the soul - Buds, branches, and leaves often need to be snipped, just as extraneous preoccupations in life need to be pruned - The adversary we face in life is as real as the beetles that devoured her zinnias Jean shares, with intimate transparency, revelations from an accident that abruptly ended her career as a commercial gardener. She unzips her soul, passionately revealing regrettable childhood perceptions that found their resolve in the poignant garden insights. Tending her flowers with a silent but powerful audience of One became the process of finding inner peace and a place of sacred security in a deceived world. It was an inaudible, yet convincingly distinct voice that commanded her to bequeath the lessons she learned. Upon the birth of her first grandchild, she commenced the arduous task and fervently articulated her garden journey. Join Jean in a fresh look at what happens when we identify our hidden fears, doubts, or shame and add them to the compost pile with other useless toss-aways. Venture alongside her and relinquish your own sorrows to God. He supernaturally converts them to joy and offers a serenity that makes no earthly sense. See how the Master Gardener tends us, His flowers, with such amazing grace. By trusting Him to transform your mess into something of great value, you'll find He's made rich compost from your scraps. It can get nasty but, oh, the thrill of a plentiful garden! Allowing God to till your soul field will prepare it for a harvest of peace, freedom, and love. After reading this book, you will see the ordinary through extraordinary lenses and your perception of life itself will change. Your purpose and circumstances will have a new hue.
About the Author: A faux painting and concrete staining business demanded much of Jean Coleman's time prior to her move to the country where she began the creation of a commercial garden. On a two acre plot she grew over 30 varieties of flowers and refurbished an old tobacco barn as her flower shop. A horseback riding accident forced her into early retirement from the demands of commercial gardening. While growing flowers for market, she learned as much about life and love as she did about gardening. The birth of her first grandchild prompted her to record the powerful insights she gleaned while gardening and to bequeath the love within those poignant revelations to her grandchildren. Now fully retired from her commercial garden, she teaches, speaks, and writes, often using the garden metaphors as topics. Across the Tarheel state, from Atlantic Beach to the Smokies, she loves the outdoors and continues to see the handiwork of God through nature. Though her hobbies are many, her primary passion is her family. She lives on a farm in eastern North Carolina with her husband of 45 years. They have three children and seven grandchildren.