New to the blog? Start here!

Well, hello there!!

Jeannie Miller, here! I'm a wife, special education teacher, grad student, children's pastor, and God-willing, a soon-to-be-adoptive mom. Well, maybe the name of the site caught your attention, and you thought Garden of the Heart? What does that mean? This blog describes my journey through crippling depression, and what Holy Spirit has shown me through all of it. 

Anyone who has ever had a garden knows that it must be tended to. Often. Daily. Sometimes more than that. When you tend to a garden, you weed it, you take action to make sure rabbits or other animals and bugs are not harming your plants. A garden has to be watered, often, and kept in the sunlight (now, if you live in the South like I do, the sun tries to kill everything in the summer. So, disclaimer).

Our hearts are also like a garden. They must be taken care of with some mental health, fed by the Word, watered by the Holy Spirit, and kept around loving, supportive community and self-care for us to flourish. This also means setting boundaries, keeping in the good, keeping out the not-so-good.

My heart for starting this blog is to see more women (and men) flourish in the garden of their hearts and experience joy, peace, and be freed from the bonds of legalism and extra-biblical traditions.

I am married to my amazing husband, Eric, of almost three years. He is my biggest supporter and cheerleader, and shows love to me every day. In my spare time, I am active in my church, I love to read (Audiobooks count too!), play instruments, get coffee or Chick-Fil-A, hike, hang out with my friends, and watch Netflix with my husband. I also love a good road trip!

I hope this blog blesses you! I speak peace over you today!

~Jeannie


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Journey Ahead

Image
Are we ready for this?   I clutched the pen in my hand, stopping in the middle of filling out the paperwork. I breathed in and out, in and out. Somewhere, on the other side of the red tape, is a sibling group who needs parents to love and support them. My husband of almost 3 years, Eric and I knew this was what the LORD was calling us to do. But these questions raced through my mind as I wrote my information, my family's information, etc, on the paperwork. Can we do this? I had come a long way since last year, when I was battling crippling depression. I've learned (well, still learning!) to tend to the garden of my heart. My marriage, which had been put on the back burner, is thriving in spite of medical issues that have gotten in the way.  We are not stupid. We are not going in this blind. We know our lives will change. Therapy appointments, school activities, extracurriculars, bedtime routines, consistency, actually packing lunches, and handling meltdowns, is what we are most
Read more

The Need to Decompress

Image
 Today, we had our first DCFS training for foster and adoptive parents. This is a brain dump, so please bear with me. I've had classes on maltreatment, abuse, and neglect before. I have had foster children under my care when I worked in childcare. My point is, I've seen/heard most of this information before, about how trauma can affect children and their overall development. It breaks my heart. I won't ever get used to hearing stories and seeing pictures, even dramatized situations, of child abuse and neglect, and the heartbreak of a birth mother whose kiddos have been taken away. The fact is, these kiddos face an ugly reality. Our minds were not created for trauma. Yet, these kids have seen the worst of the worst. Again, the doubts come. Can I parent a child who has been through trauma? Will my training and experience as a childcare teacher and a special education teacher be enough? What if we are giving it our all and it still isn't enough? But I keep reminding myself
Read more