I have always lived life with intensity, and for more than twenty years I was the sole pastor in a busy church with four kids and a funeral-director husband. I was an all-star multi-tasker who never stopped long enough to take a maternity leave.
But in 2010 I had the privilege of taking a four-month sabbatical that changed my life. It gave me a taste of what it was like to rest for more than one day a week. I had time to sit at the dinner table for hours with my family, write every day, and wander through gardens with no agenda and no time limit. I began to think that slowing down long enough to stop and smell the roses wasn’t such a bad idea.
Since then I have been on a journey to live more slowly, more intentionally, and more fully. Much of the time I fail completely. Over the long haul, I trust that God might actually be teaching me a healthy rhythm of work and rest.
I am a minister in the Presbyterian Church in Canada and completed a Doctor of Ministry in 2017. As of September 2018, I serve as the Director at Crieff Hills Retreat Centre in central Ontario. I share my life with my husband, four children and a rescue Airedale named Minnie.
Thanks for coming along as I share personal reflections and stories that grow out of my experiences in the garden and in my life. I hope that you can slow down a little, too. The roses smell wonderful.
bloomingreverend 
Thanks for all your sharing Kristine.
All the best to you,
love,
Ant Sandy
You have wonderfully beautiful photos and a very nice blog. Thanks for sharing!
Nice to read your reflections / I experience God more easily when emersed in nature as well
I nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award!
http://outtakesontheoutskirts.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/the-versatile-blogger-award/
Wow! Thank you! I am (like you) new to this world of blogging and am really pleased that I have a fan 🙂 Now I just have to figure out how to follow this up! Stay tuned!
I have just stumbled upon your garden details quite accidentally. I am a retired Methodist minister living in the east of England in the town of Thetford. A few years ago I did my sabbatical on the Quiet Gardens of England and have now opened a Quiet Garden and retreat house for those under stress. We have more than 2 acres and find it hard to manage all the gardening! My wife is a great support and newly keen gardener.We are also using our garden as a source of community support for events like musical evenings and away-days for clergy and churches etc. This comes with all our best wishes.
It’s great to hear from you, Ken, and I am so pleased that you found my blog. How wonderful that you have opened a Quiet Garden of your own. It sounds like it does great things for many people!
Hi Kristine
I really enjoy your blog and your photos. Here in Sandy Cove Acres, the management provides garden plots for retirees who want to make things grow. I don’t have one (yet),but your blog whets my appetite. I may settle for doing a raised garden behind my house this year. Looking forward to seeing you at “Bursting Forth” in May. Mary Helen G.
Hi Mary Helen. Thanks so much for the encouragement. As winter sets in, the garden dreaming season sets in too–so it’s a great time to be thinking about what to do next summer 🙂 And yes–it will be great to see you in May!
Kristine, are you familiar with Margaret Anne Overstreet’s Lenten blog 40 Days for Food Justice? I think you would like it. She is a Presbyterian minister in the States. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/the40dayjourney/2015/03/day-16-whats-so-special-about-gardens/ Hoping to see you at Synodical. Mary Helen
No, but I’m going to go and look it up now! Thanks for sharing. And yes, see you at Synodical.
congratulations on your doctorate. All the best for the future.
Love and prayers.
Peggy Bayley
Thanks!
This might be of interest.
http://christianfoodmovement.org/
Thank you!