Noonday Notes

Volume 2, Issue 8

July 3rd 2026

This week’s reflection really began last Friday on the Guadalupe River. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the flood, I’ve been thinking about destruction and renewal. As I was paddling the river I was in awe of the cypress trees. They are massive, stable, enduring trees that literally hold the river together. That led me to wonder whether cypress appears in Scripture, and per usual, that question turned into a much bigger story.

I found myself first in Genesis 3:18 (ESV): “...thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” Here, hardship enters our relationship with creation. The thorns become a sign of the brokenness that follows the Fall.

Then I was drawn to Isaiah 55:12–13 (ESV): “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace… all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;”

I love the imagery of creation singing and clapping its hands. But it was the reversal that hit me. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress. The cypress is soft, long-lived, beautiful, useful, and rooted. It stands where hardship once stood.

From there my thoughts moved to Romans 8:23, where we “groan inwardly as we wait” for redemption. Creation is still groaning. The renewal has begun, but it is not yet complete. And finally to Revelation 21:5: “Behold, I am making all things new.”

This was our final week of deliveries for this season until we start up again in August. As each bed ends, I put it to rest with a cover crop (more on that below). The beds are not being abandoned; they are being renewed. The farm is changing form, but it is not disappearing. The same is true of our lives. We are not restored to a former version of ourselves. The lives of families who have lost loved ones are not the same.

Grief cannot be undone. But God does not erase our wounds. He transforms their meaning.

I think about the Lytal family a lot and KellyAnne’s Memorial Foundation. Because of their generosity, the flowers and herbs growing in our raised beds are acts of kindness that brighten people’s day. If you have received flowers from Noonday Farms, you have participated in her legacy of kindness. That is renewal. That is making all things new.

The garden continues to provide what I often call a tactile metaphor. Through soil, seeds, crops, flowers, and harvests, we are invited to participate in the larger story with our hands and our bodies. Creation sings, the trees clap their hands, and we are invited to join in.

Where in your life is God replacing thorns with cypress?

Read the rest of the newsletter here.