Skip to main content

What we find when we SEE!


Last night we had supper with friends in their new home which is beautiful!  An amazing couple and little boy and a very peaceful and comfortable place to be!  I checked out the backyard while they were grilling and fell in love!  

Dill, strawberries, rhubarb, grape vines and flowers were stubbornly holding on and flourishing in the jungle of weeds the previous owners had left.  The yard has been taken over and the bushes and trees were pretty wild!

But through all of that one could see the care, passion and love that someone had put into this yard.  The strawberries had a broken screen to protect them from the birds.  The grapes their own place.  The daisies all tucked in together in the back.  Someone had put stepping stones down to make a path around the side of the house.

Two lessons I took to heart:

1.  We can't just look at things-people, environments, places, or our own hearts...we have to SEE!  See what is beyond the junk and the weeds and the chaos.  See what is true about who others are and about who I am.  Seeing takes time and intentionality and being.

2.  What we lovingly plant and care for today might become surrounded with weeds of choices, habits and experiences.  Those beautiful plants might be hard to see behind what has grown up around them.  But their roots are deep and strong; unless they are cut down or dug up-they will survive and maintain who they are.

We plant, water, nurture and love our garden... then it is up to the new owners. 

SEE beyond what lies at the surface and one finds those hidden treasures!!  

SEE that our children, spouse, neighbors, friends, churches are all gardens that we have responsibility for loving and growing while we have the opportunity to do so!
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Starting a Journey

September 3, 2010 Originally posted How to Begin a Journey 1. Pick a destination or simply start. 2. Plan a detailed itinerary or just take the first step. 3. Pack everything or travel lightly. I am choosing to just begin. To leave behind the baggage, pick up a day pack, and go. Several nights before we moved to Ogallala, I was praying about the transition when I heard that still, small voice of God. In that moment, I knew He heard my Heart's Cry. He hears every whispered plea, every unspoken longing. If I truly sit with that truth, it humbles me. What courage, boldness, passion, and decisiveness I have when I remember: He never leaves or forsakes me. He provides for my every need according to His riches in glory. My hope is to encourage you He hears your Heart's Cry too.
2 comments
Read more

1940 Canned Apple Butter: Family Root Cellar

I loved exploration as a child.  From opening the door and going down the stairs to get something from my Grandma's root cellar or exploring old homesteads while checking cows.  I credit my Mom with teaching us to appreciate those things that represented the people who had gone before us. When I moved with my husband and boys to a house on the family ranch-I began exploring immediately.  This was the house my Aunt and Uncle lived in during my childhood.  My Grandparents had lived there and many other families dating back to 1900 when it was built.   With two little boys in tow, I made my way to the root cellar and found a treasure cove.  Old text books belonging to the original family who had been a teacher, the original medicine cupboard, tools, trash and memorabilia.   I felt like an archeologist sifting through layers of debris representing generations and culture.  And I was.  I hauled truckloads of trash to the dump (some...
4 comments
Read more

Diabetes-Opened to Disease OR Open to Connecting to my Strengths

I've tried living in denial for two years after the big D diagnoses was handed over.  Honestly, I just don't want to talk about it.  Outwardly seemly calm and disconnected from it.  Inwardly terrified. As a plant that is stressed is open to disease, injury and death so to our bodies are.  I opened myself up to this.  Stress, lack of sleep, bad nutrition, overweight and lack of exercise.  For some reason I believed that if I ran fast enough and worked hard enough, I would outrun my family genes.  The tiny room in the back of my brain locked with a key has kept the fear of this disease at bay even though I could hear its screaming when life quieted down. My Aunt died piece by piece to this disease.  First a heart attack and quadruple by-pass.  Then a toe.  Next a foot.  Legs came next along with more heart attacks.  Kidneys shutting down.  She died very young. When I was little, my Aunt Ally gave herself s...
4 comments
Read more