My Special Garden



I must admit, I was having a pity party about the yard that I left behind when we sold our house a few months ago. 

It’s not that my garden was that large or beautiful, but I had planted a lot of perennials that came up each spring and was longing for them, but it didn’t take long for God to shake me and show me how silly I was being. 

It took me back many years to when my parents were moving from Mississippi to Iowa. Mother was having one of those days, questioning the decision that they had made to follow Daddy’s career to the Midwestern area of the country. Mother was discussing the move with our beloved housekeeper, Sallie and expressing some of her concerns. 

“They won’t have gardenias, or magnolias or azaleas,” my mother protested. And then Sallie, wise beyond her educational level, replied by saying, “Don’t you worry none about that; they may have something better.” And she was right…that’s when mother discovered her love of peonies, lilac, lilies of the valley and bittersweet. 

God showed me that the new backyard that I have is vast and beautifully cared for by others. Beaver Creek keeps the grounds immaculate and I get to enjoy not just a few beautiful flowers, but hundreds of varieties of all colors, sizes and shapes. No longer do I have to spend the weekends toiling to pull the weeds, fertilizing the bulbs and spraying to keep the deer from lopping off the blooms before they reach full bloom. No, the gardeners do all of that for me.

I never had lovely bronze sculptures sprinkling the landscape of my yard nor did I have streams flowing with the snow melted waters which I now enjoy. I didn’t have any cute little critters peaking out of the rocks waiting to take a sunbath when I disappear or any paved walkways taking me to new heights. And there are hummingbirds galore, flitting and flying, buzzing and whirring everywhere I go. Never did I have that in my garden either.

Why was I longing to go back when there was so much more for me where I am now? Why would I want less when I have abundance? Why do we settle for ordinary when God wants us to have extraordinary?

Lord help me to always look for and desire the best that you have for me.

Psalm 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

www.hearthope.org


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