Garden of Life

Little did I know in January as I was planning my new project (a garden) that I was creating a place that would take on a life of its own. I didn't realize that in this beautiful place that was soon labeled Moms Garden that I would experience love and peace in a way never known to me before. I would soon experience the brush of angels wings, feel a kiss from my Prince of Peace as He whispered secrets in my ears and see a reflection of my own life and its growing experiences through my plants.

Ever since I was a small girl playing with my little brother under the magnolia trees and around the heavily scented lilac bushes around my grandmother's house on Sunset Drive, I've been entranced with gardens. My nanny would read books like The Secret Garden and I would literally feel like I stepped into the story and did not want to step back out.

There is something I feel like is placed into the hearts of all little girls by our creator that yearns for love and intimacy that only He can fill. And Gods original plan to spend time with the ones he created was in the Garden. He doesn't do things without a reason. There was a divine purpose that their time alone was in a garden. There were probably so many lessons and analogies that He used through their surroundings. Man's unfullfillment and turmoil didn't happen till they no longer allowed back into this beautiful space filled not only with Gods presence but the nuggets of wisdom and understanding for all their daily questions.

I think that if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden at the cool of the day. ~F. Frankfort Moore, A Garden of Peace

When I first started my garden it wasn't much to look at but I was enchanted with it. When I talked about it to friends they too got excited and couldn't wait to see it. But as they walked thru it I could see their disappointment, as if this was not the same garden I had told them about. One morning I walked thru the garden to my cozy chair with my hot tea and Bible. This had quickly become my favorite way to greet the day! But this day was different. My Prince came to visit! As I sat whispering to Him, he entered my garden and whispered to my heart. "I sing and rejoice over you!" "What?" I exclaimed. "I'm like this garden. People think I have a lot of potential but when they get close enough to really see me they are disappointed." He whispered back, "Remember how you showed your garden to your friends and they weren't impressed? That was because they were not looking at it thru your eyes. You knew how it would look in the future because you dreamed it, planned it, and looked at it as it would be in the end. And that is how I look at you. I see the end and you are a beautiful masterpiece."
The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.Isaiah 51:2-4

I worked in my garden this afternoon with a heavy heart. I was sad to see the damage the sun had inflicted upon it. The weather in San Antonio has been harsh. No rain for months and 100-104 degrees for weeks. I knew I would have to pull out all the zinnias. They were bolting and looked as if they were in a race against one another to see who could reach the roof of the house first. They weren't even pretty anymore but I hated to just rip them out because I had grown attached to all their bright faces greeting me each morning. But out they had to come, along with all the balsam, carrots which never did anything but make froths of green foliage, and half of the morning glories which were now crispy brown.

When one of my plants dies, I die a little inside, too. ~Linda Solegato

The garden is now stripped down to bare dirt except for the hardy tomatoes and peppers. As I looked around sadly, I heard my Prince ask me "Why is your heart troubled?" "It looks bare and lonely." I whispered back. "But its only for a time, my love. Its necessary. Remember the times in your life I had to strip you of the things you had allowed into your life that had crowded and pushed and had become unruly until it choked all the other good things I had planted in you." "Yes." I tearfully answered remembering the pain of those days. "Just as the seasons change and the duties in the garden rotate. Sowing, reaping once again planting then harvesting; So must your own life."

"Sometimes since I've been in the garden I've looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something were pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast." ~Colin Craven

As I sat in my chair sipping my favorite drink (hot mint tea) and stared up thru the crape myrtles watching the taffy pink clouds drift across the setting sun, Peace stepped thru my garden gate, tiptoed over to me and wrapped His arms around me.

"Thank you my prince." I whispered.

So until I step thru the gates of the heavenly gardens remember I might have a few weeds show up occasionally. But don't worry I have a Master Gardener!!
Until Next Time,