Gentle Reader,
Chit-chatting with my online friends and trying to ignore the headache pounding behind my eyes. It’s Kate. It’s my people, my group. It’s a: gift.
Go.
I look out the front window. My eyes rest on the rose bushes climbing the weathered wood trellis. They reach toward the sun, canes shooting this way and that. Heavy heads sway back and forth, up and down in the breeze. Bright pink, full flowers mingle with darker fuchsia. Shy buds hide within deep green shields, waiting for their turn to burst forth in showy display.
This is a gift.
My parents passed on a love of plants to me. Oh, I can’t rattle off a list of names of the flora that crosses my path when I take a walk. In fact, I can’t name very many plants by sight at all. The love they passed to me is less…clinical, I guess. Less about lists and terms and more about an appreciation for beauty.
My mom put potted petunias on the porch steps every summer. My dad took care of the rose bushes. (One sprung up in the middle of the lawn and he left it there just to bug my mom). Snapdragons and tall, willowy grasses grew just beyond the fence. Around the corner from our house, wild lilacs filled the air with their delicious, heady scent.
There is something so refreshing about nature. I feel connected to God when I’m digging in the dirt. There is a sense of accomplishment when I pull weeds. There is pleasure in putting together a bouquet.
The softness of the petals. The sting of the thorns. The glorious shades of color, never perfectly matched by paint.
God’s special gift in a tough world.
Stop.
A post that’s poetry without the rhyme ;). This is just beautiful–I felt like I was sitting down next to you and watching the rosebush and digging in the dirt. (I love plants, but I have more of a brown thumb than a green thumb 😉 I’m content to photograph the beauty others plant).
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Funny you say that, because I contemplated writing a poem. 🙂
What’s great about nature is that there’s so many ways to enjoy it. The “green thumbs” can do the planting and the tending while others appreciate the work they do. It’s a gift from God that everyone can unwrap.
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My goodness you have an amazing way with words! Nature has always held a very special spot in my heart (trees- weeping willows to be exact). It’s where I can talk to God and truly feel a sense of peace in the midst of a bad storm.
Keep writing my friend… I’m waiting for a book 🙂
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Aw, thanks.
I understand what you mean about finding peace in nature. God’s majesty is all over. His fingerprints are on everything. I think we sense Him in a deep way when get the chance to take a hike or look up at the stars.
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Oh, I love this! here in New Mexico, this is the season of small, ephemeral, and very delicate flowers.
Or maybe their delicacy is an illusion, and they have to be pretty tough to survive here at all.
Whatever. I love ’em!
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I think they can be both tough and delicate. 🙂
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This may be a presumption, but I suspect that applies to you as well.
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Well, gosh. That’s very kind. 🙂
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I love this, Marie. Flowers make my heart happy. Their colors, the way the sun shines through their petals. . . yes, they are truly a gift. I grow flowers in our planters out back, and I LOVE to see them in the mornings displaying their colors. It just makes me breathe deep. 🙂
I hope your headache eases soon, friend.
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The way the changing light throughout the day plays across the colors is a sight to behold.
My head does feel a little better today 🙂
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Migraine?
I don’t get headaches. I give them.
But I sincerely hope you’re feeling better, my friend.
Do you know how good it feels to call you friend? Your wisdom, your heart…it’s like slapping Jesus on the back and saying, “Dude!”
Which I shall do when I meet Him. I’ll find a way to let you know how THAT goes.
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Man, Andrew! Your words are very encouraging to me today. If anyone can see Jesus in me, then I’m happy. I want so much for Him to shape me and make me new.
I don’t want to sound insensitive, but when you get embrace Jesus…what a day that will be! All the pain and trouble will fall away and you will be whole.
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Marie, when I see your name, and think on your posts and comments, I am reminded of a song by Lara Landon, “I See God In You”. Here’s the link, if you’re interested –
You have given me hope when I could not see it, when I was beaten down too far to see the sky.
And no, it’s not insensitive. I will meet JC someday, and look forward to that, but until then, I will man this post, and I will fight with my AK (yeah, as a merc, that’s what I carried), with a knife, and with my bare hands to fulfill my assigned duties. Evil will not pass.
I will arrive on the streets of gold bloodied, and perhaps carrying pieces of me, but unbowed.
And I will have gotten there because friends like you have carried me. KNOW THIS.
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Thank you, brother. I am honored.
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marie, i enjoyed reading about all the plants and flowers:) i never tho’t of myself as having a green thumb. but one day i just started gardening with the encouragement of gardener friends. when i bumped into problems, they helped me out. all of a sudden, it is over 40 years later and i have done a lot of gardening since then! a LOT! it has been fun and a source of beauty for my homes. frustration too at times, but mostly beauty:) now we live in an apt. but have some space for gardening. i have a small vegetable garden as well as growing flowers. it is fun.
recently, i went for a walk with my now 9yr. old grandson. it was as flowers were beginning to bloom in early spring. i was telling him what their names were and often taking photos. it wasn’t until a week or so later on my birthday that i realized what an impression it made on him. he sent me a card that said, “Mimi, you are so smart. you know all the flowers’ names.” i had to laugh:) i had no idea how impressed he was!
grands are so fun:)
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What a sweet little story! You can pass your love of nature and gardening on to that little guy. I know he’ll appreciate it as he grows. 🙂
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So beautiful! I am like you and connect with nature in such a relaxing, rejuvenating kind of way! Those are some beautiful words! Thank you for sharing with us! Happy Friday to you, friend!
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Thank you for your kind words, Rachel. Happy Friday to you, too!
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We are dirt sisters! I loved your very visual post – all of nature is another one of God’s perfect gifts for us imperfect people!!! #47 at FMF today.
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Woo hoo! Dirt sisters unite.
“God’s prefect gifts for imperfect people.” I really like that!
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I am not qualified to be a dirt sister unless you consider that all my flower beds are dirt cause I can’t grow anything but I do love nature. My husband has gifted me that appreciation. I love your thoughts of flowers being God’s special gift in a tough world.
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I’m so glad He gives us that beauty. It really does help us get through the hard times.
You can be the manager of the dirt sisters crew, in charge of lemonade and sweet tea making. 🙂
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Ah yes… flowers! So beautiful and fragile – but so much tougher than we give them credit! Such a gift! Praying for you friend! Missed chatting with you last night!
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Missed you, too!
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Flowers are such a gift. I love how prominent they are this time of the year. They rely are Gods perfect gifts!!
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Thank you – I am a digger in the dirt too – such a connection and reminder of the heart beat of God, His beauty and creativity. A beautiful post. Thank you
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