DROPPED SEEDS
As long as I can remember, my mom has anticipated Spring with great enthusiasm. She watches for her jonquils to poke their heads up and proclaim that winter is almost over. Our gardens provide a sanctuary, a place where expected-and unexpected things happen. We expect our spring bulbs to show up and announce the coming of Spring and our roses to bloom each year. We anticipate the fragrance of freshly cut grass and cypress mulch. The Doves return with their beautiful songs and remind us that "mating for life" is a beautiful thing.
The garden is also a place of unexpected surprises. One of my favorites is the larkspur that showed up near my bench-from seed dropped by someone other than me-a bird? the wind? Another is the Greek oregano that finds a new place to root itself every year.
Family is kind of like that-a place of expected and unexpected blessings.
I expect to have Christmas with my family every year sometime before the actual day. We all have our usual places to sit and the youngest opens first. That's our tradition-I look forward to that night the way Mom looks forward to her jonquils.
I expected our kids to grow into kind, productive adults because we worked hard to sow seeds of kindness, faith, and hard work into their lives. We prayed fervently. And I marvel at who they have become.
But like the garden, the seeds that were dropped unintentionally have grown into the most beautiful blessings. The people who touched our kids-teachers, friends, family-in ways that nurtured their souls and kindled their hearts. The unplanned conversations in the car that brought us together. The church family and friends who helped to parent and teach each others children. Their dad's unique sense of humor and his incredible gift of seeing the truth in turbulence. For these I am thankful.
When I put my grand daughter to bed one night, she wanted to sing, "He's Still Working on Me." I sang it with her-as I had with her Mom so many years ago. Seeds of blessing.
