Home Improvement...

I came home late again tonight and wandered out to my garden. I went to water my flowers but realized it was more than that. I needed to see the colors. I longed to smell the blossoms. I wanted to renew my soul.

Our one year old grandson, Jonathan, had his cleft palate repaired this week. It was a brutal sight to see him after the two and a half hour surgery. His tongue looked like someone had lit it on fire and after it had burned, blew it out and left the inside raw and bloody. It was a thick, crispy mass. He couldn't close his mouth so we had to wipe the blood away as it continued to drain out and over his lips. He couldn't open his wide eyes the first day. He was given morphine and slept with arm restraints.

I walked to my garden to replace those images I had in my head. I drank in the color, inhaled the fragrance and knelt to gently remove a weed. I could finally do something here in my garden. After a day of sitting, I could dig and prune and make my garden abit better. Mostly, I could be renewed as I saw God's handiwork all around me. I could take heart that God was healing Jonathan just as sure as He was growing the seeds I had planted.

If you haven't tried gardening, improve your home this year by digging up a plot of soil. Improve your soul by meeting with God daily in your garden. It doesn't need to be a masterpiece, start small and then sit back and see God at work.
Nothing will restore your soul faster than spending some time appreciating God's creation.