Since we moved from New York to Georgia, we have been in love with all the beautiful growth around Savannah where we live. The trees and plants are vibrant shades of green; there are marshes (as my husband calls them) that provide the most fertile soil it seems for growing anything that lands in them. Both I and my husband were raised in Arizona, not the most friendly place for growing plants due to the heat, but this summer we have decided to grow a garden, it only seems right given that we both like fresh food and seem to live in a ‘no fail’ gardening climate.
We are in heaven! We planted tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, onions and all the herbs we normally spend $5 on purchasing at the store, and EVERYTHING is growing beautifully! We have so much basil, sage, rosemary and parsley we don’t know what to do with all of it. We have been learning how to dry herbs for later use, creating flavored olive oil for cooking, garnishing our mid-day snacks with a sprig of this or that.
As I was outside a few days ago peering closely at all the growth, I started contemplating life (I know, super deep here…). How often do we celebrate the little ‘growths’ that we experience throughout our lives and others lives? Do we stop to take in all the blessings of experiences and new learning that is occurring in ourselves, our children or our friends? As I thought about this, I realized that there has been a lot of growth in my own personal and family life this year to be thankful for, some of it is small growth and some of it is pretty big, but I thought I would share-
-My 10-year old son learned to ride his bike. He has struggled with hyper-extensible joints and sensory processing issues that have made it difficult to figure out how much pressure to place on the pedals, and he has gotten frustrated over the years and quit several times, but he did it this time and learned in only 2 days!
-I have a brand new niece, Paislee Mae, and another nephew on the way in a few months! I’ve lost count, but I think I have over 30 of them! Yeah for big families!
-We moved from an apartment that was stifling into a small home in a neighborhood with other kids and a backyard, so my children can finally play outside, ride bikes and run around with friends.
-My husband finished school (a 10 year journey!) and will be starting his first job in his field next month. We are both so excited that he is able to do something he is passionate about after all his hard work.
As I think about the growth that has occurred and is occurring in my life, I think back again to our little garden, and how it is symbolic of myself and really of each one of us and our personal growth as we move through life. Given the proper soil and nutrients, we grow in amazing ways and so quickly. As a human being, we can also grow in bad soil, though it is much harder, it can still be done, which is cause for even more celebration when times are tough and we pull through. This year as I harvest from my garden, I’ll be celebrating great tasting fresh food as well as the blessing of growth.