Life always renews in the garden

The hollyhocks this year are by far the most beautiful they have ever been. The colors are so rich they even coordinate. Each clump seems to accent the next. There is something so peaceful and joyful taking in God's handiwork.

I lured Tom out to the garden by telling him about the six foot hollyhocks. I knew he would love it. Up until this year, it has been mostly Tom in the garden with me. But this year, he went to work for his big brother, leaving me and Dan to get the garden ready for Hannah and Travis’s wedding.

Once he was out there, he began to see all the work that needs to be done. (Some of us don’t see the weeds for the flowers, and some can’t see the flowers for the weeds.) He went straight to his frog pond. The one he dug by hand when he was only ten.

He grabbed the nearest little boy and started having him shuffle rocks. He began to claim the yard chores that he and Dan did together. He didn’t want anyone else to do them.

For just a bit, I began to see a glimpse of my boy that has been hiding behind a wall of anger and pain.