“It is an ill wind that blows no good.” But there do exist some ill winds! One has blown down our garden shed and others are now destroying a favorite trellis.
Garden structures are not the only maintenance in a garden, of course. Our fragrant and beautiful Carolina Jessamine has been taken over by a stray Virginia Creeper that crept in among the vines growing up and over the delicate white trellis by the patio.
And now that poor trellis is leaning precariously from the weight of both of the heavy vines and the prevailing west winds. It will have to be completely removed, along with the plants.
2019 will surely be the year that we attempt to address the discombobulation that has occurred lately. I put the emphasis on “attempt,” because the garden is not the only thing that met unusual and unexpected upheavals. Much of the attempt will be done without the help of the well-known “Yard Boy” known also as my dear husband of 45 years.
If you have missed my bi-weekly column on Forthright, it is because of one of those major life events; a heart attack and subsequent open-heart surgery for the dearest man on earth to me.
To say it was unexpected is an understatement; we were in the process of “discombobulating” two rooms in the house to make them more comfortable for time spent indoors instead of outside.
Our God is a God of an ordered universe and of beautiful intentional design (Psalm 104). Our very DNA organizes and dictates what we look like, and even whether we are prone to heart attacks (Psalm 139:13-16). Even his worship is to be orderly (1 Corinthians 14:40).
This is why we, as God’s creation, crave orderliness. The temporary chaos of repainting and the wind-damaged messes were supposed to be temporary. After all, God did put a gardener in the Garden of Eden to tend it (Genesis 2:15).
Then there are all the other life changes that have been made and will be made. This is where the real challenge lies! Our home and our garden has undergone so many changes that it is difficult to keep up. But our lives! Oh, my – what changes! Many of you have had your own bizarre and surreal events occur unexpectedly as well.
So how do we put back together a scrambled-up life? It can be overwhelming. The answer is the same as putting back together a trellis torn apart by wind and water and the weight of plants; one step at a time. And it could hurt! That Jessamine may not make it, but the garden will be fine and maybe even better for it all. There are logical steps to garden cleanup. The steps to “recombobulating” a life ravaged by death, sickness, a loved one in danger, or any other tragedy are still just that — “steps.” Sometimes, “baby steps.”
“Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?” (Hebrews 2:1-4, NKJV).
Notice how methodical God was in saving us? It must be an example to us to “recombobulate” our own “discombobulated” lives.
Put one foot in front of the other in the footsteps of Jesus.