There once was a woman who had beautiful, tall shade trees in her back yard. The shade provided such comfort and security for her and she relished her time in there. She arranged her landscaping, porch and patio area to take advantage of the shade. A variety of birds occupied the trees and she loved watching them and hearing their song. Her backyard was a place where she found rest and refuge.
After many years the trees needed to be trimmed so as not to threaten damage to the house. So she sought help to get the trees trimmed. Through a series of miscommunications and unfortunate events, the woman came home one day to find that all the trees had been clear-cut from her back yard – chopped completely to the ground! She was devastated!
Garden Party!
The absence of the trees changed everything! Without warning, the birds were gone. The scorching westerly sun made it nearly impossible to sit in the backyard at all and it changed the climate of her home. The road and other eye sores beyond the yard were now exposed and ugly—nothing was like it had been. The situation caused everything to look and feel foreign and there was no remedy; she couldn’t replace 20-year-old trees.
The woman had lost all she had worked to create for years – her place of comfort, rest and relaxation. She was sad, embarrassed at the mess and angry! She wanted to blame someone, she wanted them to pay, she wanted to move! But there was nothing to do in the short term but to just live with and adjust to her circumstances.
Several months went by and it was time to plant her vegetable garden. Within a few short weeks the garden was flourishing and strong and the woman realized that it was due to the greater sunlight and warmth.
One evening as she sat out on the porch in the heat, she noticed a brilliant sunset behind her house. She was taken with its beauty -It was golden and pink, orange and lavender, as if hand-painted by the Creator. She remembered how she had enjoyed those sunsets many years before, when the trees were not so tall that they blocked the view. Even in the midst of her loss, she knew that God was delighting her heart.
This story is a true one and describes my own experience of August 2019 – just a year ago. Where once there were beautiful, tall trees, there is now a fence. We lost about 10 feet of yard, due to property lines.
You can see now our fence and our neighbor’s tall trees that are the size ours were. But I haven’t shared my favorite result of the exposure we now live in. I walked behind the fence one afternoon and discovered this giant swath of black-eyed-susans. I planted a few of these about 15 years ago, but they had stopped coming up in the shade of the trees. I had long forgotten them. They had lain dormant in the ground for years – but once exposed to the heat and light – they burst forth in unexpected splendor! I decided to call this my secret garden. My 4-year old granddaughter loves secrets, but she can’t pronounce the word – she says “sweecret.” So now we have a Sweecret Garden that we check-out when she comes to visit. She has to pick blossoms to bring in the house for the table. What a delight to my heart!!
Granddaughter with Hydrangeas
I share this story with you because it is so similar to what we have all experienced in the past year and a half. I’ll bet that you find comfort, pleasure or security in some things that you have or have built or worked for. Unexpected things have happened that have changed everything. Nothing is like what it used to be – and you are sad, tired, want to quit, want to blame or are angry. And there is nothing you can do about the situation but live with it and adjust to the current discomfort.
Friends, I believe that as followers of Christ, we have been prepared for a time such as this! I believe that God has lovingly stripped away our shade – that place where you’ve found comfort – because there is something you can’t see beyond that. There’s something brilliantly created by HIS hand that he wants you to see.
I believe the growth of your soul is set to flourish, better and stronger – if you step into the heat and the light that couldn’t reach you in the shade.
For the children of our communities, I believe there are seeds waiting to burst forth in splendor from exposure to the light of Jesus. That there are children and families who are just waiting for something that will offer hope beyond our ugly circumstances. God wants HIS little ones to flourish in his love!
And God wants to delight your heart. I pray that you will step out of the shade into the heat that is our current reality. Will you will trade your comfort, competence, protection, predictability for a chance to see a Sweecret Garden grow in the heart of a child? They need the light you carry and they need it now.
