Raining and Down syndrome??

Tonight out of nowhere it started to rain. If anyone has followed the news we have been in a deep drought here in Texas and it has caused so many problems. We can't make it rain. Man cannot come up with a magic solution to take away the effects of a drought. Trees (including my very favorite red maple) are dying. Flower beds and vegetable gardens have all withered up and look as if not a single soul cares for them. Now I know you all know me by now, I am pretty transparent, so you know this has meaning. As I smell that sweet smell of rain coming through my windows I also am smelling the sweetness of being a mommy to 7 wonderful children and one sweet angel boy watching me from above.

Our life is a lot like the weather here. At one point, our family was living quite comfortably with a new home, a new minivan, pedicures for me, and fun for us all. Did we work hard for this? You bet we did. My garden was in full bloom, so I thought. Then our life moved in a new direction and that is when our journey to adoption started. I had left my teaching position and came home to work with other children and to home school my own 2 children. Money was tight (drought like conditions) but we made it. Soon things got a bit better (the rain came). Our blessings would continue with the unexpected adoption of our son Mason (the rainbow) but then Mason passed and the weeds would seem to be choking off the very life that was found in my garden and love felt so far off (the drought). Our loving memory of Mason led us to adopt our first 3 children from Ukraine and soon we would be returning for two precious little girls. Many see our life as a drought through financial lenses and through lenses that I can only see as the unknown. We love our life. Are we in a drought? NO WAY! In fact, we see that we are living in the most beautiful of all lush gardens. There are opportunities for new things to grow and for true beauty to be seen, smelled, and touched. A garden only God Himself can make flourish. We are only the gardeners God has chosen to tend to His precious creations. Yes, weeds do pop up and yes little varmints get in and try to destroy what God has so wonderfully made. There are days that I just can't find the right tool to take care of the issue that has choked off some of the beauty. Days sometimes find me digging and digging yet never producing a thing of beauty, or so it seems. Then there are days like now when the rain pours down and erases all of the cracks in the soil, replenishes the moisture that has been so desperately needed, and washes away all of the dirt that has clouded over the beauty. And after it is all said and done, this amateur gardener can sit back and see the Master Gardener's true work of beauty created especially for me.

My garden may not look like that one found in Better Homes and Gardens and may not have a plethora of people flocking to replicate it but that makes my garden all the more unique and special. It is special because it is the one God has created for me and called me to tend to. I know that I have a lot to learn when it comes to tending this garden and learning about all that will flourish within its borders but that is okay. I do not have to have all the answers nor all the solutions. My garden has a wonderful group of admirers who share their tips and their time to help each living creation blossom into the truest of beauty. I know that when my garden seems to be wilting and not producing it is not because the Master has not done what He should or that I have somehow messed with it but rather it is simply a time in which I must reevaluate what all is entering my garden and how I can best take what has been given unto me and nurture it with my love and devotion. I love not knowing when my garden is full or when things will reach their full maturity. When I try to force something to grow and produce it when I seem to fail to notice that perhaps that is that creations beauty: a unique and magnificent one of a kind. It may not look like, grow as big as, or even produce like the neighbor's garden but nevertheless my garden is a rare and true one of a kind. I would not trade my garden and all the work that must go into it in order to bring the beauty forth for all the prize winning gardens in all of the Earth! My heart if filled with total contentment as an amateur gardener who is simply trying to apprentice the greatest of all Master Gardeners-my God! With a special love and appreciation to each of the unique and wonderful creations in my garden-my steady drought proof husband Brian and all eight of the most beautiful children-Madelaine, Owen, Hudson, Evelyn, Reagan, Ethan, Carrington, and Mason. I am watching with great joy to see what the newest addition to our family will need from this gardener.

My message to you this evening is to share with someone you know who has been blessed with a very unique garden (Down syndrome and other special needs) just how much you love to watch the beauty that comes from their garden. Don't point out the weeds, we know they are there. Simply point out the beauty of God's creation and who knows you too may be blessed with God's calling for a special garden of your own.