When we bought this house the small front yard had grass and I really hated mowing it. I decided to get rid of all the grass and replace it with plants.  I had no plan which was obvious but I had a good time picking out various plants and putting them in the ground.  I got busy and didn’t take care of it so the weeds took over.  Michael and I decided to pay a landscaper and he made several small beds separated by rocks.  It looked wonderful.

I told myself I would not let the weeds get out of control again but unfortunately I got busy and let them take control again. They sprung up through the rocks and pretty soon, I couldn’t even see the rocks.  Now the yard looks like one big weed pit.

 Several times I worked on it but it was such a mammoth job, I gave up.  Then my depression hit and thinking about the yard just seemed like one more insurmountable chore.  When we bought the house, Michael made it clear he wasn’t going to do any yard work.  Since I like working out in the yard, that was fine with me although I haven’t kept up my part of the bargain.

After some medication changes and therapy I’m now feeling a little seed of hope inside – sort of like the mustard seed.  Mark 4:31 reads, “Consider a mustard seed.  When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants.  It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.”

I imagine this mustard seed will grow and I’ll feel energized to work again.  It’s clear that if I want to have a nice garden, it is going to take more than simply working in it once or twice a week.  I’m committed to working more.

I didn’t want to take a picture of my weed filled garden, so instead I took a picture of my various masks.  Due to the coronavirus, every time I go out in public, I have to wear a mask.  At first I only had one mask that Michael used in his workshop but I’ve since obtained several more.  One was made by a woman at Circle of Mercy and it’s one of my favorite masks.

So because of that little seed of hope, when I worked outside this morning I moved some ice plants to a border and decided that the garden this year is a loss cause.  This didn’t depress me but rather filled me with a seed of hope.