It soothes my soul...

It had been a stressful two weeks. Lots of responsibilities at work. Lots of responsibilities at home. Some traveling. Some illness. The weather had been up and down.

I got home that evening and peeked outside. The scents were wonderful. A beautiful mix of Lilac, Honeysuckle and Warmed Earth. The few flowers that I had had the chance to plant were starting to turn their faces toward the sun and spread out their arms to welcome the warm weather that was starting to stick around. I padded outside in my bare feet and headed downstairs to see what was happening in the other areas of the yard. The first thing I saw were the toys everywhere. Hot wheels cars, tiny figurines, sand box toys. Nothing new about this.

I grabbed my clippers and basket and crossed my rock path and as soon as my bare feet touched the grass, my stress started to melt away. I was going see the Lilacs. They were in full bloom and as beautiful as they have been in the nine years since they were planted. I was amazed as I walked up to them how big they had grown. They were at least 2 inches taller than I was. I took in the scent and realized that spring is truly here.

As I walked to other parts of my garden I let my thoughts wander to everything that had happened in the past few weeks. Nothing extraordinary. But stressful nonetheless. As I'm pondering the weight of my responsibilities, I see a hummingbird feeding on one of the Weigelas and I marvel at it's beauty and the beauty of these shrubs. With each step I take, my stress melts away even further. The hostas are fully opened now. The Hydrangeas are starting to get buds and promise beautiful flowers later this summer. I walk a few more steps. The Daylillies are full and green and the garden will be filled with colorful flowers in the next few weeks.

Stress melting.

The Lirope and the Coral Bells have popped up. The Astilbe have a hint of pink at the tips of the buds.

I stop to pull a weed and glance around at everything that is starting to bloom and realize that I am most at peace in my garden. I feel as close to God there as anywhere else. It wouldn't matter where I lived - whether I owned the home or not - or if it was in the city or the country.

As long I can dig into the earth and plant something and watch it grow then my soul is smiling.