New Adventures

     I know this doesn't look very impressive, but I am extremely proud of the beginnings of my rock garden, with a nice desert road runner to greet our guests.  The special thing about my rock garden is that ALL of the rocks-with the exception of the painted ones-were personally harvested by me from the back yard.  The pine cones are from a tree down the block, and the road runner was left by the previous owner.  In the weeks since this photo was taken, many more rocks have been harvested from the back yard.  My husband, Mr. M., kindly bought me a wagon, the kind you see at a big gardening store, and it has been worth its weight in gold!  The rocks in this photo are only about one fourteenth of the rocks that now grace the sides and front of the house.  I love that wagon . . . but more, I love my rock garden.  It has so much history in it.  First, my mother loved rocks, and statues made of rocks, houses made of rocks, river beds made of rocks, and gardens made of rocks.  My mom first introduced me to rock gardens.  Also, my son helped me gather the rocks.  He was an enthusiastic fan of my rock garden from the start.  My humble little rock garden is the result of pride of place that was passed down to me from my mom.  They say that in parenting, "More is caught than is taught.", meaning that your kids learn more from your example than they do from what you intentionally teach them.  I "caught" this pride of place from my mom, who was completely content to fully embrace the place where God had chosen to put her.  This embracing of all things God put in her life extended to everything, including the unique and quirky characters she went to church with, worked with, or lived near.  This is something I also "caught" from her-gladly embracing (not merely tolerating) the less-desirable things and people in her life.  Growing up, I remember a sign we had in our house.  Despite hating it, my mom kept it in the kitchen because my dad had given it to her, and he liked it.  She hated that sign because it gave the sage advice, "Hang in there."  She told me she didn't want to just "hang in there" . . . she wanted to live fully, joyfully.  Having my little rock garden is a small step towards living fully and joyfully, content to be where God put me, living with a pride of place.  xxx