It snuck up on me this year.
There wasn't the "waiting and watching" that usually happens.
The Rose of Sharon was a memorial gift. Actually, we were blessed with a gift certificate to a local nursery, and we chose this.
It was given by friends and family who desperately wanted to honor our son; who wanted to give us something lasting. Something that would help us remember him
year,
after year,
after year.
And oh, that is what it has been!
Every summer my heart just glows as these large and beautiful lavender blooms pop out.
First just a few,
then multiple flowers begin to cascade down every inch of this bush.
It's amazing to watch!
When we planted it, the shrub only stood a couple feet tall.
Now it has to be somewhere in the 7-9 ft. range
It has thrived. With little to no maintenance, this plant has grown and multiplied and become more beautiful every year!
What a special gift.
What a neat reminder.
I do remember a time when I would watch it daily.
In the late spring and early summer...
...I would observe for buds, and finally they would emerge.
Then I would long for the buds to transform into flowers.
Like some how... in some way... it was an acknowledgement of him.
{Yes, he happened.
Yes the memoires come back.
Yes his life was beautiful.
Come out blooms! Show me your beauty!}
Well, this year I was just doing life.
I was living in each moment and loving my family...
when we drove into the driveway one day and ...
.Boom.
...there they were.
They were already covering the tree.
They were in FULL bloom!
How did I miss it?
Where was the longing?
The waiting?
This is a good thing.
This is healing
and living.
Living for the living and yet, still forever treasuring him.
It's bittersweet friends.
But truly, God is a God who heals,
and who brings such color into our lives!
6 comments:
Love you.
What beautiful flowers and a beautiful story!
Thankful for a God Who heals. Who give you beauty in the days as a way to remember, but also as a way to live.
Praying your summer is filled with goodness.
thank you for sharing this. I woke in tears this morning after very vivid dreams about bennett...summer is hard, even subconsciously I guess. I love this idea. thank you for sharing your heart.
You are an amazing woman!!
I love the flowers on the bush and the memory of Joshua. I sometimes wonder what he would be doing now. I know he was an identical twin, but would things have been different with the struggles that Caleb has made it through? I wonder. Anyway, I'm glad that since he cannot be with us, that he is in heaven. Glad that God heals us.
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