It’s a brand new year! The party is over. It’s time for the resolutions! This year, I resolved to spend a little less time in the barn each day so I have a little more time to de-clutter my very disorganized home. I decided on that because it’s way better than, say, eating less chocolate!! And a quick Google search gave me lists of reasons why a de-cluttered home will make my life better. It turns out though that the most motivating reason is the one I found out for myself on the first day of the year — you may very well find something precious that was lost and forgotten in all that clutter. Under a stack of papers in a drawer of my office desk, I found a folded and wrinkled poem written to me by my husband during the first year of our life on the franch, only four years ago. It was the second time I ever read it.
The Garden
We saw what could be a garden where there was a pile of soil.
We had big dreams for this garden, looking forward to the toil.
We talked of the green, fruit, and flowers,
Without any doubt the dream was within our power.
The task was daunting and grand,
But our desire was ready for any obstacle that might stand.
Tools news and unused, just like our muck.
Put to the task, with prayer and hoping for some luck.
We began turning the dirt,
Muscles, emotions, feeling the burn and hurt.
We knew it was up to us to make the garden that we had dreamed.
No one would do it for us, fill the gap between our hopes and what it might seem.
The grasses and wildflowers came up at first,
With the energy of youth, believing in better, we didn’t mind the curse.
Other bright flowers were planted and watered with love,
We searched for weeds and pulled them quickly from above.
The spring was beginning to warm with the sun,
The first years of our love had their share of fun.
We had our first bloom and what a blessing was she.
The most beautiful flower that we imagined we would ever see.
A tree began to grow, signs of strength and comfort in his eyes,
Still so small, but protector and calm would be his bind that ties.
A precious rose arrived with a beautiful smile,
As they often do, taking some nurture and a different style.
The garden required attention, love, and care,
So many challenges, unforeseen, always needing to be aware.
The garden looked so perfect in those few moments of calm,
But so many times busying to prepare for the storm.
Precious and unique in every way,
Cultivating and careful with them, always the first and last thought of every day.
Our love is the nutrients before and even now,
We can work the ground, sweat, and plow,
But in the end, a plant needs fertile soil in which to reach full prospect,
Without our love as the fuel, nothing would be nor could achieve respect.
As we see our bounty, be reminded that our love has taken us here,
And the greatest of these will achieve this garden, as we hold each other near.
Have you ever found something so dear lost in clutter? I’m looking forward to what else I may find going through our mess a little each day.
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