When the COVID-19 stay-at-home order was first issued in mid-March, I thought we might all be home for few weeks and then things would start going back to normal. As April faded into May with no “normal” in sight, it dawned on me it would be a long summer.
I determined to make the best of Summer 2020. My back patio become my oasis. It is my place of sanctuary and rest, or even a temporary vacation. I normally kill any plant I touch but, armed with the largest shaker of Miracle Grow I could find, plus remembering to water every day, I’ve only had one plant almost die. Fortunately, the Brown Eyed Girls have been successfully nursed back to health and are looking lovely again.
I’m amazed at how relaxing it is to water and tend the flowers, something I’ve never really done before. (COVID masks, I’ve discovered, are also good for outdoor allergies). There’s such joy and beauty in God’s creation. Though I have no lilies in my garden, I’m reminded of what Jesus said in Luke 20: 27, “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
My favorites are the red geraniums that burst forth with such vibrant, happy, uplifting color. Leaning back my lawn chair, looking at all the color, listening to the birds, allows me to stop and ask God what he wants me to ponder. It’s precious time I wouldn’t have taken were I not forced to slow down.
Lisa Misner is IBSA’s manager of social media and public policy.