Simplicity

This morning as I rambled around our place, checking the progress in the rose garden, the vegetable garden, the herb garden and the mint patch, with Harry by my side and the goats eyeing me with care to see if they were going to get a handful of grass from the other side of the fence, (since I am sure goats have their own saying about the grass being "tastier on the other side of the fence") I felt a peace in my heart. As if I really never need go beyond this place in order to find all that I need in life. Home is where the heart is, but so often we run from here to there looking for what is right under our noses. Love, needs cultivating just as the garden does. It needs care, nurturing and time spent on it. I could run to the store 4 times a day to buy more garden supplies, yet without spending time on the garden, all the things on the market would not improve it if no time time spent digging out the weeds, or bending down checking the plants. Real gardens are tended by hands that get dirty, and perhaps have a broken fingernail or two. So it is with families and marriages. We can buy all the stuff on the market, give the children all the lessons we think they need, yet never really get rid of the weeds that grow in our hearts that strangle good relationships. Its not the cost of the clothing, or the make and model of the car you drive that makes love grow, its time spent together, talking, eating meals at the same time at the table. Its having bonds that are strong enough to handle the little misunderstandings that come along. Those strong bonds develop the same way strong plants grow in the garden. Tender loving care and getting down on your knees to see closely what needs there are. Running here and there every single day, steals away from us so many opportunities to nurture love. Husbands and wives so busy that they barely have time for a decent conversation, let alone time to build deeper bonds of love. Children follow suit, with so many activities they don't have a clue how to play or use imagination. Simplicity of life, allows so much good strong growth in life that will yield a harvest to be enjoyed.