Chard and a giant fennel plant getting fresh compost. Happiness in the little things!
In east Texas, the air is thick and warming and the birds sound like spring. So this morning I began spreading compost in my small urban garden.
All of our compost these days is made in our back yard. Our vegetable and fruit peelings and castoffs, mixed with eggshells, coffee grounds, glass clippings and leaves, transform into rich, black dirt, courtesy of time and earthworms. And of course there’s never enough compost. I emptied a wheelbarrow of the black gold into one of our beds as my three-year-old, J., watched.
“Look, buddy,” I said. He watched me spread and smooth and pluck out the sprouting acorns from our persistent oak tree. (Yes, it’s one of the banes of my existence as a gardener. But it shades our house and lowers our air conditioning bill in the summer.) “I’m feeding the soil. The garden gives us food, so sometimes we need to give it food, right?”
J. nodded. I kept massaging new dirt into the hollows and cracks of the old bed. Outside our fence, trucks passed, but we were in our own little haven within the boundary line.
“This is happiness, Mama?” he asked. “This makes Mama happy?”
I smiled. “Yes, Buddy. This makes Mama happy.”
I didn’t mean the compost.
Who’s on the Throne?
COVID-19 is terrifying at least half the world. My kids haven’t left our neighborhood in a week and a half. I honestly don’t have any real desire to leave our home because, even though the virus is just reaching our county, the feeling of panic my fellow grocery shoppers project through their masks is making me nervous. I’ve jumped all the way onto the “flatten the curve” bandwagon. But I miss seeing people and having normalcy. Even for an introvert like myself, the quarantine is stifling.
Why, yes, we are eating a lot of parsley this week!
My little boy’s question, though, brought me back to center. God is still King on His throne. He isn’t surprised, and He is still in charge. My family is still healthy, as is most of our community. We have abundant food to eat, although the menu occasionally looks a little different than what we might have chosen. And I get to be quarantined with the people I love most: my husband, who has been able to be with us much of the time, and my precious children. (The children aren’t concerned!)
Rejoice
Your kids are driving you crazy? So are mine, sometimes. Especially with all the rain we had last week that kept us inside our own four walls. But if you have healthy children at home safe with you, rejoice! We can be thankful that our children are not in the hospital right now. Even if they end up there, we can be thankful for our country’s wonderful medical system.
This is happiness? Yes. In spite of all the wrong and sad things that are going on in the world, right and good things are also happening. People are considering their lives, some of them opening their Bibles for the first time in years. Parents and young children are spending more time together. And the Church is finding ways to stay united even when we cannot gather in person.
Find your happiness and live there, friends. If you’ve realized that you have no peace, turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. You will find rest for your souls in Him. Jesus said, “Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
I get my gardening buddies started early! My precious baby girl loves to grab herself a handful of fennel–or my hair!
2 Questions for You: Happiness
Where is your happy place? How are you reminding yourself to choose love, joy, and peace?
If you’d like to know more about the gospel, this page will tell you.