She has grown into the mother of 4 and a grandmother. She is a teacher and a horse lover and competitor. Her passion for horses and competing has overflowed to two of her daughters who also have horses and compete.
Yesterday we shared lunch and went to the barn where their horses are kept. We walked through the barn and several horses stuck there heads out of their stalls to greet us or whinnied their hello. We stopped and said hello to her horse, a beautiful Appaloosa. Her youngest daughter was out in one of the corrals with her horse so we walked over to see what she was doing. Her horse is very large and gorgeous. He floated through the air as he exercised his muscles. It was like a movie, in the way you might think you would never see such a thing in person. She stood in the center of the corral as he ran back and forth with power. It was like watching a young kid run as fast and as much as he could. He ran up to her and stopped, she would move away and he would follow her, she would turn and walk another direction and he would do everything he could to get her attention. The relationship they have is amazing. You could not help but see the mutual love they have for each other.
We walked back to my sister's horse and she took him to a grooming area. She showed me how to brush him and clean his hooves. She watched with the eye of a teacher and a mom as I groomed her friend. Her passion for her horse was evident and she joked with him as he moved around while I was trying to brush him. They seemed to be trying to lovingly antagonize each other, it was awesome.
As I walked back to the car, I heard the breeze in the trees rattling the leaves. I heard the birds singing with the beauty of an orchestera. I could hear the horses calling out and feel the sun warming my face. It was heavenly. It was a garden of sights, sounds and feelings. I was standing in the midst of a part of creation that was unspoiled.
When I reflected on that time, I imagined the Creator's love that inspired what I saw, heard and felt. It impacted all of my senses and I was better for it. I was at peace and in a way, felt at home. I love nature and all that God has created. His love is expressed in all the colors, scents and variety of plants and animals. I could stand for hours watching nature do what it does every single day.
He took his love and allowed it to motivate Him to create a beautiful world all around us. We live in a world where there is no shortage of color or life or sounds or smells or textures.
I wonder what our love is motivating us to create. What kind of a world are we creating all around us? Are the things we do creating a world of wonder and peace, beauty and awe?
Perhaps we can see our love as a garden we can ask ourselves if our actions toward others leave beautiful fragrances and joy? Does how we treat each other plant a variety of beautifully colored plants and flowers? Do we even acknowledge our love and build wonderful things with it?
If our love can be viewed as a garden, can we see a fertile ground tilled and ready for planting? Can we mix in the the enriching soil of the Creator to help our garden of love produce beautiful things? When we take our love and plant it in the lives of other people, does it produce an unbelievable variety of colors, shapes and fragrances?
A garden of love requires tending just like any other garden. Can we agree that it needs to be watched and weeded. Our garden of love might need us to remove weeds that would choke our love. We need to regularly remove weeds of jealousy, anger, frustration, retaliation and selfishness. If we allow such weeds to have their way, they will choke our love and the beauty and fragrance of our love can die, leaving our world much less of a beautiful place. Our garden needs to be watered with life giving water. Perhaps by reading devotionals on loving or poems in which the author shares his or her view of love. Our garden needs to get plenty of sun. We cannot hope to grow a beautiful garden if we build it in a box and keep it hidden from the light of the world. Does it not need to be built out in the open where all can see it and sun can reach it?
One of the most wonderful things about such a garden is that when it is in full bloom, we get to share it. Isn't it a great feeling to grow beautiful plants and flowers then cut a few and hand them to a friend or neighbor to brighten their day? Our beautiful garden just never seems to reach it's fullest potential if we keep it to ourselves does it?
Why don't we commit this very day to create our garden of love? If we already have one, can we commit to giving it more attention? Let us build it out in the open so it gets the light it needs. Let's mix in the love enriching soil of He who loves us beyond what we can imagine. Let us read things that express love and focus our thoughts on loving. Let us weed out those ugly, life stealing weeds that will not only destroy our garden but also rob others of the beauty of what we have to offer. Let us clip a few of those beautiful flowers of love today and share some with a friend or even a stranger as we go about our daily tasks. You might be surprised how making a little extra effort today by being kind or complimentary to someone you don't know may fill their day with an intoxicating fragrance of love.
I imagine no matter how you look at it, working on a garden of love, makes the world a better place. You can walk in your own garden of love and realize it as an unspoiled part of creation itself. Our Creator made a beautiful garden for us filled with flowers, plants, smells, horses, relationships, cool breezes that rattle the leaves and a peace that is amazing. His love is expressed all around us. Let us take our little plot of ground and do likewise. With a little bit of effort, we can stand back and wonder at what we have created by giving our love away.
Just love somebody. Everybody. Remember, we love because He first loved us. How can we not?