I so wish
we had taken pictures of the front and back yard of our current home when we
purchased it because the yard was certainly not one of its selling points. In fact, if we had been looking for complete curb appeal, this house would have
never even made it on the short list of those to be considered.
Shortly
after moving in, we had the front yard landscaped with new sod and two rock bordered
flower beds. However, we decided to
tackle the back yard on our own. It was
bare and covered with a thick layer of pine straw, which had fallen from the
surrounding pine trees and had been there for years.
On her
first visit, my mother-in-law graciously took charge and shared with us that
removing the pine straw and scraping and roughing up the dirt with hard rake
prongs would allow the sun to reach the ground and promote the grass to
grow. We owe her a world of thanks for
that advice AND for her labor because after several days of raking, the grass
did start to grow! And what is absolutely amazing is that it has grown and is
gorgeous without having much other tending or care at all now some seven years
later.
It was
obvious by the condition in which the previous owners left the yard that they
did not enjoy yard work. BUT - we saw
beyond the yard. We were able to see our
future home straight from the heart. We saw
the house for what it was, the floor plan, the neighborhood, the quiet street
and the cul-de-sac. It was a complete
package minus the yard.
I often think
about my life and how jam packed busy it is most of the time. And I think about my own personal
insecurities and struggles – my Type A personality with OCD tendencies which
drive my family insane, my complete inability to read a map which my husband
simply will never understand, my weight struggle, my never ending unhappiness
with my hair, and so many other things.
But I’m thankful that God sees beyond my “yard” and He looks straight into
my heart and sees me as a complete package no matter what I think I’m lacking.
The patio in our back yard is now my favorite place to sit and enjoy all the green. It was and still is a true labor of love adding plants here and there. The rake prongs surely did their job scratching the surface to promote the grass to grow. Kind of like scars on your heart that hurt but then heal - they always make you better than you were before.
