Putting the Garden to Bed

It's getting to be that time of year. The flowers are still in bloom, but they are wilting a bit. Things are looking a little shabby. But the colors are vibrant~in a different way. That beautiful fally way. Where I don't have anything to do with it. The planting, weeding, watering, fertilizing, caring for are done for the year and yet everything looks lovely in a way that I could never achieve. Is it because I stand back and let nature take its course? I have worked hard all summer to achieve some sort of masterpiece in my yard, and yet God provides us with the season of fall when all things come together and it is just how it should be. I can wander around my garden, look at my flowers with the added colors that fall brings and be amazed that I don't have to do anything but sit, enjoy and be grateful. The work is now complete.

As I walked down my path on this fall day, I look at each name engraved on each stone. A name, a date of birth of a child, a dear grandchild, marriage when loved ones joined our family. I have loved, nurtured and cared for each of these. They are colorful, vibrant and unique, just as all my loved flowers in the garden. I look at the individual names and appreciate the differences that each one offers. Just like when I mix all kinds of lovely flowers together to make a bouquet, then stand back to enjoy the beauty as those flowers together make a perfect arrangement. With my family, as in a garden, it is the Fall Season. I have done pretty much what I can and must stand back and allow God, (who certainly knows much more than me) to do His magic. And He will, He always does.
I just need to look out the window.