Saw God Today in ‘Three Flats’

Like so many families in this area, ours has been hit hard by the economy.  My husband lost his job 15 months ago.  As a result, we’ve had to really cut back and prioritize our spending. 
 
Although we have always enjoyed planting flowers in our front and back yards, we really did not do so last summer.  Last year my husband and I discussed it and figured our situation would certainly be better in a year and we’d plant again then.  
 
It was a hard decision as our teenage daughter enjoys gardening.  It was something she always did with my mom while Mom was still strong enough to do so.  I recall the many conversations that they would have as they planted. My mom always knowing what to say and how to compare the task they were doing to some present concern my daughter needed input on. During my mom’s final two summers on this side of eternity, she was no longer able to lead the gardening.  Our family purchased, planted, and cared for mom’s flowers. We wanted her to be able to look outside and still see her beautiful gardens.  Both my daughter and my son weeded and watered — wanting everything to look “just right” for Grandma.
 
Mom passed away in April 2008. Our daughter, then 13 years old, wrote the prayer that is on the back of my mom’s funeral card. It is titled, “We are Grandma’s Garden.” One of the lines from that prayer is “Shine Your Spirit on us each day, and let us bloom in Your name.” 
 
That summer, we took some of my mom’s garden decor (a stone my daughter made for Grandma in 1997 and a fiddle-playing frog statue) and created a small flower bed in her memory. Both children took special care of that flower bed. While caring for that bed, we remembered the many summers Grandma would come over and help with our gardening.  We laughed as we talked about the summer she let the children take over the majority of her backyard and create a living plant teepee and large three-sisters vegetable garden.  Our small flower bed provided us with time to remember all the things we cherished about having Mom/Grandma in our lives. 
 
During the summer of 2009, we planted in just that one flower bed. Everytime I looked at it I felt my mom beside me, comforting me and letting me know that our family would get through this difficult time.
 
Unfortunately, this summer the cash-flow is not any healthier than last summer. So we decided to put off planting flowers again this summer.  This time, including Grandma’s flower bed.  Another hard decision, but a necessary one. Before leaving the house yesterday afternoon, I stood near the empty flower bed that would have been for her and whispered an apology to her that we just couldn’t do the plants this year. Before I headed out I asked God to please continue giving us “our daily bread” and, if possible, to give me some much-needed encouragement.
 
We pulled into our driveway yesterday evening and the headlights illuminated something coloful just inside our fence.  When we walked toward the yard, we found three flats of beautiful flowers!  There was no note; no indication of who had left them for us. As I looked at them in awe, I again felt my mom beside me and could hear her telling me, “Hang in there a little bit longer.  God is good and His plan is great.”  Our daughter said what we all thought, “I saw God today in these plants.”
 
Mary Chris — St. Clair Shores, MI