I've read that after someone dies, a family member may leave their loved one's bedroom untouched, with their clothes in a pile on the floor just like they left them, their reading glasses on the table just like they left them or their stuff exactly as they were the day they died. I always thought this practice was a bit weird until I realized I did the same thing in our backyard with Annie's garden tools. Then it wasn't so weird.
When Annie got sick four years ago I left her little shovel and hand rake where she dropped them the last time she played with them under the slide in our backyard. After her brain injury, I always hoped she might play with them again, so I left them there in the chance that she would. But she never did. Most of you know that anytime she'd pick up a toy, she'd usually immediately throw it, and she certainly didn't want to dig the dirt in the garden with all her sensory aversions. So, the tools just laid there for the last four years. Bill's going to build a shed there soon, and the tools will be moved. I'll put them inside with some other things I've saved of hers.
My plan now is to garden with Annie in heaven. The Bible speaks of many different gardens, and God created gardens, so I'm thinking that this is not an unreasonable thing to hope for. The Bible opens with a scene in a garden, our salvation was secured after Jesus suffered in a garden, He was buried in a garden close to the place of His crucifixion, and the description of heaven at the end of the Bible has a garden. So Annie and I will garden in heaven--something else I'm looking forward to.
Jean
5 comments:
What a precious thought for you to hold onto. Jean, what an amazing Mom you are in life and in the face of death. Annie was so blessed to have you and you so blessed to have her. Thinking of you today and sending hugs!
Cindy
I'm sorry she never played w/her tools again on Earth, Jean. But, I LOVE the thought of you gardening together in Heaven. I'm not a gardener, but I love to be surrounded by the beauty of a fragrant garden. Perhaps I'll sit at a little bistro table, drinking my coffee & chatting w/you both as you work the soil & plant the seeds. Love you.
Yeah, it's fun to think about. We think a lot about Jesus redeeming people, but sometimes we forget that He will redeem His Creation, too.
So, weeds will not be a part of heaven.
Flowers will.
Brain injury/Addison's/seizures will not be a part of heaven.
Fun conversations with Annie will.
When the Lord returns to redeem this earth - THIS earth - it will be completely redeemed, just as we are completely redeemed/renewed/re-created. Perfection. The Garden. The whole earth will be a garden of perfection. Forever. There is EVERY reason to anticipate gardening in Paradise!!
What precious thoughts! And interesting sequence of "gardens"~
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