We Need Each Other

 My flower beds are a mess. Once beautiful, but now pitiful. All the rain. The blazing, hot sun. They've been through a lot. I've neglected them (they are like part of the family you know.) I've passed by them for weeks and just looked and said, "My flowers look awful." Well, this morning, I had a new determination. Scissors in hand I went to work. I cut off dead blooms. I cut off dead stems. I pulled weeds. I removed debris from the soil. What an improvement. Just a little time, a little extra attention...

I was talking to my mother this weekend about pain and how people act when they are hurting. I don't know if it is a new revelation for me or what but I have a total new perspective on it. I remember how I acted when I was going through a lot of pain and was hurting deeply. I built a wall around myself for protection. I'm sure others saw it as if I was saying, "Leave me alone." I can promise you, I was not saying that at all. I have known people who were hurting or going through difficult times in their life and I would just stand back and say something to myself like, "I don't want to be pushy or I don't want to bother them." I know from experience though they aren't really saying that either. Yes, we put up a wall. Yes, we act like we don't need anyone. But the truth is we really want and need others. What we need is others who will speak words of life, whether we look like we want it or not. We need each other. 

I might just have to be a little "pushy" from now on. You are worth it!

Father, help me do better,
sammie jean
                

If I take the time to give it the attention it needs, then, whenever the time is right, "new life" will spring forth.