Even Broken Wings

I have a garden dedicated to my son, Nathanael.

It started out, just planting his Bonsai Juniper bush.

Then I added his tennis shoes that he wore every time he went for a run.
Next, we planted all the autumn Mums from his funeral. 

I scrounged around for old metal gears, 

and found another one of the large ones like he used for weight lifting.

He was so strong!
He preferred his homemade weights over the weight bench. 

If he wanted variety, he went to the gym.

Slowly I added more to the garden, so it could bloom all season long.
His birthday is in the spring, so I look forward to seeing the Hyacinth and Bleeding Hearts first.
Then in the fall, I wait for the corn to dry on the stalk, so I can plant it again next spring.
Why corn in a flower garden?
To remember all the years the kids went to work in the fields detassling.

It might not be a very nice garden to onlookers,
when only half of the flowers are blooming
and there is "old, rusty, broken junk" sitting amongst the plants.

But it's for my benefit and therapy.

As I am out for a walk today, and catching the camera bug, before the bugs get to the flowers, something catches my eye.
I see orange, so I take a closer look at the ground.
Broken, yet still beautiful - lay a butterfly wing.

It reminded me that we can be broken, and through the grace of God, He still sees the beauty in all of us.

As carefully as I have been working on Nathanael's garden, 

slowly adding more colors and cleaning out the weeds; 

God is carefully working on me and adding more colors, removing the yuck inside.

Then I take a moment to step back, smile, and remember all the times 

that I had the guys help me dig (still another garden?), move more rocks for borders, 

and I am grateful for the memories we have.

There is beauty even in broken wings, 

broken hearts and broken dreams.

The imperfect becomes perfect in God's eyes. 

From the collection of stories 

by: Sue Leerhoff  

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