You know, it surprises me to realize that some people think we’ve got life easy somehow. That we just plant daisies, chase butterflies, and stop to smell the roses all the live long day. That life must be just perfect.
That’s a nice thought. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. Although, we do smell a lot of roses, if I’m honest. And life is perfect, even if it’s hard and messy sometimes, because we are exactly where God wants us to be.
But the truth is that we work really hard at everything we do. We weren’t handed things in life, and even though we are far better off than when we started out, life is still hard. Every day we work, and every day we fail, and every day we try anyway.
Some days are so defeating. This week we ran an ad on Facebook. We got over 500 likes, 30 shares, tons of comments and interactions. More than ever! And not a single customer yesterday. Not. One. And barely any on Friday either. In fact, our second customer (out of 2) was the guy who came out to fix my windshield! He probably felt sorry for us! Here we were watering and organizing and working really, really hard. And no one was coming.
Then our Jeep broke down. The engine seized up right in the driveway after we discovered an oil leak too late. Luckily my kids made it home safely before that happened. But, my goodness, it’s not gonna be cheap to fix.
I also tried to help some friends at a local dog show this weekend by showing their dogs for them when they couldn’t. I came in dead last in three out of four shows. And the fourth was a gimme. We were the only dog in the class.
Some days are the worst!
But I also know that this is something we’re supposed to be doing. And things aren’t always like this. And we get some really amazing people that stop by sometimes. Like our best gardening friends, Rose and Nancy, who are honestly just a delight to us. Or Ed and Elaine and their grandson who made such a huge impression on us (and our dogs) last year. We’re still not sure they weren’t angels. Or the fella who drives out with his son and sometimes his grandson just to visit. Or the people we see week to week at White’s, so often that we recognize them when they come by. Or my wonderful neighbor that I love dearly who’s going through an unfortunate diagnosis and loves beautiful flowers. The gardeners.
And the Christians. The ones who want to connect with other Christians. Who come to us because they know we understand them. Who talk to us about Jesus. Who tell us how they came to be Christians. Who tell us of their struggles. Who have a joy they just need to share.
It makes the hard days worth it. But it is not easy.
