Spring seems to FINALLY be here! For this Memorial Day weekend James & I decided it was about time we tend to our own yard. The grass seemed to be getting overgrown, the flowers left over from the kids party in pots had all turned brown, and the patio looked a little bare without all our furniture.
So, on Saturday morning off to the greenhouse we went. James and I drove both cars (b/c seriously...we knew we about to go on a spending spree.) As I drove up to the greenhouse and pulled into the lot I had a flood of emotions come over me. I had a flashback of seven years earlier. I was a young mom of a little boy who had just turned three. I just finished 2 years of school and for one reason or another starting seeing the path I chose was not one I wanted to follow. I had dreamed of becoming an Art teacher growing up. Dreams change. I had a little one to support now, and let's be honest...school doesn't pay until you finish, and I couldn't wait for another 2 years. I starting doing data entry for a billing company, tried my hand in real estate as a personal administrative assistant to the president of a property management company and when that didn't work out I thought I had made some pretty bad choices. I soon got an interview for an open position for a friend of the family's greenhouse. Hmmmm....at this point I had no idea what to expect, but knew I needed a job. A girl who didn't even know the difference between and annual and perennial, THAT could be interesting!
Needless to say I got the job. I had never dressed "down" for a job before, but loved that I could just slip on a baseball hat & jeans and head to work! I started at the beginning of March. I worked with some pretty eccentric people to say the least. After a couple months I started to think to myself that this probably wasn't going to work out. I felt so out of place and was handed jobs that seemed to just keep my busy. Then came the month of May. I was pricing some terra cotta pots outside when a young landscaper crossed my path. That young landscaper was James. He had the most wonderful smile. Over the course of that next month that smile would get me every time. The greenhouse had transformed over a few short months from an almost empty storehouse to place that truly showed God's beauty. Hundreds of customers a day coming to enjoy the sights and smells of God's wonderful creation. My eyes had been opened too. I now saw the flowers and plants in their true beauty...learning so much about them from some extremely knowledgeable coworkers that grew to feel like a second family. God's goodness was everywhere.
One day in late May at the greenhouse, in that baseball cap and (now) shorts and flip flops, a that same young landscaper would ask me out for dinner. I accepted and we began to talk over the phone in the evenings for a couple weeks before our busy schedules would allow us to finally meet for that dinner. After our first real date I think I began to see a little more of God's plan. It was all beginning to make sense. I stayed at the greenhouse for two more years and NOW married w/ 4 almost 5 kids...God's plan for me, for us, now seemed so clear.
So, as I got out of my car this Saturday and walked up to the greenhouse in all is splendor and beauty, I got chills. I remembered where I was 7 years ago almost to the day that I met James and knew God had sent me someone so special. What fun it was to be back there together buying some plants for our own home. I do miss the greenhouse at this time of year. I made some wonderful friends, learned much, and grew up in the process. I will be forever thankful for the opportunity I was given there and thankful to God for His perfect plan for me. The path I chose was long, bumpy, and quite curvy...but I stand here today w/ the knowledge of where to find a map and who my Guide is.
So, on Saturday morning off to the greenhouse we went. James and I drove both cars (b/c seriously...we knew we about to go on a spending spree.) As I drove up to the greenhouse and pulled into the lot I had a flood of emotions come over me. I had a flashback of seven years earlier. I was a young mom of a little boy who had just turned three. I just finished 2 years of school and for one reason or another starting seeing the path I chose was not one I wanted to follow. I had dreamed of becoming an Art teacher growing up. Dreams change. I had a little one to support now, and let's be honest...school doesn't pay until you finish, and I couldn't wait for another 2 years. I starting doing data entry for a billing company, tried my hand in real estate as a personal administrative assistant to the president of a property management company and when that didn't work out I thought I had made some pretty bad choices. I soon got an interview for an open position for a friend of the family's greenhouse. Hmmmm....at this point I had no idea what to expect, but knew I needed a job. A girl who didn't even know the difference between and annual and perennial, THAT could be interesting!
Needless to say I got the job. I had never dressed "down" for a job before, but loved that I could just slip on a baseball hat & jeans and head to work! I started at the beginning of March. I worked with some pretty eccentric people to say the least. After a couple months I started to think to myself that this probably wasn't going to work out. I felt so out of place and was handed jobs that seemed to just keep my busy. Then came the month of May. I was pricing some terra cotta pots outside when a young landscaper crossed my path. That young landscaper was James. He had the most wonderful smile. Over the course of that next month that smile would get me every time. The greenhouse had transformed over a few short months from an almost empty storehouse to place that truly showed God's beauty. Hundreds of customers a day coming to enjoy the sights and smells of God's wonderful creation. My eyes had been opened too. I now saw the flowers and plants in their true beauty...learning so much about them from some extremely knowledgeable coworkers that grew to feel like a second family. God's goodness was everywhere.
One day in late May at the greenhouse, in that baseball cap and (now) shorts and flip flops, a that same young landscaper would ask me out for dinner. I accepted and we began to talk over the phone in the evenings for a couple weeks before our busy schedules would allow us to finally meet for that dinner. After our first real date I think I began to see a little more of God's plan. It was all beginning to make sense. I stayed at the greenhouse for two more years and NOW married w/ 4 almost 5 kids...God's plan for me, for us, now seemed so clear.
So, as I got out of my car this Saturday and walked up to the greenhouse in all is splendor and beauty, I got chills. I remembered where I was 7 years ago almost to the day that I met James and knew God had sent me someone so special. What fun it was to be back there together buying some plants for our own home. I do miss the greenhouse at this time of year. I made some wonderful friends, learned much, and grew up in the process. I will be forever thankful for the opportunity I was given there and thankful to God for His perfect plan for me. The path I chose was long, bumpy, and quite curvy...but I stand here today w/ the knowledge of where to find a map and who my Guide is.
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