Most of us think of a church when we hear the word sanctuary, which makes sense because a sanctuary is a place of safety and refuge, a place of hope and love. It is sacred. In an earlier article I talked about jumping into the day preparing to be a sanctuary. For months after I wrote the article, I thought about how I could bring the sanctuary in my mind to life.
I eventually arrived at the idea that I wanted to create a flower garden. I was not sure what it would look like, but I knew I wanted it to be colorful, vibrant, full of life and filled with flowers. I wanted a place where I could go to for rest, relaxation and nourishment and at times take others with me.
The timing could not have been better, as my oldest daughter and I recently revived our love for junking. On Sunday evenings we head out to see what we can find. It has become almost an adventure for us. Pulling up alongside what appears to be trash and thinking about how we could bring it back to life.
I was finishing the school year and would be teaching summer school. I was not sure I wanted to use my summer school money for the garden though. I prayed for clarity and asked God to show me the best way to go about putting the garden together. As we were out junking one day my daughter suggested that we keep an eye out for flower pots and other items that we could use to start the garden.
And, so we began earnestly searching. Soon we determined we had collected enough pots and could put together a plan to get started with the garden. My husband even joined us on adventures to the garden centers to determine what plants we could use.
We started with this area. I determined that I did not want to plant any plants in the ground and instead use only pots.
Next, we determined that we want to clean off all of the pots and spray paint them with bright colors.
So, our oldest daughter began power washing the pots. Then we allowed the area to dry.
Next, both girls joined in the fun of spray painting the pots. There was not exactly a particular rhyme or reason to which pot was painted what color. We only knew that we wanted as many colors as possible and we wanted them to be bright.
We finished painting and determined where we wanted each pot. We knew that once they were in place they would most likely stay in place, so we tried to be thoughtful about where we chose to place each pot.
We visited a few garden centers and determined the best plants for our garden.
Then our youngest daugther planted almost all of the plants. Her face lit up and her smile grew wider as she potted each plant.
She even assisted her big sister and taught her how to pot her plant.
My husband assisted us with his power tools. He drilled a hole into one of the pots to help us better set up a water fountain. He repaired the gate and hooked up a water hose inside the gate to help us have better access to water in the garden.
Our garden is special to each of us, as we all have a place.
Our youngest daughter's space is filled with succulents which require little maintenance and can thrive in almost any environment.
Our oldest daughter’s place is filled with country sunshine and no-fuss pops of color that bloom quickly for several months during the year.
My husband’s place is filled with wisdom and adventure. It's kind of a cool spot to stop and hang out.
And, my place is filled with traditional, classic roses - red with a little zip of yellow mixed in. My husband picked them out - they are called ketchup and mustard. They make me smile and laugh everytime I see them. They couldn't be more perfect!
It’s been almost two months since we finished our project and it is growing more and more each week. Our animal friends have slowly been finding their place in our sanctuary.
This little fella likes to hide out in our gate.
We find our plants are growing and blooming more and more each day.
We are still working on mastering our flower gardening skills and in the meantime we are also enjoying experimenting with planting flower clippings. We have a few tiny sprouts and are waiting the results.
While we wait we like to sit and listen to the gentle flow of the water through the fountain and the birds gentle song to one another.
I love it best though when visitors, like this one here, sit for a while and visit with me in our sanctuary.
Thank you for visiting us today! We hope that you have enjoyed the time you have spent here and look forward to many more visits with you. Take a moment over the next few days to consider how you can transform a small area of your home into a sanctuary -- a safe place -- a place of joy and hope, a place of love and laughter.
Ya'll have a beautiful day!
All My Love,
Jen
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