Growth

Before there was Piper, before there was Hadley, and even before there was Benelli, there were hostas.  While I was patiently (or not so patiently at times) waiting for God to help me start my journey as a mother, nothing seemed to ease my tension, soothe my spirit, or feed my soul like digging in the dirt. 

During the summer of 2002, Kyle and I began dreaming of a life after graduate & chiropractic school, and we somehow felt pulled to Wisconsin to begin that next step.  We were driving through the area looking for potential office buildings and homes with Kyle's mom & sister, Kara, when we spotted a sign for hostas.  At the time, I had not a single gardening bone in my body, but was utterly amazed at the endless and exquisite variety of green before my eyes.  Mark was his name, and expertly growing hostas was his game.  And by that I mean he had some 300+ different varieties in his own residential backyard. 

We bought our first house the next year (2003) and with my heart tense and my thumbs twiddling due to the 'hold' on motherhood, I ventured on over to Mark's backyard the summer of 2004.  You could say the rest is history.  My hosta collection has grown to over 150+ different varities, my understanding of gardening has slowly increased, my loooooove for gardening has exponentially increased, and Mark has become more than just the 'hosta guy.' He is now a trusted and wonderful friend.  Crazy enough, we now live just blocks from him and he is one of the girls' favorite visitors!  He stopped by just the other day to drop off one of his latest hostas, and by this I mean one of the hostas he has bred himself.  He called it 'Hadley and Piper'. 

Hostas mean a lot to me.  They are faithful, even after a long WI winter.  They are hardy, even during a dry WI summer.  They are tolerant, even as they now play second fiddle to the busy busy children joyfully running haphazardly through our yard.  And every time I look at them poking out of the brown earth in the early spring, I am reminded that God is patient, and God is faithful, and hardy, and tolerant.  And I am so thankful that He was all of those things even when I couldn't be. 

The east side of our house, this April.

This May.

This June.  God is good, huh.