Our Journey

The rain to the wind said, “You push and I’ll pelt.” They so smote the garden bed that the flowers actually knelt. And lay lodged – though not dead. I know how the flowers felt.”

Robert Frost
from Praying Our Goodbyes by Joyce Rupp

I stumbled upon this book by Joyce Rupp this week and it seemed all too appropriate for this particular time in life. On Tuesday as we started to pack boxes I started crying and could not stop. Each time a friend called to check in or to wish me a happy birthday, tears would begin again. I walked into the gas station to buy a pop and I think my tear stained, puffy-eyed, forlorn face actually scared the nice man behind the counter. It was a long day. I felt like the flowers pushed and pelted, lodged – though not dead.

Our friends have been amazing – bringing dinners, offering to host playdates for our kids, taking us out for a drink. Our family has called and prayed for us. Each person has carefully tended us as the bent and drooping flowers that we were this week.

And yesterday we closed on the house. We got all our stuff to where it was supposed to go. We went to La Terazza for dinner. And when we came home there were three moms and six kids working on the church’s community garden in our backyard. Our kids joined the fun – they ran and laughed and played.

This morning I grabbed my tea and walked out the back door to find Jeff and the kids who were already riding bikes in the church parking lot before school. As I felt the sun, I automatically turned my face toward the light and warmth. I am a flower after the storm – a little worse for the wear, but basking in the sun and ready, again, to stretch and grow.